Questions about shipping from China

White delivery is official import: a contract, invoice, packing list and customs declaration are issued for the cargo under your legal entity. Cargo is transport as part of a shared consignment without individual clearance for each shipment.

The practical difference comes down to three things: with white import, the goods are yours on paper, the input VAT goes to deduction, and you can sell to retail chains and enter tenders. Cargo is cheaper upfront, but there’s nothing to confirm the origin of the goods with. We ship both ways — we choose the format by calculating for your specific shipment, not by principle.

The basic set: a foreign trade contract with the supplier, invoice, packing list, the Chinese side's export declaration, and transport documents. Beyond that, depending on the product — certificates of conformity, permits, technical documentation.

We prepare the contract, invoice, and packing list, and export processing in China is on us too. Permits depend on the product and country: some come from the factory, some are prepared separately. On arrival, your broker files the customs declaration.

By default, your customs broker files the declaration. We handle logistics, prepare the full set of import documents and hand them to your broker.

You remain the importer and owner of the goods on paper, which means the VAT stays yours too. If you don’t have a broker, we’ll recommend trusted ones or arrange clearance as a separate service.

The process is the same in every country we ship to. Before dispatch a set of documents is put together: the contract with the supplier, the invoice, the packing list, the Chinese side's export declaration. On arrival the broker files the declaration, customs determines the HS code and the customs value, you pay the duty and VAT, and the shipment is released.

There are two places where things usually go wrong. The first is the HS code: it determines both the duty rate and whether permits are needed, and it's better to determine it before ordering, not once the shipment is already at the border. The second is the customs value: it's calculated from the contract price plus shipping to the border, and if the invoice looks understated, customs applies its own reference prices instead. Then you'll have to pay based on the amount they assign, not the amount actually paid.

You can calculate the payments in advance in the customs clearance calculator, and the full list of documents is in the section on documents for import.

It depends on the product and the country of import, and that's determined by the product's HS code before ordering. Permits are most often needed for equipment and electronics, children's goods, cosmetics and household chemicals, food, protective equipment, and anything that comes into contact with food or skin.

Who does what: we request the manufacturer's documents (technical description, test reports, and at some factories, ready-made international certificates) from the supplier. A national certificate or declaration of conformity is issued in your country by an accredited body — through a broker or directly. We don't do this and don't promise to: someone else's signature on a document about your product's safety is worth exactly as much as the responsibility of whoever put it there.

The order of steps that saves money: determine the HS code → find out whether a document is needed → ask the factory for test reports before paying for the shipment. Doing it the other way around — bring it in first, certify it later — means the cargo sits idle at a temporary storage warehouse, and sometimes means it can't be released at all.

Two models are common on the market. The first: the contractor imports the goods under their own legal entity, the client “doesn't become a party to foreign trade” and simply receives boxes. The second is ours: you are the importer, the contract and the customs declaration are in your company's name.

In the first model the goods aren't legally yours, the input VAT stays with the contractor, there's nothing to prove the goods' origin for retail chains and tenders, and if the contractor runs into problems, your shipment ends up inside someone else's setup. The price of our model is that a broker handles declaring the goods — your own, or one we bring in as a separate service.

Yes, and it's the most common scenario in 2026. Here's the order: we calculate your current shipment as white import — with duty, VAT and clearance — compare it with what you're paying now, and you see the difference before changing anything.

After that you need three things: a foreign trade contract with the supplier, a broker, and the product's HS code. We handle the first, and on the second we'll either advise or arrange clearance as a separate service, while the broker determines the third. It makes sense to run the first shipment small.

Yes, if the goods are for commercial use. The legal form doesn't exempt you from customs clearance: the declaration is filed, and duty and VAT are paid based on the product code.

Duty-free import thresholds apply to parcels sent by individuals and don't apply to commercial shipments. We work with shipments from 50 kilograms — that's already a commercial import.

It's not one figure but three components: duty based on the HS code, VAT, and the broker's fee. Duty depends on classification — for most consumer categories it falls in a range from zero to ten percent of the customs value.

VAT is calculated on the sum of “goods value + shipping + duty.” The exact rates for your product will be named by the broker after the code is determined — that's their job and their responsibility.

Yes: the contract, invoice, packing list, export documents. The customs declaration is obtained by your broker during clearance — it's issued in your company's name.

T1 is a transit procedure under which the shipment moves through the territory of the European Union to the place of clearance. On the air route to Ukraine, the shipment lands in Poland and then moves under T1.

T1 is paid separately from the per-kilogram rate and is calculated from the invoice value.

By one of two parameters — weight or volume, depending on the shipment's density. Volume is calculated by the formula length × width × height × 1.1, then density = weight ÷ volume. Whether the basis for the calculation is kilograms or cubic meters depends on the carrier's price list and is always stated in your quote.

On trucking routes, cargo is charged by kilograms up to a density of around 100 kg/m³, below that — by cubic meters. On air express there are no cubic meters at all: you always pay by kilograms there. The exact threshold varies between carriers, so it's stated explicitly in the quote.

We quote the rate for your shipment rather than publish a price list: it depends on the category, the density and the departure point, and it changed more than ten times during 2026. Components and mid-weight categories are cheaper, hard-to-ship goods dearer, and Hong Kong is cheaper than mainland China. A quote holds for 7 days. T1 is paid separately and calculated from the invoice value.

Timing: 4–7 days for the flight, plus another 3–4 days for pickup from Poland and customs. Sea freight takes from three months, calculated individually.

350 yuan per kilogram for the first weight and 120 yuan for each additional kilogram; for ordinary goods it can go down to 90 yuan. Delivery goes straight by air express to the recipient's address, with a lead time of 12–20 days depending on the destination.

Volumetric weight converts the space a shipment takes up into kilograms. Light but bulky cargo takes up more space in a truck or aircraft than it weighs: the carrier sells volume, not only tonnage.

So the rate is charged on whichever of the two values is higher. Pillows, plastic containers and packaging are almost always charged by volume, hardware and spare parts — by weight.

Without dimensions there's no way to know which parameter the calculation will use. A 300 kg shipment costs a different amount depending on the case: dense cargo is charged by weight, bulky cargo by cubic meters. A price quoted without dimensions changes at loading.

It's an adjustment for stacking. Cargo in the truck bed doesn't fit together perfectly: gaps remain between packages, and not everything can be stacked on top of each other. The truck carries the space actually taken up, not the sum of the boxes' individual volumes.

It can, if the actual weight and dimensions differ from what was declared. We calculate based on the actual receiving check and send photos and measurements the same day, before dispatch, so you learn about any discrepancy in advance, not from the invoice.

The exchange rate updates daily, and the calculation is made at the rate on the day of payment.

A bag and tape — $5 per package, a cardboard corner protector with bag and tape — $6, a wooden crate for small boxes — $15–25 per package, a pallet in a crate — $30 per cubic meter.

We choose the type of packaging based on the cargo and route at receiving, and name the cost before dispatch.

Five destinations: Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Russia and Europe. We pick up cargo anywhere in China, with consolidation at our own warehouse in Guangzhou.

The US and other countries open up on request: the route and rate are quoted separately, and we don't run a regular line there. If your destination isn't on the list — just ask, and a “no” will come right away, not after a week of back-and-forth.

Air to Ukraine: 4–7 days in flight plus 3–4 days for pickup from Poland and customs. Truck to Kazakhstan: 10–15 actual days. Truck to Uzbekistan: 15–20 days by the fast route and 20–35 by the economy route. Air to Europe: 12–20 days to the recipient's address.

These are real lead times, not marketing ones. For Russia, for example, carriers advertise the “fast route” as 12–15 days, while in practice it takes 15–20.

We let you know ourselves, before you ask: the reason and the new timeline. For a delay longer than a day — always.

Separately about customs: in 2026 it's unpredictable on every route, and inspections happen constantly. This depends neither on us nor on the broker, and it's more honest to say so upfront than to promise an exact date.

A lot, and it needs to be planned for in advance. Around Chinese New Year, factories and logistics shut down for about two weeks, and both before the shutdown and after reopening there's a peak in shipments: rates go up, and space on routes gets booked out.

The practical takeaway: a shipment you need in time for the season should go out before the holiday, not after.

It's when shipments from several clients travel together in one dispatch, and each pays only for their own space. It's cheaper than a dedicated truck, and you don't have to wait until you alone have a full load.

We consolidate shipments at our own warehouse in Guangzhou. The minimum for acceptance is 50 kilograms.

We accept from 50 kilograms. It’s more cost-effective to consolidate from 150 kg: on shipments around 50 kg, the rate per kilogram is higher. We don’t ship parcels and small consignments — that’s a deliberate choice, not a lack of capability.

On the day of receiving you get photos of every package and the actual measurements — before the shipment goes anywhere. After that the status updates at every stage, and the notification arrives on its own.

For each package: an overall shot, a close-up of the marking, a tape measure against the dimension, and a scale showing the reading. We separately record any damage, if there is any.

It depends on the cargo. A factory box is designed for the trip from the workshop to a warehouse, not for several thousand kilometers with reloading along the way. Fragile, expensive and oversized items usually need a crate. We inspect the cargo at receiving and name the packaging cost before dispatch.

Loss, theft and non-delivery are covered. The rate depends on the valuation of the cargo: 1.5% of value at a valuation up to $30 per kilogram, 2.5% — from $30 to $50, 3.5% — over $50. Insurance doesn’t cover damage to the cargo.

This is the main complaint in the industry, and we address it before shipping: it’s not the policy that protects against breakage, but proper packaging — crating, corner protectors, palletizing.

Every carrier has basic coverage without separate insurance, and it varies: $3 per kilogram on trucks to Russia, $10 — by air express, $5 on trucks to Kazakhstan. Carriers don’t insure cargo valued above $80–100 per kilogram at all.

Condition is documented with photos at receiving and at handover — this is the basis for any claim against the carrier. The same manager who handled your shipment handles the case: they find out the cause, and name the next steps and the timeline.

To be honest about the limits: the insurance policy itself doesn't cover breakage, so the packaging question is settled before dispatch, not after an incident.

There's no hard limit, but past a certain size a package is priced separately. A single package over one and a half cubic meters comes with a surcharge, and a pallet over two cubic meters is priced individually: such packages take up more room in the truck than they weigh.

What you need to tell us for the calculation: the dimensions of each package at its outermost points, the weight of each package, and whether a second tier can be stacked on top. That last point affects the price more than it seems — a package you can't stack anything on takes up the truck's entire height.

Separately, on the minimum: our threshold is 50 kilograms per shipment. We don't carry small parcels of a few kilograms, and that's a deliberate decision, not a temporary limit. More on oversized cargo — on the cargo types page.

Yes. We pay your supplier in yuan and dollars. We don't charge a fee for a regular payment — we give you the exchange rate. For an official contract, payment through our Hong Kong company works: 1.5–2.2% depending on the monthly volume.

Market intermediaries charge 3–20% for this service.

Yes, that's a separate format: purchasing from a table with a large number of items and small amounts. The fee is 0.5–2% — it covers the work of processing dozens of individual payments.

Yes. Send us the link and the seller's contact — we'll get in touch, confirm availability, and arrange pickup to our warehouse. Pickup within China is charged at cost, or with a $20–50 markup.

We're not responsible for the quality of goods from the supplier: our responsibility starts at receiving at the warehouse. Checking the goods before dispatch is a separate service — we'll take a look and send photos.

Yes. Checking a company and its goods is a separate service, and it's worth arranging before you pay the supplier, not after.

The main flow is consumer goods and components: clothing and textiles, footwear, furniture and fittings, tableware, tools, auto parts, lighting equipment, packaging, industrial components, equipment, raw materials and supplies. For these categories the only question is about density and packaging — they affect the price, not whether we can carry it at all.

A separate group depends on the destination: equipment and electronics, batteries, liquids and chemicals, medicines and supplements, glass. Here carriers' restrictions are broader than the legal ones and differ by country, so we don't give a general answer — only one for a specific item and a specific route. A table by destination is on the cargo types page.

We don't carry dual-use goods on any route except the Ukrainian one. We take liquids and chemicals only in volumes of 500 kilograms or more: small shipments of 50–100 kg aren't cost-effective.

On the Russian route in 2026, motor vehicles are difficult, and gases, freon and similar items are only taken in large volumes. For a specific item it's best to ask: restrictions change along with carriers' rules.

Branded goods under official import require confirmation of the right to use the trademark — without it, the shipment will be held at customs. We don't carry copies or counterfeits.

If you're shipping goods under your own trademark, the documents for it need to be prepared in advance, together with the contract.

Five steps, the first two of which take one business day.

1. You send the shipment details — what the goods are, the weight and dimensions of the packages, the city of origin in China and the destination city. A messenger message, a form on the site, or an email all work.
2. You get a quote — the cost, the timeline and the shipping method. During working hours — weekdays 8:00–20:00, Saturday until 14:00 Kyiv time — the first reply comes within 15 minutes, and a full quote takes up to two hours for a non-standard route.
3. You confirm and get the warehouse address with the personal marking for your shipment. You give the marking to the supplier: it's how the shipment is identified as yours at the warehouse.
4. The supplier delivers the cargo to the warehouse, and our staff member recounts the packages, weighs, measures and photographs them on the day of receiving.
5. You get an invoice based on the actual weight and volume and after payment — dispatch.

The freight forwarding agreement is signed before the first shipment, not after: everything else rests on it.

The manager gives you the address of our warehouse in Guangzhou together with the confirmation of your request — along with the personal marking for your shipment. There's deliberately no separate “general address” on the site: without marking, the shipment can't be identified at the warehouse, and unmarked boxes are the most common cause of delays.

The supplier usually delivers the cargo to the warehouse themselves, and within China that's most often free or costs next to nothing. If the supplier refuses, we'll arrange pickup: at cost, or with a $20–50 markup depending on the city and volume.

For each package separately: length, width and height at the outermost points, and gross weight. Not the total shipment weight, but per package — this affects both the calculation and how it's loaded.

On contents: the name of the product in plain language, the number of units, the material and its purpose. This isn't a formality — the name determines whether the product falls under route restrictions and whether it needs permits. “Miscellaneous” or “consumer goods” in the request leads to a recalculated cost after receiving.

It's worth mentioning separately whether a second tier can be stacked on your packages. A package you can't stack anything on top of takes up the truck's entire height and is priced differently.

To be honest: there's no single tracking number with a map, like postal services have, for consolidated cargo. Your shipment travels together with other people's cargo, gets reloaded at consolidation warehouses and changes transport — there's simply no way to get a tracking number that would show something the whole way.

Instead, status updates arrive on their own at five points: receiving at the warehouse (with photos), the shipment leaving, crossing the border out of China, arrival at customs, and readiness for handover. Between those points you can ask your manager for the status — you'll get an answer from the same person who's been handling your shipment.

We're building a personal account with tracking, but we won't promise a launch date: until it's ready, the process described above is how it works.

The name of the goods, the weight and dimensions of the boxes, the city of origin and destination. If you need door-to-door delivery — the exact address. We can also calculate from a photo of the cargo or a link to the product, but an exact quote is only possible with the actual weight and dimensions.

During working hours — weekdays 8:00–20:00, Saturday until 14:00 Kyiv time — the first reply comes within 15 minutes. That's not “let me calculate it now,” but a manager's name and the next question: the actual quote can take up to two hours if the route is non-standard.

None. Customs payments never appear in our invoice at all: you pay duty and VAT during clearance through your own broker, and the importer — that is, you — pays them. Our invoice covers only logistics and warehouse services.

Import VAT itself is calculated at your country's rate: Ukraine 20%, Kazakhstan 16%, Uzbekistan 12%, Russia 22%. You can calculate the full cost of import together with duty in the customs clearance calculator.

The invoice is calculated from the receiving report, not from your original request. If the actual weight or dimensions differ from what was declared — which is normal when a supplier packed things differently — we recalculate and agree on the difference before issuing the invoice.

That's exactly the order: first we agree, then the invoice. An invoice with an unexpected amount at handover is a dispute, not a deal. A commercial offer is valid for 7 days: in 2026 carriers' rates have changed more than ten times, and promising yesterday's price a month later would be a lie.

Settlement currency is US dollars. Payment in another currency is converted at the rate on the invoice date, and that rate is stated right in the invoice: a rate quoted verbally doesn't exist.

Payment is due before the shipment is handed over. Terms for regular clients are discussed separately. Customs payments aren't included in this amount and are paid to your broker.

In Ukraine, under official import, a truck delivers the shipment to you: to Kyiv — $2,900, other regions are quoted separately. To Europe, delivery goes straight to the recipient's address — there's no need to pick it up from a warehouse.

For Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Russia, handover can happen at the recipient's warehouse or as delivery to an address — that's quoted separately for the route. We don't have a separate “door-to-door delivery” service with a per-city price list: every case is quoted for the specific address.

Multimodal transport is when a shipment moves by different modes of transport under one contract: for example, by sea to a port, then by truck to the recipient's warehouse. For the client it's one route, one party responsible, and one set of documents.

We combine modes when it comes out ahead on time or money, but we always start with a calculation: a direct route on a single mode of transport is often cheaper than a combined one. We show the comparison before dispatch, not after.

Yes, we work under a freight forwarding agreement — it's signed before the first shipment. The agreement sets out the subject matter, the payment procedure, the timelines, the parties' liability and the limits of that liability: what we're responsible for, and what the importer is.

We spell out separately what the industry usually stays quiet about: you are the importer of record on the documents, so the goods and the input VAT stay yours, and by default your own broker handles declaring them. Need it done differently — we'll arrange clearance as a separate service, and in the contract that's a separate item with its own liability.

Settlement currency is US dollars. The invoice is issued after the shipment is received at the warehouse, based on the actual weight and volume, and is paid before the shipment is handed over to the recipient. The exchange rate used to convert another currency is stated right in the invoice.

Paying a supplier in China is a separate service and separate money: we handle it from our own Chinese account in yuan, and it's never mixed with the logistics invoice. Customs payments are never included in our invoice — the importer pays them to their broker.

Terms for regular clients, including deferred payment, are discussed separately after several shipments.

Delivery Pro China runs regular supply chains from China for businesses: we take care of the supplier, payment, the warehouse in Guangzhou, checking the goods, and delivery. We've been operating since 2023, founded by Yuriy and Evgeniy. The shipment is received, recounted and photographed by our own staff member in Guangzhou, not a contractor we called up.

One manager will handle your shipment — the same person at the quote stage, at receiving, and at sorting things out if something goes wrong. We don't have a “first the seller, then someone else's operator, then no one” setup. You know right away exactly who you're working with: the manager's name arrives in the very first reply to your request, not after payment.

What we don't show today is public reviews with names and case studies with numbers: clients don't like disclosing their suppliers and volumes, and we won't make them up. What you can check right now is described in the section on how to choose a contractor: it also lists eight questions worth asking us and any competitor.

Four checks you can do before paying, and they cost nothing. First — ask them to show you the warehouse in China on a video call right now, not a “warehouse photo” pulled from the internet. Second — ask for a written quote broken down by line item: rate, volumetric weight, packaging, pickup, insurance. A company that quotes a single lump sum and refuses to break it down is leaving itself room to raise the price after receiving.

Third — ask who acts as the importer and who files the declaration. If the answer is “we take care of everything,” find out whose company the shipment is registered under and what you'll actually get. Fourth — ask for the contract before paying and read the section on liability and how claims are handled.

Reviews are deliberately last on this list: they're the easiest thing to fake. A detailed breakdown — how to choose a contractor for shipping from China.

The calculation is simple: the shipping cost is divided by the number of units in the shipment. An example at our rate — a mid-category 300 kg shipment by air to Ukraine, 2,000 units. At our rate, logistics in this example works out to about $2 per unit. At a retail price of $15, logistics accounts for 13% of the retail price.

The practical takeaway: logistics' share of cost depends on the cargo's density more than on the rate. Dense goods are charged by weight, light and bulky ones by cubic meters, and on the same 300 kilograms the difference can be several times over. So the first question when calculating isn't “what's your rate,” but “how much does my box weigh and how much space does it take up.”

You can run the numbers yourself in the cost calculator.