FOB as explained before covers the cost of your product either until your shipment is loaded or until it has arrived at your destination port. If it is FOB destination port, then the purchaser has to pay for: Shipping Fee. Customs fee at the destination port. Duty on the product if it requires any (Your will have to research this or shipping agent should be able to classify the product. Once released, delivery to the final destination as...

As a general term, FOB means ‘Freight On Board’ or ‘Free On Board’ as it is more generally used in international shipping. This means that the seller will pay for the goods to be loaded onto the vehicle of transport. The term FOB can be used to clarify which part of the shipment is being paid for by the supplier and which part is to be paid for by the purchaser. For instance FOB, (port of loading) indicates that the seller will pay...

It is important to time and plan your orders right. If you place an order too late you may find yourself at the back of the queue for production and delivery and therefore miss your intended delivery date. Seasonal items are a perfect example of this. Many Chinese factories don’t carry stock in anticipation of upcoming orders. They work on an order by order basis. This means that if you order too late, there may be a long queue of pending...

If your company is understaffed or on a tight budget it’s a useful consideration to use a sourcing, QC and manufacturing agent when manufacturing in China. These are 3rd party entities that act on your behalf in China and in the factories. It is sometimes an expensive affair flying out to a supplier in China to watch over a production or to solve a quality issue. A sourcing agent is a viable solution. Many SME’s use these services...