The main logistic services for door to door delivery among Chinese forwarders are the following:
Air transport
1. Express – several variants with transit times from 2 to 10 working days and prices from 4 to 8 USD per kg (to a warehouse in US), depending on the destination city, nature and quantity of the goods. Forwarder company sends the goods to the nearest warehouse of one of the major courier companies (DHL, UPS, FEDEX). From this point the chosen courier company becomes fully responsible for the transit and door to door delivery of the shipment. Usually the forwarder suggests 2-3 options.
Pros: minimum transit time and low defects rate, as the shipment is delivered through the company’s global network with appropriate level of security and control.
Cons: low level of control by the forwarder company, delays in providing information about the shipment status.
2. Avia cargo – 10-15 working days, 3-6 USD per kg. In this case the forwarder company reserves a spot for your goods in an airplane from China. On arrival to the country of destination the shipment gets customs clearance and is delivered to the Amazon warehouse by the forwarder’s partner in this country.
Pros: high level of control by the forwarder, swift response about the shipment status and more accurate estimated time of arrival to Amazon warehouse (in comparison with other methods, listed below).
3. Special line – transit time up to 15 working days, 2.5-5.5 USD per kg. The shipment is sent by plane in a consolidated container. On arrival to the country of destination the shipment gets customs clearance by the forwarder’s partner in this country. After that a local courier company (usually UPS) delivers the shipment within the country.
Sea transport
- Transit time 20-40 working days, 1-3 USD per kg. The goods are shipped by sea from China in a consolidated container. On arrival to the port of destination the shipment gets customs clearance by the forwarder’s partner in this country and is delivered to the Amazon warehouse by a third party company, usually using road transport.
Cons: higher probability of a detailed examination of the goods at the Customs, with delays in the delivery as a result. - The abovementioned prices and transit times are for the shipments to Amazon warehouses in USA. It is also possible to combine several delivery methods to lower the shipping costs.
