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Shipping Methods: The Shipping cost is a substantial percentage of the importer’ s total product cost, so it’ s important to keep them as low as possible. Below are the four most considerable shipping methods anyone can use to import goods from China:
Regular Post: This is normal, regular China Post which takes approximately 6 weeks to arrive. No online tracking is provided and can be used for parcels under 3kg. Importer generally uses the regular post for samples and again only if time is not that important and can wait a few weeks for a package to arrive. It is not the most reliable system.
Courier: Shipping with a courier company is the suitable method for most importers starting out, if it involves small, lightweight items. With courier companies such
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as TNT, DHL, UPS or FedEx importer has to pay a premium price for each kilo and can get fast delivery times and an online tracking facility. These days most courier shipments take normally 3-5 business days.
Air Freight: This method lies between courier shipping and sea freight. Shipping times may vary from company to company, but in general, it takes 5 to 10 days which is not bad! Air Freight is comparatively less expensive with courier companies, but it involves extra work when the goods arrive in the importer’ s destination country. Air Freight importer usually has to handle documentation and customs clearance on their own( unlike with courier companies). But the importer can always outsource these tasks to a freight forwarding company at an additional cost.
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Sea Freight: This is the popular shipping method used by big companies / firms to import goods from China. The cost per kilo is very low, but the downside is their lengthy delivery time. Depending on where the importer is located it will be in the vicinity of 30 to 40 days.
The documentation, customs clearance, and delivery of goods from the port to home should be properly taken care off by the importer in sea freight. So it’ s always advisable to use a freight forwarding company that will take care of all the procedures
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and deliver goods right to the door.
In Sea Freight it’ s very essential to first calculate all the EXTRA COSTS involved in this type of transportation. The supplier’ s part will get over with the FOB price, which means that his part of loading the goods onto the ship is finished. But that’ s not the end. Once your shipment arrives at the port there are other kinds of extra charges, such as: Unloading charge; Port fees; docking fees; Storage fees; Clearance fees, etc. In general, for bulky items, sea freight is the better option.
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