Hello and thanks in advance for any help.

I'm looking to import goods from China with door-to-door shipping. The packages will be worth less than US$500 (at least to start), and not particularly heavy or large (I will be ordering 1-5K units of the product, so by dividing into separate parcels, size and weight can be controlled - at extra expense to me, of course).

I've been quoted a per-unit cost with FOB shipping, but based on some reading I've done, it seems that shipping via the postal service (or UPS) might be a better way to go. Having the absolute lowest shipping cost is NOT my first priority - delivery to my door and avoiding having to arrange logistics myself are my priorities right now. After that it's the lowest shippping cost. :-)

What is the best way to approach this? Is the FOB quote the normal starting point for the seller, and is it normal for a buyer to ask for UPS or postal service quotes, for small/low-value packages?

As an example, 1K units of this product would fit in two boxes, each 18" x 18" x 20", and each box would weigh probably 5-6kg. Total value would be < US$200.

I checked UPS's international package rates and unless I seriously messed up the data input, a shipment of 2 boxes weighing a total of 11kg will cost approxmiately USD 265. So...UPS maybe isn't the best option (more than doubles my per-unit cost!).

I have no clue (yet) about China's postal rates, but from reading this and other forums they are supposedly pretty reasonable. True?

I'm very interested in hearing from US importers with experience in smaller shipments like this. What's my best option?

Thanks again for any help.

Replying to [Boidster]: i am a forwarder in shenzhen ,China .in my opinion , It is not a good idea to send small package by UPS directly . It is better for u to find a forwarder in China and let them send it by UPS . All of the fowarder get a great discount on the price which put in UPS website ,they may give u a reasonable charge .if u want me to send the cargo , plz contact me , i am gld to provide the service for u at low price.....
{Sorry, posting of any personal/company information is not allow. Try contact each other by TM, Email..........Mod}

Quoting from [Boidster]:


Hello and thanks in advance for any help.


I'm looking to import goods from China with door-to-door shipping. The packages will be worth less than US$500 (at least to start), and not particularly heavy or large (I will be ordering 1-5K units of the product, so by dividing into separate parcels, size and weight can be controlled - at extra expense to me, of course).


I've been quoted a per-unit cost with FOB shipping, but based on some reading I've done, it seems that shipping via the postal service (or UPS) might be a better way to go. Having the absolute lowest shipping cost is NOT my first priority - delivery to my door and avoiding having to arrange logistics myself are my priorities right now. After that it's the lowest shippping cost. :-)


What is the best way to approach this? Is the FOB quote the normal starting point for the seller, and is it normal for a buyer to ask for UPS or postal service quotes, for small/low-value packages?


As an example, 1K units of this product would fit in two boxes, each 18" x 18" x 20", and each box would weigh probably 5-6kg. Total value would be < US$200.


I checked UPS's international package rates and unless I seriously messed up the data input, a shipment of 2 boxes weighing a total of 11kg will cost approxmiately USD 265. So...UPS maybe isn't the best option (more than doubles my per-unit cost!).


I have no clue (yet) about China's postal rates, but from reading this and other forums they are supposedly pretty reasonable. True?


I'm very interested in hearing from US importers with experience in smaller shipments like this. What's my best option?


Thanks again for any help.

Boid,

No your calculations on the UPS website are not wrong. Using the mail is ok but you still face the fact that you have to clear customs, which is where the fun is. SOMEONE has to do the opaperwork for you (which is why Fedex/UPS etc charge that much, there is a $100 customs fee built in basically)

Here is how the mail would work, basically. You person in CHina would mail the boxes with the customs paperwork all filled out.... no problem there....... But once the boxes hit the US Customs needs to do an inspection in theory... This isn;t the same as you mailing your uncle fred a christmas gift or something.... Once the parcels arrive on US soil you have to have someone working as your agent to clear the products thru customs. Thats where the fun is. and no you shouldn;t try to avoid customs! they WILL find you and they WILL make your life miserable!

Depending on what the product is and where exactly you are located would define your best way of doing this.... If time is not an issue then LCL shipping would probably still be cheapest (container shipping on a ship)

Give me some more details like product /qty/ your physical location and total value of actual product (ie fob price) and I'll see if i can think of anything for you... Contact me on TM ok.

Replying to [Foow]: Thanks for the excellent answer. When I said "avoid customs", what I really meant was "avoiding dealing with the possible paperwork/bureaucracy of customs". I just want someone to deal with that for me, and to not hose me in the process. Absolutely not interested in skirting any laws or regulations. Of course, I've been immersed in the "pay a fee and the box goes from door A to door B" world of US-only shipping for pretty much my whole life, so my expectations are probably quite naive.

It turns out that the wholesale price of the material (including shipping) from the US supplier is about 35% better than what I've been able to find so far from China (including UPS shipping), but I haven't searched far and wide for deals yet.

As an example, 1K units of the product I'm looking for were quoted at US$160 FOB Ningbo. UPS freight (5 packages, 22x22x42, 4KG each, destination Nebraska) is about $350 (!). Total per-unit cost is therefore about $0.51. I can get it shipped wholesale in the US for about $0.31-0.33 per unit, so obviously with the UPS shipping cost I'd need to find someone willing to PAY me 0.02 per unit to take them off their hands! :-)

If I can find a shipping solution at about $150, or a combination of price+shipping that keeps the total for 1K units at $300 or less, then it's worth looking into. Which probably means it's just not worth looking into, at least not until I need 10K or more units.

Luckily, my margin is high enough that the $0.31/unit I'm paying now isn't a problem. This is all a good lesson learned, and will be tucked away for future reference.

Thanks again for your help!