Logistics
Freight, Incoterms, and customs
The part of the process where a good unit price quietly turns into a bad landed cost.
Which Incoterm to ask for
The Incoterm decides who pays for what and where risk transfers. Quotes are not comparable until you know which one each is quoted on.
FOB — The seller delivers, clears for export and loads the vessel. Cost and risk both pass once loaded.
The most balanced starting point for sea freight from China, and the one to ask for if you are unsure.
Ex Works
Risk: BuyerSeller makes goods available at their premises. The buyer carries cost and risk from the factory gate, including export clearance. Cheapest quoted price, most work and exposure for you.
Free On Board
Risk: SharedSeller delivers and clears the goods for export and loads them onto the vessel. Risk transfers once loaded. The most common term for sea-freighted goods from China and usually the most balanced starting point.
Cost, Insurance & Freight
Risk: SharedSeller pays freight and insurance to the destination port. Convenient, but the seller chooses the forwarder — which means less control over routing, timing, and the fees you meet on arrival.
Delivered Duty Paid
Risk: SellerSeller bears all cost and risk to a named destination, including import duties. Simplest for the buyer and highest quoted price. Verify duties are genuinely paid — an underdeclared DDP shipment becomes your legal problem, not the seller’s.
Documents every shipment needs
Missing or inconsistent paperwork is the most common reason goods sit at a destination port.
Commercial invoice
States the parties, goods, value, and Incoterm. Customs uses it to assess duty, so the declared value and HS code must be accurate.
Packing list
Carton-level detail: contents, quantities, weights, dimensions, and marks. Used to verify what physically arrived against what was billed.
Bill of lading
Issued by the carrier. It is the contract of carriage and, for an original B/L, a document of title — whoever holds it can claim the goods.
Certificate of origin
Establishes where goods were manufactured. Required for preferential duty rates under trade agreements, and frequently requested at African and EU customs.
Product certificates
Category and market specific — CE, RoHS, SONCAP, KEBS, PVoC and equivalents. Missing certificates are a leading cause of goods being held at destination.
Tell us what you need to source
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