There are 3 main ways to ship your products into the U.S.:

I. Door-to-Door Courier Service e.g. Fedex, UPS

II. Door-to-Airport Cargo e.g. China Airlines, freight forwarders

III. Ocean Cargo e.g. many international freight forwarders

Before we go through each of the shipping modes in detail, let?s agree on the terminology:

• Supplier - The product source, usually the manufacturer of the product.

• Freight Forwarder - The agent that gets the products from the Supplier to the vessel and prepares the necessary paperwork.

• Vessel - The ship or airline that transports your product to the U.S..

• Import/Customs broker - The agent responsible for obtaining U.S. Customs clearance when the vessel arrives in the U.S. The agent works on behalf of the Importer
• Importer - This is you, the receiving end of this shipping process.

I. Door-to-door Courier Service Ideal for: <100 lb shipments that you need in a hurry (within a week). Also ideal for perishable shipments that need utmost speed and care.

Cost per pound: $4 - $8 depending on shipping distances

Advantages:

• Fast. Shipment will arrive within 7 days of leaving country of origin.
• Simple and convenient. When you use door-to-door courier service, the service acts as the Freight Forwarder and the Customs Broker (see process flow above). This simplifies the process for you as you don?t have to hire or deal with separate freight forwarder or customs broker.
• No need to clear customs yourself because the courier service has an in-house customs broker that will clear the shipment on your behalf (you will still be billed the import customs duty).
• No minimum shipment amount. Can ship 3 pieces of jewelry or 100 pairs of sandals.
• Courier hand-holds you on the process and paperwork they need from you (you still need to do some minimal paperwork; they can?t do EVERYTHING because they don?t have the data).

Disadvantages

• Highest cost per pound. (You can easily get cost and time estimate at the courier web site, e.g. http://www.fedex.com or http://www.ups.com.) This method is about $4 - $8 per pound depending on the country of origin.

II. Door-to-Airport Cargo

Ideal for: 100 lb to 250 lb of merchandise that you need in a hurry (within a week).

Cost per pound: $2 to $4 a pound.

Advantages:

• Fast. Shipment will arrive within 7 days of leaving country of origin.
• Paperwork for Air shipments is simpler than Ocean shipments.
• Cost is much cheaper than door-to-door courier: $2 - $4 a pound, about half the per pound cost of door-to-door courier.

Disadvantages:

• May need to clear customs yourself or hire an Import broker to clear customs for you
• If you end up using a Customs Broker, either because you are too scared to clear customs yourself or because it is a formal entry, the customs broker may eat up your savings. Example, I shipped 7 boxes of womens apparel this way. The invoice was $263. I had planned to clear customs myself, usually anything under $2,000 is considered informal entry and you can clear customs yourself. I was shocked to find out that women?s apparel has a lower cutoff of $250. Any women?s apparel above $250 MUST be entered under formal entry, therefore can only be cleared by an import broker. Had I only shipped $249 worth of women?s apparel, I could have saved myself $450 of import broker?s fees.
• You have to drive to the warehouse to pick your shipment up. Get box/cargo dimensions so you can make sure they fit in your car.

III. Ocean Cargo

Ideal for: Very large shipments that is not urgent.

Cost per Pound: $1 - $2 a pound

Advantages:

• The biggest advantage is cost. You can pack some New York apartments in a Full Container Load.

Disadvantages

• Ocean shipment takes the longest to ship: 4 to 8 weeks.
• The paperwork is more complex. Your supplier?s Freight Forwarder will take care of them but you should still stay on top of it.
• If you use wooden crates/packaging/frame as outer packaging, you will need to get them fumigated to make sure they don?t harbor living organisms. This certification document required to prove that the wooden crates have been fumigates is called: ISPM#15. Make sure your shipper knows about it.

Conclusion: every importer looks for the lowest shipping cost. Make sure you understand the advantages and disadvantages of each shipping method so you know what you are giving up for cost savings.

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