Shipping from China: The Complete Guide for Importers

What shipping from China actually involves

Shipping from China is not one service. It is a chain of handoffs: a supplier who may or may not pack properly, a truck that has to reach a warehouse inside a booking window, an export declaration, a main leg on a vessel or aircraft, an import declaration in another jurisdiction, and a delivery that has to match somebody's opening hours.

Each handoff has its own cost and its own failure mode. A shipment is cheap and fast when the chain is designed as a whole, and expensive and slow when each link is bought separately by somebody who cannot see the others.

This guide walks the chain in order — mode, cost, transit, process, Incoterms, documents — so you can see where your money goes and where your risk sits. If you only need a price, the cost hub and the quote form will get you there faster.

• For a price comparison by mode and destination, start with the shipping cost hub.
• For transit ranges and what lengthens them, use the shipping time page.
• For a live number on your own cargo, send the quote form with carton details.

Choosing a shipping method

Mode selection is a trade between cost per unit and time in transit, constrained by the size and nature of the cargo. There is no universally correct answer, and the same importer will legitimately use three different modes in one quarter.

When air is worth the premium

Air is the right answer when the cargo is small, valuable, or needed before a selling window closes. It is also right when the alternative is a stock-out: the cost of an empty shelf is usually larger than the difference between air and sea freight.

When sea is the only sensible option

Ocean freight wins as soon as volume grows. Above roughly 15 CBM, a 20-foot container is usually worth pricing against LCL, and beyond a container's usable volume the decision is made for you. Heavy cargo also favours sea, because weight, not volume, drives the bill.

When rail beats both

For inland European destinations, rail to Duisburg or Warsaw avoids a sea leg plus a long truck haul, and arrives in roughly three weeks rather than six. It sits in the middle on price, which is exactly where a lot of mid-value cargo belongs.

What shipping from China costs

Freight is the visible part of the bill and rarely the largest. A delivered shipment carries origin handling, export documentation, the main leg, surcharges, destination handling, clearance, duty and tax, and the last truck.

The two figures that drive everything else are chargeable weight and volume. Carriers charge whichever produces more revenue: gross weight or volumetric weight, where air uses one cubic meter equals 167 kilograms and LCL compares cubic meters against weight tons.

• Origin: pickup, export declaration, terminal or CFS handling, loading.
• Main leg: ocean, air or rail freight plus fuel, security and peak-season surcharges.
• Destination: terminal handling, documentation, customs brokerage, delivery.
• Government: import duty and destination tax, unless the shipment is DDP and prepaid.
• Optional: cargo insurance, inspection, palletisation, storage beyond free time.

Transit times you can plan around

Transit ranges published by forwarders are door-to-door or port-to-port, and the difference matters. A 20-day port-to-port transit becomes a 30-day door-to-door delivery once consolidation, clearance and the final truck are added.

Buffer the parts you do not control

Plan backwards from the date the goods must be on sale, not forwards from the date you ordered. Add a week for consolidation, a week for clearance and delivery, and — during the pre-holiday peak — another week for capacity.

The end-to-end process, step by step

This is the sequence a shipment follows from a supplier's loading bay to your door. Any step can be handled by you, by the supplier, or by the forwarder — the important thing is that somebody owns it explicitly.

1. Supplier pickup: collect from the factory on the confirmed ready date, with a signed delivery note.
2. Consolidation: receive cargo at a China warehouse, count cartons against the packing list, photograph discrepancies.
3. Packaging: strengthen cartons, palletise where needed, add desiccant, label every carton with the purchase order.
4. Final measurement: measure and weigh the consolidated cargo, because the carrier invoices on measured figures.
5. Export documentation: commercial invoice, packing list, HS codes, certificates, and the export declaration.
6. Export clearance and loading: clear goods out of China and load into the container, ULD or rail wagon.
7. Main leg: ocean, air or rail transit, with tracking and proactive notice of any rollover or delay.
8. Destination clearance and delivery: import declaration, duty and tax settlement, then the final truck to your address.

Where shipments usually break

Not in the middle of the ocean. They break at the joins: a supplier who was not ready on the stated date, a carton count that did not match the invoice, an HS code that was guessed, or a delivery address that could not accept a 40-foot container.

Incoterms: who pays for what

Incoterms decide which party buys which part of the chain. They do not decide who owns the goods, and they do not remove the buyer's obligation to declare accurately. Choosing the wrong term is one of the most common reasons two quotes cannot be compared.

DDP or DAP?

DDP is the simpler choice for a first shipment or for an e-commerce seller without a local entity: duty and tax are prepaid, and the goods arrive cleared. DAP keeps duty and tax in your hands, which is cheaper if you are a registered importer who can recover tax.

Documents your shipment needs

Documentation is inexpensive to prepare and expensive to fix. The declaration must match the invoice, the invoice must match the packing list, and the value must be defensible if the shipment is examined.

• Commercial invoice — value, currency, terms, buyer and seller.
• Packing list — carton count, dimensions, gross weight per carton.
• HS code declaration — the classification that sets duty and licence requirements.
• Certificate of origin — needed for preferential tariff treatment.
• Product certificates — CE, FCC, MSDS, food-contact or battery documentation as applicable.
• Fumigation or IPPC mark — required for solid-wood packing in most markets.
• Transport document — bill of lading, air waybill or rail consignment note.

Five mistakes that cost importers money

• Comparing quotes on different scopes — port-to-port against DDP is not a comparison, it is a category error.
• Under-declaring value to save duty — a hold, a fine or a revaluation usually costs more than the duty saved.
• Guessing the HS code — the wrong code can mean the wrong duty rate, a missing licence, or a refused entry.
• Ignoring the delivery address — a residential street, a liftgate requirement or a booking-only warehouse changes the last-mile cost.
• Booking the cheapest sailing without checking free time — detention and demurrage can exceed the freight saving.

Preparing your first shipment

Most of the work happens before the booking. An hour of preparation at the supplier end saves a week of email at the destination end.

1. Confirm the packed ready date, not the production completion date.
2. Get per-carton dimensions and gross weight, not totals.
3. Ask the supplier to photograph the packed cartons before pickup.
4. Decide the Incoterm and write it on the invoice.
5. Confirm the HS code and any product certification the destination requires.
6. Send us the delivery address with access constraints: dock, liftgate, appointment, floor.
7. Choose the mode against your deadline, not against habit.
8. Decide whether duty is prepaid (DDP) or settled on arrival (DAP).
9. Insure the cargo unless you have a policy that already covers it.