No matter your order is shipped by express, air or sea freight, all are door-to-door service with duties paid (DDP term). Purchasing from overseas, you are usually most concerned about 3 main parts costs, the product cost, the freight cost and taxes & duties.
Regarding the product cost, you will get the moderate and matched prices as we have hundreds of factories to get quotes and compare prices and quality. And the taxes and duties depend on the rate of your country’s custom and the declared amount. In this article, we will show you how to choose the most suitable and less cost way to ship your orders.
Express? Air freight? Or by sea? Your orders will be delivered economically according to the in-hand date and the properties of goods.
To put it simply, we suggest that you ship via express for less weight and volume orders. Generally, DHL, FedEx, UPS, TNT, and some other international special lines are more commonly recommended. And it is less cost and most recommended to transport your large items, large weight and volume orders via air freight or sea cargo if the in-hand date is not urgent.
Timeliness of Delivery
Timeliness of express, air freight and by sea is big different. Generally speaking, UPS, DHL, FEDEX, TNT are the fastest and most expensive within 3-10 days delivery. Air freight is about 20 days with less cost. Ocean shipping is the cheapest within 30-40 days.
Cost of Freight
The UPS, DHL, FEDEX, TNT are preferred for less than 21KGS orders. While sea cargo is a better choice if your goods are particularly large & bulky, or forbidden by express and air freight.
There are many channels to transport your orders, such as express or logistic company official website, reliable forwarders, etc. The third-party forwarders sometimes are better option. Their price is relatively cheap, usually about 30-50% of the official price. It is more than a way to compare prices, their after-sales and problems shooting is an key additional value.
Recipient / Consignee
Recipient information generally includes the recipient’s name, address, phone number, email address, and zip code.
Accurate recipient information is very important. For example, there are about 4-5 Washington. They can’t deliver to the recipient accurately and in time, and even delivered to a wrong place if you don’t have the state name and zip code.
Package of Goods
International delivery is a long journey and takes a long time, so good packaging is particularly important.
We usually require a strong and intact package, so as to prevent goods from rupturing, leakage and loss during transportation. The shape of the packaging should be convenient for handling, loading and unloading and stacking.
Billing Weight by Air or Express
The airline stipulates that when the cargo is small and heavy, it is calculated according to the actual weight; when the cargo is large and the weight is small, it is calculated according to the volume.
In the case of centralized consignment, a batch of goods consists of several different goods, ranging from light to heavy goods, and the billable weight is the total gross weight or total volume weight of the whole batch of goods, calculate whichever is higher.
For volumetric weight, the usual calculation method is: volumetric weight (kg) = length (cm) × width (cm) × height (cm) / 5000, and air freight /6000. The chargeable weight is the larger of the actual weight and volumetric weight (volume).
Weight Ton or Measurement Ton by Sea
a. Weight Ton: According to the gross weight of the goods, one metric ton (1 TNE=1000KGM, 1 TNE=750KGM, 1 TNE=500KGM, 1 TNE=363KGM) is a freight ton;
b. Measurement Ton: According to the total gross volume of the goods, one cubic meter (1 Cubic Meter; referred to as 1MTQ or 1CBM or 1CUM) is a freight ton.
Weight ton or volume ton, the larger is used as the unit of freight calculation.
Tariffs in the United State
It is worry-free to work with DDP(delivered with duties paid). You only need to clarify the requirements and details of each order, and then wait for the delivery. We are responsible for arranging sampling, mass production, inspection, booking, customs declaration, customs clearance, tariff payment, destination delivery and other tasks.
If you import from China, and want to know the import tariffs in the United State, you could click the website https://hts.usitc.gov/ and fill in product name and H.S. CODE accurately to check your tariffs.
Skyrocketing Sea Freight in 2021
Recent months, we have always heard people complain about the scary high sea freight, what’s worse, containers are out-of-demand. The crazy freight in 2021 mainly due to the large volume of shipments, foreign ports affected by the epidemic, low turnover rate, etc.
Considering the complex situation, it is better to replenish inventory in advance and schedule orders for 2022 right now. Welcome to comment or contact us if anything we can help!