How to Ship Products From China to Amazon FBA Without Losing Weeks Along the Way
Paying a supplier in Shenzhen is the easy part. Moving what you paid for out of the factory, through a port, past customs, and onto a shelf in an Amazon warehouse is where most importers lose time and margin. What follows is the real sequence, the decisions you make at each stage, and the places where a cheap quote turns expensive.
The whole chain, in order
Nine things have to happen between your purchase order and your first sale:
- The factory produces and packs the goods.
- Someone inspects them and fixes what is broken.
- Cartons get Amazon-ready prep and labels.
- Freight is booked and the cargo is picked up.
- China export clearance.
- Transit by air, sea, or courier.
- Import clearance and duty payment in your country.
- Delivery to Amazon, or to a warehouse that stages it first.
- Amazon checks the shipment in and lists the units.
Steps 1–3 belong to your supplier, 4–7 to your forwarder, 8–9 to you. Shipments stall when two parties each assume the other owns a step. Write down who does what before the deposit goes out.
Step 1: Agree on Incoterms before you pay
The Incoterm sets where your supplier's responsibility stops and yours begins. It decides both the price on the quote and the risk you carry.
| Term | Supplier handles | You handle | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| EXW (ex works) | Production only | Pickup, export clearance, everything after | Rarely worth it in China; arranging a truck at a small factory is painful |
| FOB (free on board) | Delivery to the named Chinese port, export clearance | Freight, insurance, import clearance | The default choice for most buyers; pick the port closest to your factory |
| CIF | FOB plus freight and basic insurance to your port | Import clearance, duty, inland delivery | Cover is usually minimal and you cannot choose the forwarder |
| DDP (delivered duty paid) | Everything, door to door | Nothing on paper | Cheap DDP quotes often use a borrowed importer of record. You get no customs record, no duty drawback, and no claim if the goods are seized |
If a supplier pushes DDP because it is simpler, ask who the importer of record will be. If the answer is not your company or your own customs broker, you are carrying the risk without owning the paperwork.
Step 2: Choose the transport mode that fits
There is no single cheapest option. It depends on volume, deadline, and how much capital you can leave sitting in transit.
| Mode | Typical door-to-door | Sensible from | Rough cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Express (DHL/FedEx/UPS) | 3–7 days | 1–100 kg | $5–9 per kg | Best for samples and small restocks; duty and VAT still apply |
| Air freight | 8–15 days | 100–500 kg | $4–7 per kg | Cheaper than express at volume, but prep and clearance are still on you |
| Sea LCL | 30–45 days | 2–15 cbm | $70–150 per cbm plus fees | Destination charges (CFS, documentation, handling) can double the quote |
| Sea FCL (20ft / 40ft) | 25–40 days | 15+ cbm | Fixed per container | Lowest cost per unit once you fill a real share of the box |
| Rail to Europe | 20–30 days | 5+ cbm | Between air and sea | Only relevant for EU-bound stock |
Two calendar traps catch people every year. Freight rates climb from August into October as retailers stock up for Q4, and Chinese factories close for Golden Week in early October and for two to four weeks around Chinese New Year. Book before those windows or add three weeks of buffer.
Step 3: Meet Amazon's prep requirements before the cartons leave
Amazon will receive almost anything, then bill you for fixing it. Unplanned prep fees are charged per unit and add up fast on a 2,000-unit shipment. The rules that matter most:
- Every sellable unit needs an FNSKU label. If the product already carries a manufacturer barcode, it has to be covered or removed.
- Loose items go in poly bags with a suffocation warning printed on the bag.
- Bundles and multi-packs need their own label and often a "sold as set" note.
- Expiration dates are required on consumables, in a specific format.
- Cartons should stay under 50 lb (23 kg for most of Europe) unless they carry a team-lift label.
- Every carton needs the shipment ID and a box number.
- Country of origin must be marked on the product and the carton. "Made in China" is not optional.
If your factory cannot print FNSKU labels or bag to spec, a prep center in China or in your destination country can handle it. Budget roughly $0.30–$1.00 per unit.
Step 4: Customs paperwork decides how smooth the rest goes
Customs delays are rarely about the goods. They are about the documents.
- Commercial invoice and packing list: values, quantities, and unit prices must match what you actually paid. Undervaluing to cut duty is the fastest route to a penalty and a flagged importer record.
- HS codes: the wrong code means the wrong duty rate and possibly an anti-dumping flag. Have your forwarder confirm the code, then check it yourself.
- Importer of record: you, or a company you control. This is who customs bills and who has to hold a customs bond in the US.
- ISF 10+2: US-bound ocean freight needs this filed 24 hours before the vessel loads. Missing it triggers fines of $5,000 per violation.
- Tariffs: Chinese-origin goods can carry additional tariff layers on top of the standard rate. Ask for the current landed duty on your specific HS code rather than assuming last year's number.
- De minimis: the old $800 duty-free threshold is not something to plan around for China-origin shipments any more.
- Product compliance: CE or UKCA for Europe, FCC and any applicable CPC certificates for the US, FDA registration for food, cosmetics, and supplements.
Step 5: Amazon direct, or a 3PL first?
Shipping straight to a fulfillment center is the fewest-touch option, and it works well when the goods have passed inspection and are prepped correctly.
Routing through a third-party warehouse first costs extra but gives you a place to inspect, rework, photograph, and hold stock. You can release inventory in batches, which matters while you are still learning how fast a SKU sells, and you avoid paying Amazon storage on goods that may sit.
If you do ship direct, compare Amazon Partnered Carrier rates against your own forwarder's delivery quote. Also check whether Amazon splits your shipment across fulfillment centers. The Inventory Placement Service fee is sometimes worth paying to keep everything in one place.
A realistic timeline for a first order
| Stage | Time |
|---|---|
| Sample approval and deposit | Week 0 |
| Production | Weeks 1–4 |
| Pre-shipment inspection | End of week 4 |
| Freight booking and pickup | Week 5 |
| Ocean transit | Weeks 6–8 |
| Import clearance | Week 9 |
| Delivery to Amazon or 3PL | Weeks 9–10 |
| Amazon check-in | 3–10 days after arrival |
Air freight cuts four to five weeks off that. Nothing cuts the time it takes to run a proper inspection.
What to budget beyond the unit price
- Freight, both origin and destination charges
- Duty and any additional tariffs
- Inspection, typically $250–$400 per man-day
- FBA prep, if your factory does not do it
- Amazon referral fee (usually 15%) and fulfillment fee
- Storage, especially in Q4
- The cost of one failed shipment, because almost everyone has one
Five mistakes that cost the most
- Paying a deposit before anyone has seen the factory.
- Accepting a DDP quote that hides who the importer of record is.
- Skipping pre-shipment inspection to save $300, then finding 8% defects in the warehouse.
- Shipping oversized cartons or missing FNSKU labels.
- Booking peak-season ocean freight with no buffer, then paying air rates to fix it.
What to ask a forwarder before you book
- What is the all-in cost at destination, not just the origin quote?
- Who files ISF, and who pays the fine if it is late?
- What is the free time at the destination port, and what happens after it runs out?
- Can you prep and label for FBA, or do I need a separate vendor?
- What is the current duty rate for my HS code?
Globesino is a China-based team that handles supplier sourcing and factory audits, pre-shipment inspections, consolidation, FBA prep, and delivery to Amazon warehouses for overseas buyers. If you would rather have one local contact owning the Chinese side of the chain, that is the work we do.