China to US, cost per pound to ship by seas???

[lendaddy]

I was told $1.50-$2.00 / pound by air, but what is the ballpark for cargo containers by sea?

[widebody911]

It depends on FOB and the transport method. It might be cheaper to buy an airline ticket for your mail-order-bride/mistress...

[Shaun @ Tru6]

who told you this?

[widebody911]

Originally posted by Shaun 84 Targa
who told you this?

The mail order bride broker.

[71T Targa]

Originally posted by widebody911
It depends on FOB and the transport method. It might be cheaper to buy an airline ticket for your mail-order-bride/mistress...

I don't think that sounds right. Even at $2/lb that's only $240. I haven't seen airline tickets for that...

[Shaun @ Tru6]

ROFL Thom! Is daddy a Russian man or Vietnamese?



Joel, are you getting smart and outsourcing your production to China? Wish I had an Import Expert on board right now with India coming in soon.

I'm hoping we can buy our own factory in 09. it's the future.

[lendaddy]

Originally posted by Shaun 84 Targa
ROFL Thom! Is daddy a Russian man or Vietnamese?



Joel, are you getting smart and outsourcing your production to China? Wish I had an Import Expert on board right now with India coming in soon.

I'm hoping we can buy our own factory in 09. it's the future.

Not exactly, the air ship info was from a fasteners supplier that has air drops every now and again from Asia.

I' have a bunch of ideas in my head and some need to be weeded out and some fertilized. Does anyone know? Thanks in advance.

[badcar]

40 ft cans depending on port can cost $2500-2800 per. 20 ft cans are less, but filling a 40ft is much more cost effective. If you have less than a 20 ft can to ship, you could use a freight company to consolidate oversease, which will increase the cost to move goods. Price is also affected by the volume of cans you are moving and the time of year....if you are thinking of moving goods this year...November and December will be your first chance unless you hook up with a consolidation company. August and September are going to be nuts with 4th quarter, Holiday goods coming accross...

Cube dimensions are used to calculate the fill of can. So in order to get a fixed cost on the freight, you will need to know the dimensions of the master cartons for your product...

hope that helps..

[lendaddy]

Yes that does help, thank you.

[Lothar]

More interesting is the cost to ship from U.S. to China. Shipping is next to nothing because there are so many empty containers returning to China.

They will take anything to ship something over nothing for dead air.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally posted by Lothar
More interesting is the cost to ship from U.S. to China. Shipping is next to nothing because there are so many empty containers returning to China.

They will take anything to ship something over nothing for dead air.

and there's even such a glut of empty containers here in the US that you can buy them for as little as $500 and make your own home with them.

just one article

[Groesbeck Hurricane]

One more thing to keep in mind: My Chinese contact informed me that they have no loyalty to the US salesperson. If your customer decides to go directly to the Chinese factory they will welcome them with open arms and give them the same pricing they have given you. Also, giving them your artwork/specs is like giving them your product. Zero loyalty, less integrity of product. You don't even want to know about the razor blades and knives that were put/taped in our boxes in such a way to cut the person accessing the carton or lifting it.

[island911]

It's more by Volume than pound. Last I heard ya Ballpark a container at ~$4k ... a partial container pays a premium . . .pallets take space... at 8x8x40=2560 cubic feet ...so ~$1.60 cubic foot.

[lendaddy]

I have to say that's very cheap. Hell, a full 40' van from Chicago to Grand Rapids can be into four figures IIRC.

[island911]

Yeah ... Though there is some theory about economy of scale.





.. of course there is yet more cost once it lands on the pacific coast.

[lendaddy]

Good point, a quick scan of that ship shows 30 x 20 x 7 cargo containers. That's about $17 million @$4k a unit.

[cashflyer]

Originally posted by lendaddy
I have to say that's very cheap. Hell, a full 40' van from Chicago to Grand Rapids can be into four figures IIRC.

I have no personal experience with overseas containers, except that a mechanic I knew used to ship collector cars to the Netherlands. He said he paid on average about $4k per container.

But your domestic price is a bit high....

Chicago to Grand Rapids, 53' dry van (3800 cubic foot volume & 44k lbs max weight) approximately $500.00 or less.

Somebody like US Express would be able to cut that down some since their truck compensation is low.

[lendaddy]

My Chicago to Gr run is 1-2 days notice. Perhaps that's the rub?

[HardDrive]

Good reading.

The wife and I were looking at some huge concrete statues in Beijing, and wondering about shipping cost to the US.

[cashflyer]

Originally posted by lendaddy
My Chicago to Gr run is 1-2 days notice. Perhaps that's the rub?

Yep. Short notice and narrow delivery window are two things that can really pinch your wallet.
I'll take this to PM.