Statistics have shown that about 73 percent of importers expect quick delivery of their orders and at reasonable rates. Paying the lowest available delivery rates can be very enticing, but in doing so you can also have a negative effect on your profit margin. That is why it is more critical to find the Cheapest air freight from China.
Many businesses use air freight because it is more reliable than fast. If your company is one of these, you might want to look into “time-definite” ocean shipping services, which are becoming more popular. Most of the time, these services are just as reliable as air freight and cost a lot less.
Through this guide, we will show you how to How to Find the Cheapest air freight from China. By using the tips on this guide, you can easily move on to ship your commodities anywhere while importing from China.
1: Cargo Size
When measuring the shipping rates for each product, all major carriers use a special pricing strategy-called dimensional or volume weight or DIM weight. This approach takes into account the size of a shipment to assess the expense of its shipping. The measurement of the shipping costs is performed by multiplying the parcel volume, width, and height and dividing the sum by a regular DIM divisor.
About 10% of each supply chain dollar goes to packaging, while 25% goes to storing goods and 60% goes to moving them. When thinking about how well your freight works, it makes sense to think about design and package specifications.
Cut down on the amount of support packaging in your cargo is another smart way to pack. Goods are kept from moving around and getting damaged during transport with the help of airbags, strapping, blocking, and bracing. Talk to your shipper ahead of time to find out how much packaging your product needs. Not only does this save money on the cost of supplies, but it also makes room for more products.
Further Reading: How to find cheap shipping from China? | DHL, TNT, and FEDEX express
2: Speak to Several Carriers
Each shipping company has its own specific pricing schedules that are focused largely on the number of shipments. If you want to find the cheapest air freight from China, try negotiating lower rates with multiple carriers. Especially if you ship regularly, try and see which one works best for cost savings for your company.
Local carriers may not always be the most affordable choice. You might be able to get your freight costs down if you work with carriers from other areas who deliver to yours. If you can give them a good amount of backhaul work, they may be able to give you a better rate than local companies.
Freight costs aren’t likely to go down, so whether any of these 10 ideas work for your business or not, you should always look for ways to lower freight costs. If your company has come up with creative ways to do this, please tell us about them and share them with other readers of the Logistics Bureau blog.
3: Consider Indirect Airlines
Another way to find the cheapest air freight from China is to forward your cargo via indirect airlines. Indirect airlines are the ones with one or more stops on the way to different destinations. This way, the cargo will be forwarded to the destination by another flight, making the whole process more affordable than direct forwarding.
Further Reading: FedEx VS UPS | Advantages and Disadvantage you must know!
4: Book Your Cargo in Advance
Like purchasing a normal commercial plane ticket, the earlier you book your shipping, the less money you will end up paying. Since air freight cargo is mostly through commercial flights, it only makes sense that booking your flight in advance will be greatly in your favor.
When you book an air cargo shipment at the last minute, the freight rate usually goes up. When you book your shipment in advance, it’s the same as buying a plane ticket a few months in advance. But with air cargo, you don’t have to know the exact size and weight of your package. Just letting them know when you book would be enough, and if your items aren’t ready to ship on the date you booked, you can always move it up.
5: Utilize Third Party Insurance
Third parties will charge less for insuring the shipments. Although carriers charge merchants around $0.90 for every $100 of insured goods, third- companies charge insured goods about $0.55 for every $100. This means that if you are transporting large volumes of more costly items, such small savings will potentially easily add up and save you a lot of time.
6: Consolidate Your Goods
When compared to unconsolidated loads, putting all of your goods in one country can save you up to 25% on costs. The idea is easy to understand: smaller shipments can be put together to make larger shipments. Big companies like CVS and Colgate use consolidation programs, and your business can also benefit from them.
Consolidating might take more time, but you can save money and customers still get the same product, just in a smaller amount. This helps keep docks open and cut down on labor costs.
This is the perfect solution for any business that has to send out a lot of small packages.
7: Talk about a long-term contract
Don’t just keep using the same shipping service if you want to spend less on shipping. But we don’t always mean to look for a better deal.
Getting to know someone is more valuable than looking at other providers for short-term gains. Talk to your regular provider about making a deal that will be good for both of you in the long run.
You might agree to ship a certain number of goods each month, for example. If that’s the case, the courier service may be willing to work with you on the price so they can “lock in” that business.
8: Ship Off-Peak and Before holidays
There are days that cost more than others like before holidays. This depends on how much people want to ship, but in general, Friday is the cheapest day to ship.
This is because a lot of people want to be ready for the busy weekend, so they want to get their goods on Thursday or Friday. These must be sent out by Wednesday or Thursday.
So, if you can wait until Friday to ship something, you might get a better deal.
When planning shipments, try to ship on days like Friday that aren’t as busy. Most customers want their products to be ready for the store to stock by Thursday, so they can be used over the weekend.
This, of course, depends on what you are carrying. For example, desktop laptops have a much larger window than perishable food. Mondays are also slow days, and you might want to think about shipping on those days because it can save you 10% compared to shipping on busy days.
9: Ship More, Less Frequently
Freight costs could go down if you get your customers to buy in bulk or place bigger orders. It’s better to ship ten pallets in one day than to ship two pallets every two days. Try offering perks like free shipping on orders over a certain amount of money and other perks to get people to buy in bulk. The same idea holds true if you’re working with retailers.
Give them more reasons to order in bulk to save money and make your business more profitable. Encourage your customers to order more.
Shipping six pallets at once is much cheaper than sending two pallets every two days. But retailers usually want smaller shipments, so you have to give them a reason to buy more than they think they need. One way is to agree with the retailer to split freight savings. Another option is Vendor Managed Inventory, in which the store doesn’t pay for an item until it’s on the shelf.
10: Space Out Your Shipping
When figuring out the cost of freight, there are two main things to think about: the distance and the weight of what you’re shipping.
If you send a lot of small, light packages, the price you pay each time covers the distance. If you combine these into one big shipment, you’ll pay a lump sum all at once, but it will probably be cheaper overall than the first option.
Even though it’s best if you can spread out your shipping, that doesn’t always work for every business. Or it might not work with how much money you have coming in. So, if this isn’t for you, what else can you do to keep your air freight costs low?
Why use DDPCH service?
DDPCH is one of the most important international shipping companies in China. It has more than 10 years of experience and is ready to be your shipping agent in China and offer competitive freight services from China. The DDPCH team is always ready to answer all shipping quotation ( freight quote ) in one day.
The DDPCh international shipping company offers different shipping solutions, including:
- Air freight from China
- Sea freight from China
- Rail freight from China
- Trucking service from china
- Amazon FBA service
- Warehouseing service in China
- Door to Door ( DDP) freight
- Express and courrier service
- Packing service
- Product sourcing service
We are happy to offer this service to all of our customers around the world. We are happy to offer all of these shipping solutions from China to many countries like:
Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Iran, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mexico, Norway, Oman, Philippines, Portugal, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States of America, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Russia, Iraq, South Korea, Colombia, Hong Kong
So you can get in touch with one of our sales staff and find the best shipping price from China to your country.
How can I save on air freight costs?
You can find a local shipping agent, use a consolidation service, or try not to send your package during busy times like the holidays.
How consolidation service can helo you to save money?
Consolidation in air cargo is when several shipments from one or more shippers to one or more consignees are put together to make a larger shipment and take advantage of the lower costs that come from the difference in weight and volume. This could add one or two more steps to the process. But they would still save a lot of money on shipping costs.