Wholesale Shipping from China: Freight, Customs and the Costs Buyers Miss - FSC CRAFT

A landed cost is never the unit price on the invoice. The gap between the two is usually where a first-time import loses its margin — not on the order, but in freight class, duty code, and the setup fees nobody quoted.

This guide covers the parts of the shipping quote that buyers most often discover late.

Start with the freight mode, not the freight price

Jewelry and organizer shipments split into three modes, and each one changes your cash flow differently:

• Air freight — fastest, billed by weight. Heavy items punish you here. A ship of organizers weighing several tonnes by air can cost more than the goods.
• Sea freight (LCL) — billed by cubic metre. Sensible for dense, bulky boxes; slow, and your cash sits in transit for weeks.
• Sea freight (FCL) — best unit economics once you can fill a container, but it locks capital into a full shipment.

A useful rule of thumb: weight decides if it should fly, volume decides if it should sail. PU leather boxes are small and dense, so they tolerate air freight better than most buyers expect. Chains and bracelets are light but can tangle — pack them flat and nested, or you pay to move air.

The fees that appear after the quote

Most first shipments surprise buyers with a longer list than the headline freight number:

• Origin handling — local pickup, export documentation, terminal fees at the port of loading.
• Destination charges — THC, clearance, delivery, and a door-to-door fee if you arranged it.
• Duties and taxes — set by your destination country, not by your supplier.
• Duty code classification — the single most common cause of a duty surprise. Jewelry boxes fall under different codes than organizers, and "still life" items can be reclassified at inspection.
• Inspection or testing — sometimes triggered when a shipment's declared value or description looks off.

Ask your forwarder for an all-in landed cost per carton, not a freight rate. If a supplier cannot work from that number, that is worth knowing early.

Incoterms, in plain language

• EXW (ex works) — you collect from the factory door. Cheapest, but you own everything from that point, including loading.
• FOB Shenzhen — the seller loads and clears export. You own the goods on the ship. This is the most common term for China jewelry sourcing and the cleanest place for a first order to sit.
• DDP — the seller handles delivery to your door, duties included. Convenient, but the price you are quoted may not be the price customs in your country actually bills you, and you lose visibility into who is the importer of record.

Before you sign, confirm who is the importer of record. If that is not your company, you may not control the duty classification, and you will not be able to reclaim an overpaid duty later.

Why a low unit price sometimes costs more

Setup fees are charged once per style and are easy to miss when you compare unit prices:

• New tooling or cutting die for a custom box shape
• Silkscreen, hot-stamp, or laser engraving plates for your logo
• PVD mask or fixture for a specific plated colour
• Photography or listing assets if you ask for custom shots

A 100-piece order and a 3,000-piece order of the same design can share that setup cost, which is why the effective cost per piece drops sharply once you reorder. Plan your first order to absorb the setup, then let reorders carry the margin.

Timing: production time and transit are two separate clocks

Your 45-day production estimate and your transit estimate stack. A fifteen-day delay at the factory shifts your whole launch date, which is why the sampling stage matters more than it looks: a problem found at sampling costs you weeks, the same problem found at the port costs you a season.

Build a schedule that shows when each milestone lands, and treat the sampling approval as the date that locks everything downstream. Our why sampling takes about fifteen days explains what happens in that window.

FAQ

Are customs duties included in your price?

No. Our quotes cover manufacturing and export clearance in China. Duties, import taxes and destination delivery are set by your country and your forwarder. We can prepare the paperwork customs needs, but we do not pay your duty.

Which Incoterm should a first-time buyer use?

FOB Shenzhen is usually the clearest. You control the freight and the importer of record, and you can compare freight quotes instead of accepting a bundled number.

Can you ship to my own warehouse or 3PL?

Yes. We ship FOB Shenzhen or ex-works, and we can address cartons to a 3PL or a bonded warehouse. Tell us the destination address when you brief us, not after production starts.

How do I avoid a duty surprise?

Confirm the tariff classification with your forwarder before production, not after. Ask for the exact product description and HS code used on the commercial invoice, and keep a copy of the paperwork for your own files.

What if my shipment is held at customs?

The importer of record deals with the hold. We supply the commercial invoice, packing list, and any certificates your market requires — the compliance and testing page lists what we can provide for EU and US shipments.

Next step

Send us your destination country, target volume, and shipping address. We will quote production and tell you what documentation your shipment will need. Contact FSC CRAFT.

Related: Why jewelry boxes have a 500-piece MOQ · EU vs US compliance for imported jewelry · How bulk jewelry production is scheduled

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