Sea Freight or Air Freight for Apparel from China?

The basic rule for apparel from China: sea freight costs less per piece, air freight is faster. Which one works for your order depends on packed volume and weight, the value of the goods and the date by which they have to reach you. This guide explains how freight costs come about, which transit times are realistic and what matters when the goods are packed.

How long do sea freight, air freight and express take from China?

For sea freight DDP we plan 50 to 65 days to your address, for air freight about 15 days. With our express option the goods usually reach Germany about 5 days after production is finished. Production comes first and takes between 3 days and 4 weeks, depending on the article.

These times cover the whole journey. With sea freight that means collection from the producer, export clearance, waiting for departure, transshipment along the way, discharge at the destination port, customs clearance and final delivery. With air freight the flight itself is short, but airport handling and customs still take a few days. Transit times quoted by airlines and couriers are best cases. We add a buffer and give you a realistic delivery date that we do everything we can to meet.

Around Chinese New Year and the holiday week at the start of October, collection and export clearance can be delayed, and freight rates often rise before these holidays. How to plan for those periods is covered in our article on Chinese New Year.

When does sea freight make sense?

Sea freight makes sense when the quantity is large and the deadline leaves enough lead time. For a collection that goes on sale in a few months, or for basics you reorder all year, it is usually the cheapest option. The more volume a shipment has, the bigger the saving per piece.

It is still not cheaper by default. Every shipment carries fixed costs for port handling, clearance and delivery. For small or very light shipments these fixed costs weigh so heavily that air freight can end up costing the same per piece, or even less. In borderline cases we calculate both routes for you.

LCL or FCL: shared container or your own?

With LCL (less than container load) your goods share a container with other shippers. You pay by cubic metre or by weight, whichever is higher, with one tonne counted as one cubic metre. Clothing takes up a lot of space for its weight, so for textiles it is almost always the volume that counts. LCL takes a little longer because the goods are consolidated with other shipments at the port of origin and separated again at the destination.

With FCL (full container load) you book a whole container at a fixed price, however full it is. A 20-foot container has about 33 cubic metres of internal space, a 40-foot container about 67. The usable space is somewhat less because of carton sizes. As a rough rule of thumb it is worth comparing with a full container from about 15 cubic metres. From that size FCL can be cheaper and usually moves through the port faster, since nothing has to be repacked.

When is air freight the better choice?

Air freight is the better choice when a date is fixed and a delay would cost more than the higher freight. Typical cases are goods for an event or trade fair, a launch with a set date, or restocking an article that has just sold out. Light items with a high value, such as printed T-shirts in a small run, carry the air freight per piece well.

Air freight rates are tiered by weight. Larger shipments pay less per kilogram, and very small ones are subject to minimum weights. It is therefore worth putting several articles from one order into a single shipment instead of sending them separately.

Express for samples and urgent small quantities

Express runs through courier companies with their own networks and is the fastest option. We use it mainly for samples and for small quantities that are very urgent. Per kilogram it costs considerably more than standard air freight, so for a full production run it only pays off with small quantities.

Splitting: the urgent part by air, the rest by sea

A split often makes sense. Part of the goods, for example the core sizes or the stock for the first few weeks, goes by air, and the rest follows by sea. You can sell early and only pay the expensive freight on part of the order. The split has to be decided before packing so that each part gets its own cartons and its own paperwork.

What determines freight costs?

Freight is charged on the chargeable weight, and for clothing that is often the volumetric weight. You always pay for whichever is higher, actual weight or volumetric weight.

• Air freight: volume in cubic centimetres divided by 6,000 gives the volumetric weight in kilograms.
• Express couriers: usually divided by 5,000, so volume counts even more.
• Sea freight LCL: cubic metres or tonnes, whichever is higher.
• Sea freight FCL: a fixed price per container.

An example: a carton measuring 60 × 40 × 40 centimetres has a volumetric weight of 16 kilograms in air freight. If it holds 50 T-shirts in 190 gsm jersey at roughly 0.2 kilograms each, the carton weighs about 11 kilograms on the scale. You are still charged for 16. A 350 gsm hoodie weighs roughly twice as much as one of those T-shirts and also takes up more room. Caps with a structured front are especially light for their size and are almost always charged by volumetric weight in air freight.

Carton sizes and the way goods are packed therefore have a direct effect on freight. Half-empty cartons, bulky individual packaging or rigid gift boxes add volume without adding product. A reliable freight rate needs final packing data: carton dimensions, number of cartons, gross and net weight, pick-up location and delivery address. Until then every freight estimate is an assumption. Rates themselves can change considerably within a few weeks. How freight, duty and import VAT add up to a cost per piece is shown in our article on import costs from China.

How should goods from China be packed and marked?

Each carton should be marked on the outside so that the warehouse, customs and the recipient can identify it without opening it. The details on the carton must match the packing list. If carton numbers, quantities or weights differ between carton, packing list and commercial invoice, customs will ask questions and the shipment sits still.

• Consignee and delivery address
• Carton number in the form 1/12, 2/12 and so on
• Order number, article number or SKU, and colour
• Size breakdown and quantity in the carton
• Gross and net weight and carton dimensions
• Country of origin "Made in China"

One polybag per item protects against dust and moisture and makes picking easier for you later. Cartons should be made of sturdy export board and stay light enough for one person to carry. Sea freight adds moisture to the list: on the long journey through different climate zones, condensation can form inside the container. Desiccant in the carton and well-sealed bags help against it. Addresses on shipping labels should avoid special characters, because a German "ß", for example, is often printed wrongly.

The care label with the fibre composition must be sewn in before shipping. If it is missing, customs may raise questions at import. Which details the label has to show is covered in our article on textile labelling.

What are the risks, and is transport insurance worth it?

The most common problems are delays and damaged cartons. Loss is rarer. Delays come from fully booked vessels, transshipment, weather, port congestion or a customs inspection. Once the goods have been handed to the carrier, the delivery address usually cannot be changed, so it should be final beforehand.

Shipping lines, airlines and couriers are only liable up to legally limited amounts per kilogram or per package. For clothing that amount is often well below the value of the goods. Sea freight also has general average: if a ship in distress has to sacrifice cargo or pay for salvage, every cargo owner pays a share, even if their own goods arrive intact. Marine cargo insurance covers these cases. If you wish, we insure your shipment this way for the entire journey.

How does DS Trading organise shipping?

We agree the mode of transport with you for each order once the packing data is fixed. In close cases we calculate sea and air side by side. Before loading, our own team checks the goods at the producer. The remaining 40 per cent of the order value is due once the shipping document is issued: the bill of lading for sea freight, the air waybill for air freight.

We deliver DDP, cleared to your address in the EU, with an invoice from Germany. Switzerland is supplied DAP. What DDP covers in detail is explained in DDP import from China, and the rules on customs numbers and tax at the border are in EORI and import VAT. Your European contact gets in touch on their own if a date moves. The process is described on the pages shipping & logistics and customs clearance. If you import larger quantities regularly, see textile import for businesses.