Everything is agreed in writing
Incoterm, freight mode, packing standard, payment schedule, inspection standard and documentation are stated on the order confirmation and the sales contract. Nothing is agreed verbally and nothing changes after production without your written approval.
Freight quoted, not estimated
We quote the realistic options for your cargo and destination — sea, air, express or rail — with the transit time each one implies, and say plainly when a mode is not worth considering.
Terms matched to the order
A first sample order and an annual programme should not carry the same terms. Payment structure follows order volume, history and production risk, and it is reviewed as the relationship develops.
Who pays for what, and when to choose it
All terms below are interpreted under Incoterms 2020. The version, the named place and the named port must always be stated — “FOB” alone is not a term, “FOB Shenzhen” is.
| Term | Full name | What the seller pays for | What the buyer pays for | When it is the right choice |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EXW | Ex Works | Nothing beyond making the goods available at our premises or at the factory in mainland China. | Loading, inland haulage, export clearance, freight, insurance, import duty and taxes, destination delivery. | Buyers with their own freight forwarder and an established China logistics process; sample and trial orders. |
| FOB | Free On Board | Inland transport to the port of loading, export clearance and loading on board the vessel. | Ocean freight, insurance, destination charges, import duty and taxes, inland delivery. | The most common term for sea freight when the buyer controls the ocean leg and has a nominated forwarder. |
| CFR / CIF | Cost and Freight / Cost, Insurance and Freight | Inland transport, export clearance and ocean freight. CIF also includes marine cargo insurance. | Unloading at destination, import clearance, duty and taxes, onward inland delivery. | Buyers who want one delivered port price. CIF is common for letters of credit because insurance is included in the seller's obligation. |
| CIP | Carriage and Insurance Paid To | Carriage to the agreed destination point plus all-risk cargo insurance, on any mode including air and rail. | Import clearance, duty and taxes, and any unloading or onward delivery beyond the agreed point. | Air, express and rail shipments where the buyer wants carriage and all-risk cover arranged by the seller. |
| DAP | Delivered At Place | Everything up to the named destination, ready for unloading, but not import clearance or duty. | Import customs clearance, duty, VAT or GST, and unloading at the final address. | Buyers who handle their own import but want the seller to manage the whole transport chain to their door. |
| DDP | Delivered Duty Paid | Everything including import clearance, duty and taxes, to the named destination. | Unloading at the final address and any destination-specific compliance obligation agreed in writing. | Buyers who want a single landed cost with no customs involvement, where we can act as importer of record. |
Practical notes on Incoterms
Under EXW the buyer is responsible for export clearance, which is often impractical outside the buyer's own country; FCA or FOB is usually the better answer for a buyer who wants to control the main carriage. Under CIF the insurance obligation is minimum cover (Institute Cargo Clauses C), so buyers who need all-risk cover should ask for CIP or arrange their own policy. DDP requires us to act as importer of record in your country; that is possible in many markets but must be confirmed in writing before the order is accepted, because it depends on the HS code, the duty rate and the destination's registration requirements.
Typical transit times from Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Yantian
Ranges cover the most common European and North American destinations and exclude customs clearance at destination. Cost drivers describe what moves a rate, not a rate itself.
| Mode | Typical transit time | Best suited cargo | Indicative cost drivers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sea freight — FCL | 18 – 32 days port to port (EU, US West Coast, US East Coast) | Full container loads from one supplier or a consolidated programme; heavy metal parts; palletised goods | Container size and utilisation, origin and destination port pair, season, bunker adjustment |
| Sea freight — LCL | 21 – 38 days door to door including consolidation | Mixed or partial loads below about 12 – 15 cbm; trial shipments; multi-supplier consolidation | Chargeable weight or volume (W/M), consolidation and deconsolidation fees, destination handling |
| Air freight | 3 – 7 days airport to airport | Urgent components, high value-to-weight electronics, line-down situations, launch stock | Chargeable weight, volumetric ratio, fuel and security surcharges, carrier capacity |
| Express courier | 2 – 5 days door to door | Samples, small spare-part orders, documents, urgent warranty replacements up to about 100 kg | Weight and dimensions, service level (economy or priority), remote-area delivery charges |
| Europe rail | 18 – 26 days door to door via China – EU rail corridor | Non-urgent mid-size volumes to inland European destinations where sea is slow and air is expensive | Route and border transit, container or groupage pricing, inland pickup and delivery distance |
Sea FCL
Booked weekly from Hong Kong and Yantian. Best economics above roughly 15 cbm, and the simplest option for palletised metal parts and programme stock. Say the destination port and we will quote the realistic port pair rather than the cheapest theoretical one.
Sea LCL and rail
LCL suits mixed loads below 12 – 15 cbm and multi-supplier orders. Europe rail takes 18 – 26 days door to door and sits between sea and air on both cost and transit; it is often the right answer for inland European destinations.
Air and express
Air freight for line-down situations and time-critical components; express courier for samples, spare parts and warranty replacements up to about 100 kg. Volumetric weight, not actual weight, decides the chargeable figure on light cargo.
Export documentation we prepare
Documents are prepared by us for the shipment we arrange, and checked against the order before dispatch. Where a letter of credit applies, the document set is prepared to the L/C terms and pre-checked for discrepancies before presentation.
Commercial invoice
Issued in the agreed currency with the Incoterm, unit quantities, HS codes and the declared value used for duty assessment.
Packing list
Carton-by-carton detail: quantity, net and gross weight, dimensions, pallet count and shipping marks, matching the physical load.
Bill of lading / air waybill
The transport document. Original, telex release or express release as agreed; the consignee and notify party are confirmed before the booking is placed.
Certificate of origin
Issued by a Hong Kong or mainland chamber or by the relevant authority. Form A and preferential certificates are prepared where the destination scheme applies and the goods qualify.
Fumigation and phytosanitary certificates
Required for solid wood packaging in many destinations. We use ISPM 15 heat-treated or fumigated pallets and arrange the certificate where the destination demands one.
Insurance certificate
All-risk marine cargo cover at 110 % of invoice value, with the certificate issued together with the shipping documents.
Test and inspection reports
Pre-shipment inspection report, laboratory test reports, and dimensional or functional test data for the production batch.
MSDS and UN38.3
Material safety data sheets for chemicals and batteries, and UN38.3 test summaries with the packing instruction reference for lithium cells and battery packs.
Documents follow the destination
Not every market needs every document. A European shipment may need a preferential certificate of origin and a CE declaration; a Middle East shipment may need legalisation; a shipment with wood packaging may need a fumigation certificate. We confirm the list for your destination on the order confirmation so there is no clearance surprise at the other end.
How payment is structured, and who it protects
Payment terms follow order volume, production risk and trading history. Terms are subject to credit assessment and are confirmed in writing on the order confirmation.
| Term | When it is used | Protection for the buyer | Protection for the seller |
|---|---|---|---|
| T/T 30 / 70 | Standard term for repeat wholesale orders | Goods are only released against the balance, and inspection reports are issued before shipment | 30 % deposit covers material commitment; the balance is settled before the goods leave |
| T/T 100 % | First orders, samples and low-value shipments | Nothing is paid in advance of production being completed and inspected | No credit exposure at all; payment is received before shipment |
| L/C at sight | Larger orders and new customers with a bank relationship | Payment follows compliant documents rather than the seller's promise | The issuing bank's undertaking replaces buyer credit risk; documents are checked before dispatch |
| D/P (documents against payment) | Established customers wanting bank-intermediated terms | The bank releases documents only when payment is made | Documents stay under bank control until payment, reducing non-payment risk |
| Escrow-style milestones | Tooling projects and long OEM / ODM programmes | Payment is tied to defined approvals: sample approval, pilot run, inspection release | Each milestone releases funds only when the corresponding deliverable is accepted |
Credit assessment
Payment terms are subject to credit assessment. New customers, first orders and sample orders are normally settled in full before shipment. As trading history builds, terms can move to T/T 30/70, then to longer structures or an L/C for larger programmes. We will always tell you the reason if a requested term cannot be granted on a first order rather than leaving it unanswered.
Invoices are issued in USD, EUR or CNY. Bank charges outside Hong Kong are for the remitter's account unless agreed otherwise, and the currency and validity period of a quotation are stated on the quotation itself.
Against a letter of credit
We check L/C terms before accepting an order and flag clauses that cannot be complied with — unrealistic latest-shipment dates, documents that no authority will issue, or inspection clauses requiring a signature we cannot obtain. Avoiding a discrepancy is cheaper for both sides than arguing about one.
How goods are packed for export
- Export cartons — double-wall or triple-wall corrugated board sized to the product, with the carton grade selected for the stacking height and the transit mode, not for the cheapest price per box.
- Palletising — goods palletised to a standard footprint, stretch-wrapped and strapped, with corner boards where the load is heavy or the transit long.
- Moisture barrier and desiccant — aluminium foil or PE bags with desiccant for electronics, PCBs and metal parts travelling by sea, where condensation is the most common cause of arrival damage.
- Drop test and compression — retail packaging is drop-tested and cartons checked for compression where the product is sold through retail or shipped as a parcel; test reports are available on request.
- Labelling and shipping marks — carton numbering, gross and net weight, dimensions, country of origin, handling symbols, PO number and barcode are applied and verified against the packing list before loading.
Who clears the goods, and who pays the duty
Customs responsibility follows the Incoterm, and it is worth being precise about it before an order is placed rather than when a container is sitting at a port.
| Who is responsible | Under EXW, FOB, CFR, CIF, CIP and DAP the buyer is the importer of record and is responsible for import clearance, duty, VAT or GST and destination compliance. Under DDP we act as importer of record where we are able to, which must be confirmed in writing for the destination and the specific HS code before the order is accepted. |
|---|---|
| HS code guidance | We state the HS code we use for export declaration on the invoice, based on the product and its material composition. The final classification for import duty rests with the destination customs authority, and where the product is ambiguous we recommend a binding ruling from the buyer's side. We do not advise on duty mitigation structures. |
| Duty and VAT / GST under DAP | Handled entirely by the buyer. The freight invoice covers transport to the named place; the duty and tax assessment is issued by the destination authority to the importer of record. If you need a landed-cost figure for budgeting, we can quote DDP so duty and tax are included in our price. |
| DDP where we can act as importer | Available in many markets subject to registration, product compliance and a confirmed duty rate for the HS code. DDP quotations state the destination, the duty rate assumed and the validity period, so a change in duty or tax is visible rather than absorbed silently. |
| Origin and preferential treatment | Goods supplied from mainland China or from Hong Kong stock carry different origin positions. Where a preferential trade agreement applies to your destination, we confirm whether the goods qualify before we issue a preferential certificate of origin. |
The five things buyers ask most
Freight is quoted per shipment against the actual cargo: weight, volume, dimensions, origin, destination, mode and required transit time. We quote the realistic options side by side — for example LCL against a 20 ft FCL — and state which one we would choose and why. Rates are valid for the period stated on the quotation, because carrier rates and surcharges move weekly.
Insurance is included only where the Incoterm includes it, which means CIF (minimum cover, Institute Cargo Clauses C) or CIP (all-risk cover). Under EXW, FOB, CFR and DAP it is the buyer's responsibility. We can arrange all-risk cover at 110 % of invoice value on any shipment on request, and issue the certificate with the shipping documents.
Yes. Partial shipments are common on frame orders and multi-line orders, and each release carries its own packing list, inspection record and invoice. Where payment is by letter of credit, partial shipment and transhipment must be permitted in the L/C terms; we check this before accepting the order.
Damage found on arrival should be photographed before the goods are moved, and the carrier or the insurer notified within the period stated in the policy — commonly three days for apparent damage. Send us the photographs, the packing list and the surveyor's note; we raise the claim documentation and, where the fault is ours or the factory's, we replace or credit the affected quantity under the warranty rather than leaving you to argue with the carrier.
It can be changed up to the point of booking, and it is a written amendment to the order confirmation. Once the shipment is booked, changing from FOB to CIF or from DAP to DDP involves the forwarder, the insurance certificate and sometimes the export declaration, so additional cost may apply. If you expect to change terms repeatedly, tell us and we will quote both structures from the start.
Need a delivered figure, not just a unit basis?
Send the product, quantity, destination city and required delivery date. We will quote the Incoterm that suits the order, the realistic freight options and the full documentation list for your market.