Many individuals and businesses importing from China to around the world who have not tried sea freight before are often intimidated by it. They think that sea freight takes a long time and requires a lot of documentation, paperwork, an import license and the hiring of a customs broker which is full of hassle and hidden costs. The idea of having to go to the port to collect your goods is also intimidating as often large shipments are too huge and heavy for a single individual to be able to receive and transport them.
However, some of these preconceptions of sea freight not necessarily true. When shipping by sea freight from China to many countries around the world, shipping normally takes about a month, sometimes even less. No doubt one month is a lot longer than the few days that air shipping normally takes, but if you do plan your shipment in advance and purchase from your Chinese suppliers a month or two in advance of when you will need your products, you can make shipping by sea freight from China work for you.
This one month time frame is also much shorter that some of the shipping times offered by shipping modes like for example China Post, where shipping can often take two months or more. Furthermore, when shipping by sea freight from China to many countries around the world, door to door service is also offered which means you will not have to go to the port to collect the goods yourself. You can check with us if we offer door to door sea freight shipping to your country by emailing us at contact@cnxtrans.com.
Why it is Worthwhile to Buy in Advance and then Ship from China by Sea Freight
One of the most important considerations for individuals and businesses buying and shipping goods from China is to minimize costs. If you're buying in large quantities from China, the shipping method you use can have a huge impact on your overall shipping costs. Air shipping may be fast but it is also expensive. This is also exacerbated by the Covid 19 pandemic in 2020 which has caused shipping costs and in particular air shipping costs around the world to go up.
Before the 2020 Covid pandemic, for a moderate sized shipment, air freight generally cost up to 3 times that of sea freight. After the pandemic, for a moderate sized shipment, air freight generally cost up to 5 times that of a sea freight.
Before the 2020 Covid pandemic, for a large sized shipment, air freight generally cost up to 4 times that of sea freight. After the pandemic, for a large sized shipment, air freight generally cost up to 6-7 times that of sea freight. The pandemic has had a bigger impact on air freight shipping costs than sea freight shipping costs and therefore we generally recommend to our customers to ship by sea freight whenever possible in order to minimize business costs.
Plan your Shipments in Advance
For large shipments, we are talking about thousands of dollars in savings here when you ship by sea freight instead of air freight. Over time, this can make a huge impact on your business and profit margins. Therefore at CNXtrans we always strongly recommend to our customers to plan their shipments in advance and buy their products in China as early as possible so that they can enjoy the huge cost savings that come with sea freight. If they wait till the last minute to purchase, they forego the cost savings of sea freight and are forced to ship by air freight due to the time constraints.
Naturally if it's just a very small shipment we are talking about, then it would not be possible to ship by sea freight and the only way to ship would be by air. Therefore if the shipment is small, there may not be as strong a need to plan the shipment as far in advance. However, as your business grows and you need to purchase inventory from China in bulk, it gradually becomes more worthwhile to plan to ship from China by sea freight.
Full Door to Door Service saves you a lot of hassle - enjoy zero hidden costs
Furthermore, CNXtrans offers sea freight shipping routes from China to many countries around the world on a door-to-door basis which saves you the hassle of having to hire a customs broker and pay for many hidden costs once your goods have arrived at the destination port. With door to door sea freight shipping via CNXtrans, all costs are paid for upfront beforehand and the entire shipment is handled for you on a door to door basis without you having to worry about hidden costs and unexpected surprises once the shipment has arrived in your country.
Door to door sea freight shipping via CNXtrans therefore gives you a peace of mind when importing in bulk from China to your country and can be as hassle free as shipping by air courier from China if you use door to door shipping.
Not sure if your shipment is large enough to qualify for sea freight from China? Email CNXtrans at contact@cnxtrans.com to find out. For shipments from China to USA, Canada and Australia, shipments a small as 25kg can now qualify for sea freight shipping.
Visit www.cnxtrans.com to find out more about shipping from China.
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