How to choose a China delivery contractor
The market looks the same: everyone offers “turnkey delivery,” a “guarantee,” and a rate per kilogram. The differences start where people usually don’t look until the first problem. Below: three types of companies and how they actually differ, eight questions worth asking any contractor before you pay, and seven importer fears with an answer on exactly what to check for each. Check us too.
Three types of companies, and they solve different tasks
A review of public websites of contractors on China—CIS routes shows three business models. They look similar in advertising and behave differently once something happens to the cargo.
| Type | Who it suits | What you pay with |
|---|---|---|
| Parcel operator | private purchases and small shipments, when you need tracking and a pickup network | rate per kilogram is several times higher; no documents for business |
| Classic cargo | regular volumes, when price decides everything and documents aren’t needed | the goods aren’t yours on paper; no VAT to offset; nothing to show if lost |
| Full-cycle logistics | official import, sales to legal entities and retail chains, tenders | more expensive upfront; rates are often not published at all |
We’re closest to the third type, but what we sell isn’t an import format — it’s depth: supplier, payment, warehouse in Guangzhou, goods inspection, and delivery, all through one operator. We haul it ourselves, with our own warehouse and our own routes; official or cargo is chosen by calculation for your task. A good place to be, as long as the promise is backed by something besides the word “guarantee.”
Practical takeaway: first decide which type you need, and only then compare rates. A parcel operator’s rate and a cargo rate are prices for different things, and comparing them makes no sense.
Eight questions before you pay
The list is built from what importers actually base their choice on. It works against any contractor, including us: the right-hand column shows what counts as a normal answer, not what we’d like to hear.
| Question | What counts as a normal answer |
|---|---|
| Do you haul it yourself or hand it off further? | their own warehouse and their own routes are named; if they hand it off, they say to whom exactly |
| Is there a warehouse in China, and can you see it? | photo or video of intake, storage areas, packing — not a render, not a stock photo |
| Who files the customs declaration, and whose name is the cargo entered under? | a direct answer, not “we’ll take care of everything.” This determines whether the goods are yours |
| What makes up the price? | broken down by line: transport, packing, insurance, documents, delivery |
| How is weight calculated, and what is volumetric weight? | the formula and density threshold are named; you can check the calculation yourself |
| What does the insurance cover, and what doesn’t it cover? | it says what not covered. “Everything is covered” is not true in this business |
| Is there a manager who speaks both Russian and Chinese? | live dialogue before the deal, not correspondence through a translator |
| Can you place a small trial order? | yes, at a clear price and without being talked into shipping full volume right away |
The most telling one is the sixth. A company that answers “everything is insured” to a question about insurance either doesn’t know its own terms or is counting on you not to read them. Carriers have basic coverage, it differs by route, and breakage and water damage are covered neither by it nor by voluntary insurance. It’s an inconvenient answer, and it’s the correct one.
Seven importer fears and what to check for each
The wording is market wording, not ours: this is how these fears sound in discussions and blacklists. For each one: what actually lowers the risk, and what only looks convincing.
| Fear | What to check |
|---|---|
| The cargo will disappear along with the money | a legal entity and a contract, not messenger correspondence; who the payment recipient is |
| The cargo will get damaged during transshipment | what packing is offered for your goods, and whether its cost is named before shipping |
| They’ll recalculate the weight and demand extra payment | whether volumetric weight was explained before shipping, and whether they show the actual measurements |
| The goods won’t be checked | exactly what’s included in intake, and what is a separate service. The line has to be named |
| The manager won’t understand | who communicates with the factory, and in what language |
| Reviews can’t be trusted | photos of the delivered goods, open names, live profiles. A screenshot of a chat is not proof |
| It’ll get stuck at customs | whether the HS code is determined before shipment, and whether the need for certificates is checked |
A separate note on reviews. The market has learned to fake them: a screenshot of a chat takes a minute to make. A review is considered genuine when it includes a photo of the goods received, the names aren’t hidden, and the author’s profile is visible and real. By this standard we don’t win today: we have no collected reviews, and we won’t write “hundreds of happy clients” in their place.
How to compare rates so the comparison actually means something
Nine calculations out of ten that an importer brings in for comparison aren’t comparable at all. Not because anyone is lying — it’s because they cover different things.
- Whether pickup from the supplier is included. A rate “from the warehouse in Guangzhou” and a rate “from the factory door” differ by the cost of domestic transport within China.
- From what weight the rate applies. “From 30 kg” and “from 300 kg” are different prices for the same shipment.
- What about packing. Crating for fragile cargo can cost more than the difference in the rate.
- Charged by weight or by volume. On volumetric cargo, the winner isn’t the one with the lower rate, but the one with the higher density threshold.
- Whether documents and customs payments are included. This is the main line item that makes white-channel import look more expensive than cargo.
- Delivery to an address or to a terminal. The final leg sometimes costs a quarter of the whole shipment.
You can check the logic of any calculation yourself: volume with a 1.1 coefficient, density, and the tariff threshold. If a contractor names a price per kilogram without asking the dimensions, the price will change at loading.
There’s a separate tool for comparing the white-channel scheme with cargo: customs clearance calculator it calculates both schemes in full, including duty, VAT, and offset.
When we’re not a fit for you
The list is short and honest. If your case is on it, talking to us will save you time only by ending quickly.
- A shipment under 50 kilograms. Our threshold. We don’t haul parcels or small shipments — that’s a decision, not a lack of capability.
- A one-off shipment with no plans to repeat it. The hassle of a contract and a broker won’t pay off for either of us.
- You’re not a VAT payer, the goods carry a high duty, and you sell to individuals for cash. Official import is pure extra cost for you, with no benefit at all; in that case we’ll offer cargo instead of the white-channel scheme, and we’ll say so during the estimate.
- You need turnkey customs clearance under someone else’s legal entity. We don’t do this: you remain the importer on paper, the goods and input VAT are yours. The filing itself can be handed to us as a separate service, but the declaration is still under your legal entity.
- Goods on the stop list or requiring certification the supplier won’t have.
In the first two cases the right move is to come back once volume grows or becomes regular. In the third, there’s no need to come back: we’ll compare both schemes on your shipment and go with whichever format wins on cost. We say so during the estimate, before we run the numbers.
What we can’t prove today
Of the eight criteria above, we clearly win on two: we haul it ourselves, and we speak the factory’s language. We may win on four more, but haven’t backed that up with anything yet.
| Criterion | How it stands now |
|---|---|
| Own warehouse in China | the warehouse in Guangzhou exists; photos and video haven’t been taken yet |
| Company transparency | years in business and founders are named; no staff faces or open pricing on the site |
| Legal standing | a Hong Kong company exists; details aren’t shown on the site |
| Genuine reviews | none collected yet; we won’t publish anonymous ones |
We’re writing this on our own site on purpose. A company that has eight checkmarks in its “why us” section without a single piece of proof differs from us only in that it didn’t say out loud what it doesn’t have.
Frequently asked questions
How do I choose a China delivery company?
First determine the contractor type: a parcel operator for small shipments, cargo for volume without documents, full-cycle logistics for official import. Comparing rates across different types makes no sense — they’re prices for different things.
Then ask eight questions: do they haul it themselves, is there a warehouse in China you can see, who files the declaration and whose name the goods are entered under, what makes up the price, how volumetric weight is calculated, what the insurance doesn’t cover, is there a bilingual manager, can you place a trial order.
How does cargo differ from a logistics company?
Cargo sells a rate per kilogram and hauls it as one shared shipment without individual clearance. A logistics company sells official import: contract, documents, payment traceability, work with a customs broker.
The difference shows up not on the road but in accounting and in a dispute: under white-channel import the goods are yours on paper, input VAT goes to offset, and there’s something to point to in a claim. With cargo there’s nothing to confirm the origin of the goods.
Why can’t calculations from different companies be compared directly?
Because they cover different things: whether pickup from the supplier is included, from what weight the rate applies, whether packing is included, whether it’s charged by weight or by volume, whether documents and customs payments are included, delivery to an address or to a terminal.
What’s worth comparing is the full cost of delivering a specific shipment to your warehouse, not a figure per kilogram.
How do I check that a company actually has a warehouse in China?
Ask for photo or video of the warehouse at work: intake with scales in frame, tape-measure checks, storage areas, packing, loading. A wide shot of an empty room proves nothing — what proves it is a process with people and cargo.
The second sign is how the company receives cargo: if photos and actual measurements arrive for every package on the day of intake, the warehouse is definitely their own.
Which cargo reviews can be trusted?
Ones with a photo of the goods received, an open name and company, a live author profile. A screenshot of messenger correspondence doesn’t count as proof — the market has learned to fake those.
An anonymous review is worse than no review — an importer reads it as made up.
In which cases do you yourselves recommend going elsewhere?
A shipment under 50 kilograms, a one-off shipment with no plans to repeat it, goods on the stop list. A separate case — if you’re not a VAT payer, the goods carry a high duty, and you sell to individuals for cash: official import would be pure extra cost, and in that case we’ll offer cargo instead of the white-channel scheme.
In such cases we say so during the estimate and name the condition under which working together becomes worthwhile.
Send us the shipment parameters and whatever estimate you already have — we’ll go through it line by line and tell you where the comparison doesn’t hold up. Even if you end up going with someone else.