Familiarize yourself with restricted and prohibited items before ordering imports from China. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection website advises residential buyers to answer two questions before ordering a package from China. The answers to the questions determine what customs declarations and regulations need to be followed. These regulations are for the United States, so make sure you research customs laws in the country where you plan to ship the product. Because of the nature of the seas, sea freight exposes you to numerous weather risks. Moreover, turbulent seas and unscrupulous storage conditions make your goods more prone to damage. When you’re running an eCommerce business, it’s quite common for most of your suppliers to be located in China.
Shipping rates will make up a substantial percentage of your total product landed cost, so it’s important to keep them as low as possible at all times. Depending on where you’re located, it will be in the vicinity of 3~60 days. Different logistics methods can make a vast difference both in transit time and freight charges. Therefore we always need to determine which method will be the most cost effective one. Our last suggestion if your package is under 250 Kg, you use an international courier service, but if the weight is more than that, shipping by air from China. The advantages of various courier services may vary from the different weight.
You can export other products other than those which are enlisted as ‘prohibited products to export’ by the Chinese government. But we suggest you get some advice from a Chinese freight forwarder or directly from the Chinese customs office before you start planning on shipment from China. The Chinese government demands that all exports follow the licensing regulations before doing international shipping from China.
Air cargo shipping cost from China to UK per kg
My machine arrived in good order and I am happy with CFC’s shipping arrangements. I received quotes from other forwarding companies but they kept changing the amounts. I would be happy to recommend CFC to other importers of goods from China. CFC here helps our customers gain more control over their supply chain solutions, become more cost effective and increase efficiencies. Let us know if you have any questions about shipping from China, and hope we can work together to find the right logistics just for YOU. This means normal, regular China Post (or Hong Kong Post) which can take up to 2~5 weeks to arrive. Read more about Shipping to USA From China here. If you can wait, this is the cheapest option for small shipments, like samples and parcels.
FCL (or full container load) shipping from China to the UK involves the shipment of goods in your own container. LCL (or less than container load) shipping from China to the UK involves the shipment of goods in a container shared with other shippers. The cost of your shipment will vary greatly upon the load sent, demand, and the time of year.
One-stop Shipping Options from China to Europe
Because air freight involves a lot of controls such as customs and terminal handling, you will need to pay a hefty fee to bump your shipment up to the front of the line. Rules of thumbs for lead times (in regular conditions) are 1-2 weeks for regular post, 3 days for air express freight, 8-10 days for air freight, and days for ocean freight. DHL Express Worldwide is its standard express shipping service and the service that most forwarders will quote when customers request DHL to ship their cargo via express mail.
Sea freight is the most used and cheapest shipping mode from China to Europe. Using ocean freight could be overwhelming for new shippers at first. Read more about Shipping From China to South Africa here. But an experienced freight forwarder can make the entire shipping process very smooth.
To avoid unnecessary problems when clearing your goods, allow your freight forwarder to help you. They’ll support you for the import custom clearance from China to Europe, so you can include them in your shipping budget. If you’re not sure which shipping route is best for you, then consult with a freight forwarder. We can help you assess your goods and recommend the best route for your shipment.
You’ll need to expedite all the relevant customs documents and monitoring procedures in China. Some freight forwarders offer a premium service, often called expedited freight, which is a little more expensive than normal ocean freight. Like air freight, ocean freight rates vary widely between forwarders, and over time, so again – shop around. Your freight forwarder from China to Europe can offer reasonable rates for an excellent shipping service. They can look for a cargo carrier that is two times lower than international carriers like DHL. For example, if the sea freight charge per kilo in DHL is $5, they can look for a cheaper alternative between $1.5-3 (with MOQ). The most famous shipping methods are standard shipping, expedited shipping, and one-day and two-day shipping.
EPacket is a special shipping option that provides a fast and inexpensive rate when shipping small parcels from China to the US. EMS takes 3 to 16 days, DHL takes 1 to 4 days, FedEx takes 1 to 5 days, and UPS takes 1 to 5 days as well. Given that China has numerous world-class seaports along its coast, shipping goods from China by sea is an excellent option. Especially if you are shipping to locations on the Pacific coast of the US. In door-to-door, the freight forwarder handles the entire shipment process, from which the cargo is collected from the suppliers and delivered to the designated destination. However, port-to-port shipping only involves shipping cargo from the port of origin (port of loading) to the port of destination (port of discharge). Notice that door to door delivery requires more time to pick-up cargo, clear customs, and deliver to the destination.
