Shipping From China To US Cost : The Definitive Guide

Shipping From China To US Cost : The Definitive Guide

October 10, 2024

Most likely, millions of people thought about the following business model: importing high-quality goods from China and selling them in various US markets.

Although Alibaba allows finding product suppliers in other parts of the world without much problem, most individuals give up on this company idea due to unfamiliarity with the procedures of Shipping from China to US Cost.

With regard to the cost of shipping from China to the US, most of the suppliers on Alibaba are not experts in all methods of delivery, meaning that they can overcharge their services.

Others would prefer you use your own freight forwarder to pick cargo up either from their warehouse or the port in China.

To those starting to import stuff from China, that could sound like quite a discouraging statement.

In the light of this, we wrote this article to give an estimated presentation of the Shipping from China to US Cost of goods, using seven various means.

Doing the math yourself, you could estimate the value of something and come up with which way of shipping would be cheaper.

Express Shipping from China to US Cost

Express Shipping from China to US Cost

FedEx, UPS, and DHL all charge a premium for their services, and that needs to be factored in.

If your supplier or freight forwarder ships a lot of goods each year, then you can receive a discount from the express companies.

You could find a discount express agent and have him ship the items to the US if your Chinese supplier does not frequently use FedEx for shipment of goods from China to the US.

Hence, you will lower your costs of shipping from China to US Cost.

This means that, other than the season and how much space is available in the plane; Furthermore, the price of express delivery also occurs due to the agents’ discounts, which are different from each other.

Coming towards the FedEx delivery cost estimate.

Even though the rates of FedEx deliveries change, the prices of the company never get too high or too low.

The price I referenced in this post, together with the prices by those other influencers mentioned above, you can easily work out the actual cost of delivery to your address.

FedEx has two options: International Priority and International Economy. IP has a faster transit time compared to IE. Internet Protocol normally takes 2-3 working days, while Internet Explorer often takes 4-6 days.

I call anything weighing below or equal to 20 kilograms my “little package” or “cargo.” To get an idea of just how much it cost, refer to the tables below.

First and foremost, here are the instructions concerning the relatively light package – weighing in at about 21 kilograms:

0.5-5.5 Kilogram

Cost $

6.5-11KG

Cost $

11.5-16.5KG

Cost $

17-25.5KG

Cost 

0.7

26

6

98

11.7

169

18

242

1

31

6.5

103

12

175

17.5

248

1.5

38

7

110

12.5

182

18

254

2

45

7.8

117

14

189

18.7

262

2.5

51

8

123

13.5

195

19

267

3

57

8.5

130

14

202

20

274

3.5

64

9

136

14.5

208

20.5

280

4

71

9.7

144

16

216

4.5

78

11

149

15.7

222

5

85

10.7

157

17

229

5.5

90

11

162

16.5

234

FedEx IE (<21KG)

0.5-5.5 Kilogram

Cost $

6.5-11KG

Cost $

11.5-16.5KG

Cost $

17-25.5KG

Cost 

0.5

24

6

72

11.5

112

17

161

1

29

6.5

77

12

127

17.5

167

1.5

36

7

82

12.5

131

18

171

2

43

7.5

87

13

136

18.5

175

2.5

50

8

92

13.5

139

19

180

3

53

8.5

97

14

144

20

186

3.5

56

9

102

14.5

148

20.5

190

4

61

9.5

107

15

152

4.5

66

10

112

15.5

152

5

70

10.5

115

16

155

5.5

71

11

119

16.5

158

IP delivery costs more than IE, according to the data above.

When it comes to mailing product samples, FedEx IP is the finest option. However, FedEx IE is the best option for CARGO >21 KG.

FedEx does not carry lithium batteries, powder, or liquids.  Certain express agents can assist you if you’re shipping to Hong Kong first.

Then have FedEx or DHL of Hong Kong send them to the United States. However, shipping delicate items, which often cost more than $10/kg to ship (or more), is a significant expense.

What is the All-included cost of air freight to the United States?

cost of air freight to the United States

You can use air freight if the weight of the cargo is more than 500 kgs. Air freight costs are another factor.

Quote for the entire process of Shipping from China to US. while working with an Alibaba supplier or a freight forwarder.

Price is inclusive of freight from China. Price from Airport/Port in China to your location. As indicated above, an air freight shipment process has three major steps.

One of the most critical choices to be made long in advance is whether to have your cargo delivered right at your front door.

Sometimes, the freight forwarder or supplier gives you a quote with shipping costs from origin in China to the final destination.

Rates would seem to be very low cost, but there are some other additional costs which may be unknown to you.

Customs clearance, domestic land costs of some countries are not taken into consideration. The freight rate such as Airfreight is similar to Express and real time-pricing.

Allow me to give you an approximate cost for air freight: for shipments weighing in excess of 500 kg, the cost by air freight is about $5.5 per kilogram.

I’ll be providing the express price of $6.5/kg here so that you can draw an easy comparison.

You should know that the price I quoted you does not include China’s local logistics costs.

(From the China factory to the China airport), when it comes to air freight, the shipping time will be counted from the time it takes to book the shipment space + flight time + local delivery time.

It usually takes between four to seven days.

Sea freight to the US from China

Sea freight to the US from China

Now, let’s move on to ocean freight.

Ocean freight is the most complicated mode of transportation. You have nothing to be afraid of, though, because this tutorial will guide you through it step by step.

If you have more than two cubic meters of goods, then you should opt for sea freight.

You will get an all-inclusive price if you want to compare prices and estimate delivery costs.

The price that we discussed does not include the cost of local logistics in China but covers the cost right to your door.

NO HURRY, I am not done yet. Let me show you something else.

Sea freight cargo is transported in containers.

The freight forwarder will be able to assist you if the volume of your goods is less than 15 CBM and the volume of your goods is less than 15 CBM.

This means that because your cargo is less than the volume a container can hold, you will need to share a container with other importers. LCL calculates freight in the unit CBM.

When the cargo you have is enough to fill more than one container, you’re dealing with a full container load .

The weight of a container is considered when freight is being calculated. Most of the time, LCL Shipping from China to US Cost is cheaper.

Moreover, there are three basic types of container models:

Full container load

20” GP

40” GP

40” HQ

CBM contained

28CBM

58CBM

68CBM

What is the All-Included cost of sea freight to the United States?

Again, take the following pricing as indicative to help you in estimating your Shipping from China to US Cost.

In the case of  LCL (Less than container load) , I will give you prices spanning across western, middle, and eastern parts of the U.S.

However, based on the costs from the Port of Los Angeles as our reference, we can only give you an estimate of the FCL(Full Container Load shipping)  price, for the prices shipped from China to different U.S. ports are too wide. Besides, there are more than hundreds of ports in the United States.

Also, the rates of marine freights are set in real time by the shipping business.

You can ask for a certain price quote for your port from our customer service representative, and they will get you in contact with the shipping company and get you a quote updated in real time.

Below is a table showing CBM and Container shipping rate:

SA

3-5CBM

5-10CBM

10 CBM+

20”GP   

40”HQ

US West ($)

310

240

180

3700

4200

Cen.am ($)

340

290

240

US East ($)

370

320

260

And here is how you can calculate the cost of shipping your goods.

Final Words

China's commercial port

We hope the above comprehensive article was able to provide you with a wealth of information and ideas for minimizing shipping from China to US costs while finding the best method of shipping your items. Second, we were able to take out the misconceptions that you had regarding the subject.
Just leave a quick comment below and your questions will be answered in the best way. We are here to ensure that you have obtained all the information that you need

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