CARGO · FOOTWEAR
Footwear shipping from China
We ship footwear by sea in around 70 days and by rail in 35–45. The defining feature of this category is boxes: individual packaging for every pair eats up the volume you pay for. Repacking at our warehouse in China delivers a real saving. The second feature is seasonality: a winter collection travelling by sea has to be ordered 3–4 months before the season.
Boxes, volume and what you pay for
Consolidated cargo is charged by volume — and a shoe box mostly carries air. A pair of trainers weighs a few hundred grams, but together with its individual box it takes up as much space as goods three times heavier. Across a consignment of hundreds of pairs this turns into cubic metres that you pay for as though they were product.
What to do about it depends on how you sell. If the branded box is part of the product, we ship it as it is but restack the transport packages densely. If the box is not critical, we pack the pairs more compactly and carry the boxes flat. The decision is yours; our job is to show the difference in volume and money in the quotation.
How to ship footwear
| Mode | Transit time | When it fits |
|---|---|---|
| Sea, consolidated cargo (LCL) | around 70 days | The category standard: planned collections, range replenishment. The lowest cost per cubic metre |
| Sea, container (FCL) | around 70 days | Large seasonal purchases that fill a container — better value than consolidated cargo |
| Rail | 35–45 days | When the order was confirmed late and sea freight no longer makes the season |
We mostly price air freight for footwear for samples of new models ahead of the main order.
Seasonality: count backwards from the season
Footwear is a seasonal product, and the most expensive mistake here is not the tariff but lateness: winter boots that arrive in January sell at a discount instead of a markup. Count backwards from the date the collection has to be in the warehouse: sea — around 70 days, plus production at the factory, plus assembling the consignment. In practice that means ordering 3–4 months before the season.
If that moment has passed, there are still options: rail fits into 35–45 days and often saves the season. And to avoid freezing cash while the collection is in transit, purchase financing works — we pay the factory and you settle after receipt.
Customs: value is assessed per pair
A particular feature of clearing footwear is that customs value is monitored per pair, not only per kilogram. So the documents must show the correct number of pairs and a realistic price per pair: an understated invoice value is not a saving but a risk of the customs value being adjusted, with additional charges and the cargo held up. We prepare the documents so that the number of pairs, the weight and the value agree with each other: invoice, packing list broken down by package, bill of lading.
Before departure, on request, we carry out an inspection: matching the size range and models against the order, checking pairs on a sample basis, taking photographs. From suppliers on 1688 and Taobao we purchase the goods ourselves, and consignments from several factories are assembled into one shipment.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Quote · free of charge
Let us price the delivery of your footwear consignment
Tell us how many pairs and in what packaging — we will show options with and without repacking and fix the rate.