For "overseas shopping enthusiasts," shipping forwarding is certainly a familiar concept. The basic process of overseas shipping forwarding is:
1. The user adds the desired items to the shopping cart.
2. Select and register with a suitable shipping forwarding company, communicate with customer service, and obtain the warehouse address of that forwarding company abroad.
3. The user returns to the shopping website. Before placing the order, fill in the [Recipient Name/Address] field with the warehouse address and recipient name provided by the forwarding company.
4. After submitting the order and completing payment, you can check the [Tracking Number] for the corresponding package within 2-3 days.
5. After obtaining the [Tracking Number], log in to the forwarding company's website and enter relevant information, such as: order number, package weight, domestic recipient name/address/contact information, and corresponding customs declaration information.
6. After confirming and generating the pre-advice order, make the online payment, and then you can sit back and wait for the delivery.
Below is an example:
For example, let's use a forwarding company as an example to explain the filling method (this is just an example, no recommendation for the courier company)
The following warehouse addresses are for reference only. After you register with a forwarding company, you will see your own private address in your account.
Previously, in the Beginner's Guide to Overseas Shopping, the entire overseas shopping process was introduced. Today, we will discuss the shipping forwarding part in detail. Shipping forwarding has always been a relatively troublesome part of the overseas shopping process. So far, no single forwarding company has been able to provide a consistently good user experience and positive word-of-mouth. The forwarding process involves a lot of manual intervention. Additionally, some forwarding companies have seen a continuous increase in user numbers without timely improvements in logistics capacity. Factors such as addresses being blocked by foreign e-commerce platforms have also led to a decline in reputation. Besides the forwarding company itself needing strong expansion capabilities, users also need to be observant and choose a forwarding company that suits their shopping habits. A key takeaway is: don't put all your eggs in one basket. So, how do you choose a forwarding company?
I. Shipping Forwarding and ICP Filing
Currently, there are over twenty forwarding company websites in China that have undergone ICP filing (Internet Content Provider filing, a management method by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology for websites to prevent illegal operations). These companies can be said to be under a certain degree of supervision and are relatively more reliable. Another category consists of established forwarding companies set up locally by foreign enterprises, such as Japan's JSHOPPERS and TENSO. These have stood the test of time and may not have Chinese ICP filing, but they are also trustworthy.
II. Factors Affecting Shipping Forwarding Costs
The popular categories for overseas shopping mainly include clothing, shoes, bags, digital products, maternal and child products, beauty and personal care items. Considering the conditions of international transportation, aside from items prohibited for import by customs and air-shipment bans, the factors determining shipping costs and smoothness mainly include:
a. Weight and Volume: Determines the basic shipping cost.
b. Quantity of Items: Whether to use combined or split shipping. Combined shipping merges goods from different orders into one shipment to save costs. Split shipping is used when purchasing a certain quantity of items exceeds the limit, potentially leading customs to deem them non-personal use items and charge commercial customs fees. In this case, the forwarding company splits the multiple items from the order into different shipments.
c. Fragility: Fragile items can opt for reinforced packaging, such as milk powder, laptops, etc.
d. Item Value: High-value items require purchasing insurance or paying a declared value fee for compensation in case of damage or loss during forwarding.
e. Mandatory Insurance: Forwarding companies may impose a certain insurance fee on specific categories of items to ensure smooth forwarding, such as the mandatory insurance on air purifiers introduced by Transpship (Yunshu Zhongguo) this year.
Among these, factors like weight, volume, and fragility are objective conditions that we can estimate, allowing us to choose forwarding companies that waive volume fees or offer shipping discounts. Fragile items can be sent via forwarding companies that provide reinforcement services. For valuable items, it's best to purchase insurance, declared value protection, or have them brought back by someone. As for the quantity of items, it's best to control it manually during purchase and avoid buying too many at once to prevent consequences like return shipping, which is not worth the loss.
Currently, the most common purchasing targets for overseas shopping are concentrated in the United States, followed by Europe and Japan. Several forwarding companies have business operations in these regions.
III. Shipping Forwarding, Direct Mail, and Customs Duties
1. Advantages of Direct Mail
Beginners in overseas shopping might be more interested in direct mail. The benefits of direct mail are its simplicity and lack of hassle. Moreover, some e-commerce platforms, such as Amazon.com, offer a pre-paid customs duty service that makes the overall cost of overseas shopping more transparent and easier for users to manage. Their strong after-sales service also provides more peace of mind.
Currently, websites like Amazon.com, SHOPBOP, and Ashford in the US; Amazon Germany and kidsroom in Germany; and lookfantastic and MYBAG in the UK offer relatively comprehensive direct mail services. E-commerce platforms like eBay and Rakuten Japan also occasionally offer items with direct mail to China. It can be said that the proportion of direct mail in overseas shopping is gradually increasing. However, the speed and scope of this increase are relatively limited. A large portion of goods still needs to be purchased through shipping forwarding, or the final price via forwarding is more cost-effective. This is the inevitable reason for the continued existence of shipping forwarding.
2. Customs Duties
Whether using forwarding or direct mail, taxes and duties are one of the important factors affecting the cost of overseas shopping. Paying taxes according to the law is a citizen's duty. Generally speaking, even with taxes added, the final price is still very attractive. This is why some experienced overseas shoppers, despite often being taxed, still enjoy the process. So, it's best to maintain a calm attitude towards tax issues.
Types of Customs Duties: The taxes and duties related to overseas shopping mainly include import duties, such as personal postal items tax and value-added tax (VAT). The personal postal items tax is levied on personal inbound items. The tax rate can be looked up in the "Taxable Price List for Personal Postal Items" published by Chinese customs. If the actual price of the item does not exceed twice the taxable price or is not less than half of it, the tax is usually calculated based on the taxable price of the item category. This website has also compiled a tax rate table based on popular overseas shopping categories for easier reference. VAT is levied on items going through commercial customs clearance, with a standard rate of 17%.
The scope of the personal postal items tax has certain requirements on the quantity and type of items. For example, it cannot exceed a reasonable quantity for personal use. If one person sends 10 watches at the same time, it is highly likely that customs will deem them non-personal use items, requiring commercial customs clearance and an additional 17% VAT. It might even lead to return shipping by customs due to excessive purchase quantity. Therefore, you must control your overseas shopping quantity and avoid overconsumption. Some e-commerce direct mail channels, such as the watch and gift retailer Ashford, uniformly adopt commercial customs clearance and levy VAT.
3. Pre-paid Customs Duties
Due to the complexity of personal customs declaration procedures, some e-commerce platforms, including Amazon.com and GILT, support a pre-paid customs duty service. This means estimating the tax during checkout and paying it together with the order amount. When the package goes through customs, the carrier will pay the duty on your behalf. However, the pre-paid customs duty policies vary. For example, as mentioned earlier, Amazon.com's pre-paid duty for direct mail items operates on a "pay more, refund the difference; pay less, no additional charge" basis, while GILT charges VAT. Therefore, you need to pay extra attention during checkout. You can also compare the final price via direct mail and forwarding to choose the method that suits you better.
Additionally, there are cases without pre-paid customs duties. Does this mean no customs duties if you don't pre-pay? The answer is not necessarily. If the item's value does not meet the customs taxation threshold, it is indeed possible to avoid duties. However, if the item's value exceeds the threshold but you choose direct mail without pre-paying duties, you might still need to pay the duty yourself during customs clearance. In such cases, it's best to confirm with the e-commerce customer service first.
Due to the hasty writing, please forgive any errors or omissions. For more overseas shopping information, you can follow the Lexiang Haowu (www.olgoodbuy.com) website!