Shipping from China to Amazon FBA by ocean costs a fraction of air freight and takes roughly four to eight weeks door to door. It suits any order big enough to fill a decent share of a box. It punishes anyone who plans late. The single most useful decision you can make is to route the container through a prep center or 3PL rather than sending it straight to an Amazon warehouse.
We move freight for clients, so the sequence below is the one we actually follow, including the parts that go wrong.
Ocean versus air: when each makes sense
| Factor | Ocean freight | Air freight |
|---|---|---|
| Cost per kg | Lowest | Several times higher |
| Transit, port to port | 20 to 40 days | 3 to 8 days |
| Door to FBA, realistic | 5 to 9 weeks | 1 to 2 weeks |
| Best for | Bulk restocks, heavy goods | Launches, urgent restocks, samples |
| Risk | Delay compounds | Cost compounds |
I’ve found the honest rule is simple. Ocean for anything planned, air for anything forgotten. Sellers who air-freight regularly are usually paying for a forecasting problem rather than a shipping one, which is why inventory planning saves more money than freight negotiation.
FCL or LCL?
FCL (Full Container Load) means you book a whole container: 20ft holds roughly 25 to 28 cubic metres of usable space, 40ft roughly double. You pay per container regardless of how full it is.
LCL (Less than Container Load) means your pallets share a container with other shippers. You pay per cubic metre.
The crossover sits around 12 to 15 cubic metres in most lanes. Below that, LCL usually wins. Above it, FCL often costs less per unit and, more importantly, moves faster: LCL adds consolidation at origin and deconsolidation at destination, which is where the hidden weeks live.
In our experience LCL quotes also hide more fees. Always ask for an all-in figure rather than an ocean rate.
Incoterms decide who carries the risk
New importers lose money here. Worth being precise, then.
EXW (Ex Works). You take over at the factory door. Maximum control, maximum work, and you own every problem including export clearance in China. Not a beginner’s term.
FOB (Free On Board). The supplier delivers to the port and handles export clearance. You own the goods from there. This is the sensible default for most Amazon sellers, and it is the one I recommend.
CIF (Cost, Insurance, Freight). The supplier arranges shipping to your destination port. Convenient, and destination charges are frequently inflated by the agent your supplier chose.
DDP (Delivered Duty Paid). Someone else handles everything including duty. Genuinely easy and popular for small shipments, but verify who is named as importer of record, because DDP arrangements sometimes use paperwork you would not sign yourself.
Quote FOB, control your own freight forwarder, and you will understand your costs. That single change fixes most freight complaints I hear.
What ocean freight actually costs
Rates shift constantly with fuel, capacity, and season. Any figure printed in a guide is stale within weeks. What matters is knowing every line that will appear:
- Ocean freight itself, per container or per cubic metre.
- Origin charges: export clearance, terminal handling, documentation.
- Destination charges: terminal handling, customs entry, delivery order.
- Customs duty and tariffs, based on your HTS code and country of origin.
- Customs broker fee and a bond, single-entry or annual.
- Drayage from port to your prep center or warehouse.
- Peak season surcharges, which appear from roughly August through October.
- Demurrage and detention if the container sits too long. This is the one that surprises people, and it accrues daily.
Insist any forwarder itemises those lines. I would not accept less. A single number is a red flag rather than a simplification.
Never ship straight into Amazon
I repeat this advice more than any other. Sellers ignore it until it bites.
Amazon fulfillment centers are not designed to receive containers. Deliveries need appointments, pallets must meet specification, cartons need compliant FNSKU labels, and Amazon splits shipments across multiple warehouses. A container arriving unannounced with non-compliant pallets gets refused, and refusal at the door is expensive.
Route through a prep center or 3PL instead. Always. They receive the container, check the goods, label and repack to Amazon’s requirements, then send the right quantities to the right warehouses on Amazon’s schedule. Our guide to FBA prep centers covers choosing one, and our global shipping and logistics service handles factory-to-FBA as a single job.
It also gives you a place to hold stock when Amazon imposes restock limits, which alone justifies the extra handling.
Paperwork you will need
- Commercial invoice and packing list from your supplier.
- Bill of lading, your title to the goods.
- Importer of record details, which should be you.
- HTS classification for duty. Get this right; misclassification is a compliance problem, not a saving.
- ISF filing for US imports, due before the vessel sails. Late filing carries penalties.
- Certifications for regulated goods: FDA, FCC, CPSC, and similar.
Your broker files most of this. Accuracy depends on paperwork your supplier prepares, though. Check them yourself before the vessel sails.
A timeline that survives contact with reality
Working backwards from the date you need stock sellable:
- Production: 20 to 40 days, depending on the factory and whether it is peak season.
- Pre-shipment inspection: 3 to 5 days, and worth every hour. A production inspection is far cheaper than a container of defects.
- Booking and origin handling: 5 to 10 days.
- Ocean transit: 20 to 40 days, lane dependent.
- Customs clearance: 2 to 7 days, longer if examined.
- Drayage and prep: 5 to 10 days.
- Amazon receiving: 3 to 14 days, and slower in Q4.
Two to four months, purchase order to sellable. That is the honest arithmetic. For Q4 stock, I would have goods leaving China by early September at the latest. Every year, sellers who book in October discover that everyone else did too.
Five mistakes that cost real money
- Booking during Chinese New Year without planning. Factories close for weeks and the pre-holiday rush degrades quality. Order early or wait.
- Accepting CIF from the supplier’s agent. Destination charges then arrive as a surprise.
- Skipping inspection to save a few hundred dollars on a container worth tens of thousands.
- Leaving containers at the port. Demurrage accrues daily and nobody warns you kindly.
- Underinsuring. Cargo insurance is cheap relative to a container lost overboard, which does happen.
FAQ
How long does shipping from China to Amazon FBA take by ocean?
Port to port is typically 20 to 40 days depending on the lane. Add production, customs, drayage, prep, and Amazon receiving, and plan on two to four months from purchase order to sellable inventory.
Is ocean freight cheaper than air for Amazon FBA?
Substantially, per kilogram. Air only wins when the cost of being out of stock exceeds the freight premium, which is genuinely the case during a launch or a stockout on a ranking product.
Can I ship a container directly to an Amazon warehouse?
Technically sometimes, practically no. Amazon requires appointments, compliant pallets and labels, and usually splits shipments across warehouses. Route through a prep center or 3PL instead; refusals at the door are expensive.
What Incoterm should Amazon sellers use?
FOB for most situations, because your supplier handles export clearance while you keep control of the freight and understand your costs. DDP suits small shipments if you verify who acts as importer of record.
Do I need a customs broker?
For commercial imports, effectively yes. A broker files your entry, advises on classification, and arranges your bond. The fee is small against the cost of a misfiled entry.
What is demurrage and how do I avoid it?
Demurrage is a daily charge for leaving a container at the terminal beyond the free period. Avoid it by arranging drayage before the vessel arrives and confirming your prep center can receive on the planned date.
Last updated: August 24, 2026. Freight rates, surcharges, and customs requirements change frequently; confirm current figures with your forwarder and broker.
