Ship from China to US: 6 Important Tips for Amazon FBA

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Ship from China to US: 6 Important Tips for Amazon FBA

If you’re an Amazon FBA seller who imports goods from China, there are several challenges to successfully operate your online business.

Understanding how to minimize freight costs and customs duties and meet Amazon’s strict packaging and labeling requirements is essential to reduce business costs and boost your bottom line.

 

What is Amazon FBA?


In the highly competitive e-commerce industry, individuals and companies that sell on Amazon have several fulfillment options. One of the most popular is FBA (fulfillment by Amazon). FBA allows the seller to assign the responsibilities of packaging, shipping, and customer support to Amazon. FBA can reduce your operational costs significantly, depending on the turnover rate of your inventory.

Tips for Shipping
When you’re trying to maximize the efficiency of your Amazon FBA business, there are several tips that can help you reduce overhead, including:

Select the Best Method of Transportation
When you’re organizing the shipment of goods from China to an Amazon FBA warehouse in the United States, it’s critical you select the most efficient and cost-effective transportation method. This depends on several factors, from the weight and bulk of your goods to when you need them to arrive.

Ocean freight shipping

Ocean freight or sea freight is the most suitable shipping method for goods with a volume of at least 2 m³ or a weight of 400 kg or more. While ocean freight is the least expensive shipping option, it also takes the longest to deliver your goods, up to a month in some cases. As a result, ocean freight is unsuitable for high-turnover inventory or rush orders.

Ocean freight is available in two options, depending on the dimensional weight of your inventory. These are Less than Container Load (LCL) and Full Container Load (FCL). While LCL is more expensive than FCL, it’s more appropriate for goods when the volume is less than 14 m³.

Air freight shipping

When your goods weigh more than 200 kg and have a volume of more than 2 m³, consider shipping to Amazon FBA warehouses using air freight. Air freight is more expensive than ocean freight. However, it also significantly reduces transit time. It’s also less expensive than air express.

Always check with your freight forwarding company whether the goods you need to ship can be transported by air. Air freight and air express are subject to more transportation restrictions than ocean freight. Toxic, flammable, and corrosive products are prohibited. For example, you can’t transport lithium batteries or aerosol cans by air.

Express shipping

If your goods are 1 m³ or less in volume and 200 kg or less, express shipping is a good option to consider. For express shipping, the chargeable weight is either the dimensional weight or the gross weight.

Air express is the fastest method to ship goods from China to an Amazon FBA warehouse. However, it’s also the most expensive.

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