Hi Andrew,

I am going to start importing iPhone cases and accessories from China and sell them on eBay. I found some company from GlobalSources.com site. For first time I ordered some and using air freight as a trial. I paid air freight charges to that company. Could any one advice me more about paying air freight charges to company? It was because the charges for air freight from China, (if they pay their) is cheaper than paying myself in UK.

Thanks,
Himalyan

Hi Himalyan,

Thanks for your e-mail.

You did the right thing by paying freight charges directly to your supplier. Usually, when dealing with companies in China, supplier will get much better freight charges than you, in UK (or any other country in the EU for that matter). Why? Mostly because suppliers will have contracts with various freight companies or freight forwarding agents offering them great discounts because of volume they ship.

So – I wouldn’t even try to find better quote in the UK as you won’t get it.

Of course – this works as long as your supplier is honest with you and shares discount on the shipping fee with you – I have seen some cases where supplier over-charges customers on shipping, especially if it’s a sample/trial order (this way they try to make at least some sort of money out of your small sample order).

But those are individual cases rather than a rule, at least from my experience. Genuine suppliers will care for a long term business and won’t try to trick you with such cheap, short term tactics.

Hope this helps Himalyan!

Thanks,
Andrew

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