China provides a broad market for third-party merchants like Amazon FBA sellers and US-based retailers to diversify their inventory. This makes the US a major market for Chinese products. As of 2020, goods imported from China to the US amounted to 435.45 billion USD.
However, Amazon FBA sellers with less experience in shipping from China to Amazon FBA may have to pay more than necessary, thus affecting their profit. The Covid-19 pandemic has caused an increase in the cost of shipping from China to the US. Flight restrictions and international shipping company’s dependency on ocean shipping have driven up costs
Fortunately, there are ways Amazon FBA Sellers and other ecommerce sellers (such as Walmart, Etsy, etc.) can optimize their shipping costs when shipping from China. In this post, we shall examine how you can ship from China to Amazon FBA, the shipping modes available, and how to optimize the cost of shipping from China to Amazon FBA.
How do I Ship Goods from China to Amazon FBA?
Proper knowledge of how to ship goods from China to Amazon warehouses can help you reduce the shipping cost. There are three major ways of shipping from China to FBA.
The first method is direct shipping from China to Amazon FBA. With this method, you’ll ship directly from your suppliers to Amazon FBA. You can use an Amazon freight forwarder. This shipping method is perhaps the easiest and cheapest, provided you choose the best shipping mode. Direct shipping from China requires you to tell your supplier or forwarder from China to prepare your goods according to the given FBA specifications.
Secondly, you can use the indirect shipping method to your home first, then to the Amazon warehouse. This method allows you to inspect your goods before moving to the Amazon warehouse. With this, you can discover the quality of your product and fix any issues if needed to prevent bad reviews. But this advantage comes with additional transportation fees, making the shipment cost higher than direct shipping.
Finally, you can ship through a prep service company to the Amazon warehouse. The prep service company is a third-party logistics company. This company helps you handle shipping procedures like proper inspection of goods, labeling according to FBA specifications, custom clearance, and shipping goods from supplier to Amazon warehouse. It is always best to select a freight forwarding company that is focused on ecommerce and Amazon FBA and that has a warehouse to help prep services for its customers.
What are the Shipping Modes from China to Amazon FBA?
Understanding the various modes of shipping from China to Amazon FBA will help you select the most cost-effective mode that best suits your product. After choosing the best method of shipping from China to the US, the next step is to select the mode of shipping. You can choose from any of the following modes:
- Express Shipping
- Air Freight
- Sea Freight
- DDP or DDU (Door to Door)
The type, size of your goods, and how fast you want them delivered will determine the best mode of shipping for your goods. Although express shipping is the fastest and most convenient, it is the most expensive.
You could end up with high costs on any China to Amazon FBA shipping methods and modes if you don’t know how to optimize your shipping cost.
Many people don’t know about DDP or DDU, which means Door-to-Door. It involves picking up goods from the supplier factory’s door and direct delivery to Amazon FBA and all costs are included in this offer, so there is no extra or hidden cost, no hassle to deal with customs, no surprises. In this shipment method, the freight forwarder gives Amazon sellers an all-included price per kg, so everything is fixed from the beginning. We strongly recommend sellers work with this method to prevent facing negative surprises during the process.
Now let’s look at additional tips to reduce your shipping cost from China to Amazon FBA.
Ways To Optimize Shipping Cost from China to Amazon FBA
You can avoid some of the increased shipping costs caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and other pre-existing factors using the tips below:
- Develop a Product Shipping Plan
The first step towards avoiding needless additional shipping costs is to draw up a viable product shipping plan. The plan involves considering the quantity of your goods, frequency, and shipping route.
This will help you choose the most suitable, cost-effective, and time-saving shipping method and mode for your products. Also, a proper shipping plan will help you negotiate better with the FBA freight forwarder to agree on a favorable cost while maintaining your product quality and safety.
You can also separate your shipments by urgent and in due course. If you have urgent goods, you can select air and send the rest by sea. Sending only urgent quantities by air can decrease costs.
- Optimize Your Shipment Packing
Optimize your shipment packing to prevent avoidable high shipping costs. A product’s weight or volume will primarily determine the shipping fee. You need to try to avoid extra space because this incurs an additional cost for additional packing materials and loss of cargo space.
Further, if the direct shipping method works for you, utilize it because it prevents additional prep service fees, such as bubble wrapping, labeling, and bagging.
- Choose The Best Shipping Company
Selecting the best international shipping company is crucial for successful shipping from China to FBA. You can use recommendations and reviews concerning their shipping price discounts, customer service, tracking service, shipping destination, order size, among others.
Select a freight forwarder focused on Amazon FBA because Amazon has many rules and regulations for delivery to its warehouses.
- Analyze Freight Costs Apple to Apple
In your process of getting a reliable Amazon FBA freight forwarder to transport your goods from China to FBA, always compare the quotes apple-to-apple.
Some freight companies give lower costs and after the shipment is on the way, start asking for additional prices. So, this diminishes sellers’ profitability as it is an unplanned cost. Therefore, we strongly recommend you work with freight forwarders who can give Door-to-Door prices, so you won’t face any hidden costs.
- Consider Amazon Warehouse Proximity
When you are not using the direct shipping method, it’s vital to consider the nearness of the Amazon FBA warehouse to your home or the prep service company.
A closer Amazon warehouse will save you substantial shipping costs. It might even cost you less than direct shipping from China to the Amazon warehouse. With this, you can ascertain the quality of your product without incurring additional costs.
How can Forceget help?
Written by Burak Yolga, Founder Forceget Digital Freight Forwarder, who has a bachelor’s degree in international business and an MBA from where he studied in Paris. He lived in China and Hong Kong for 7 years and visited more than 50 trade shows and 500 factories in more than 40 Chinese cities. Following that, he moved to Miami, FL and where he now spends his time helping Amazon FBA sellers with their shipments from China.
Forceget is a top choice as an Amazon logistics service provider because it is a focused Amazon Freight Forwarder. We offer a broad variety of services for Amazon sellers, with a network of warehouses both in the East and West Coasts of the US, Canada, and China. Warehousing, full container load (FCL), and less than container load (LCL) transportation to fulfillment facilities is all included.
