Incoterms and Landed Cost for Pet Bag Importers
The trade term decides who arranges freight, who carries the risk and who pays import duty and VAT, so a unit price without a term is not comparable to anything. This guide sets out the six terms we quote under Incoterms 2020, where the cost boundary falls on each, what a DDP price needs before it can be issued, and how to read carton volume against container capacity.
“Is that price FOB, CIF or DDP?” is one of the first questions in almost every pet bag inquiry, and the answer changes the number by more than most buyers expect. The trade term decides who arranges freight, who carries the risk, who clears customs and who pays import duty and VAT. This guide sets out the terms we quote, where the cost boundary sits on each, and what we need from you before a door-to-door number can be put on paper.
Which terms we quote
We quote EXW, FOB, CFR, CIF, DAP and DDP under Incoterms 2020, and we also ship directly into Amazon FBA. Every quotation and contract states the term and the named place, because “FOB” without a port is not a price.
| Term | We cover up to | You cover |
|---|---|---|
| EXW | Goods ready at the factory, at the delivery point named on the quotation | Collection, export clearance and all freight |
| FOB | Inland transport, export clearance and loading at the port of shipment | Ocean freight, insurance and everything from the destination port |
| CFR | FOB plus ocean freight to your destination port | Insurance, destination port charges, clearance, duty and VAT |
| CIF | CFR plus transport insurance, taken out at 110% of the CIF value | Destination port charges, clearance, duty and VAT |
| DAP | Delivery to your address, not unloaded | Import duty, import VAT and customs clearance |
| DDP | Delivery to your door including import clearance, duty and import VAT | Unloading, and anything beyond import taxes in your market |
Port charges, booking and documentation fees are itemized on the quotation rather than buried in the unit price; anything not listed is handled by your forwarder.
Which term should you actually pick?
- You already have a forwarder in China — take EXW or FOB. FOB is usually cleanest: we handle inland transport and export clearance, your forwarder takes over at the port.
- You do not want to manage freight — take CIF to your port or DDP to your door and we arrange it.
- You clear customs on your own importer number and reclaim import VAT — take DAP, not DDP. Most European and UK buyers in this position want duty and VAT excluded so the VAT stays reclaimable.
- You are comparing suppliers — ask for two or three terms side by side on the same quotation. It is the only way to see whether a low unit price is being paid back in freight.
What a DDP quote needs from you
We do not put a DDP number on paper before these are settled, because a DDP price that turns out to exclude a duty line is worse than no price at all:
- Delivery address with postcode and a contact phone number, and whether it is a warehouse, a fulfilment centre or an FBA warehouse.
- Who clears customs. Our forwarder handling both sides is DDP; your own importer number is DAP.
- The HS code and duty rate for your market. Bags and carriers usually sit under heading 4202, and the United States adds its own tariff layer on top.
- Whether you need complete formal clearance documents — buyers in the EU, UK and Russia who clear on their own account always do, and we do not ship on informal arrangements.
- Quantity and packing, which we supply: pieces per carton, carton dimensions, gross weight and total CBM.
Payment terms do not change with the trade term: 30% deposit and 70% before shipment, or 50/50 on heavy customization. On DDP, “before shipment” means before the goods leave China, not before they reach your door.
Ports, transit times and where the clock starts
Full containers normally load FOB Ningbo, LCL consignments can start from Yiwu, and air freight leaves from Shanghai Pudong (PVG) or Hangzhou Xiaoshan (HGH). The quotation names the actual port; if you have appointed a forwarder, we load from wherever they nominate.
Production lead time is counted to the goods being ready at the factory — the EXW date. FOB loading adds roughly 5–7 days for booking and inland trucking. Sea transit, as an indication only, runs about 15–20 days to the US West Coast, 30–35 days to the US East Coast, 30–40 days to the main European ports and 20–25 days to Australia; air freight is about 5–8 days and international express 3–7 days. These are the forwarder's reference figures, not a commitment — space tightens from August to October and before Chinese New Year, and the booked schedule decides. If your dates run into that period, read the Chinese New Year production schedule before fixing a launch date.
LCL or a full container?
Around 15 CBM is where a full container starts to make more sense than groupage. As an industry rule of thumb a 20ft container takes roughly 28 CBM of usable space and a 40ft high cube around 68 CBM, but the honest calculation is done on your actual carton sizes, which is why every quotation lists pieces per carton, carton dimensions, gross and net weight and total CBM. With those figures you can price the freight yourself or hand them straight to your forwarder. More ways to bring that number down are in our guide to cutting shipping costs on bulk orders.
Documents and Amazon FBA
Every shipment leaves as a properly declared export with commercial invoice, packing list, export customs declaration, bill of lading or air waybill, cargo and loading photographs and shipping marks, plus a certificate of origin on request. If you clear customs yourself, send the list your broker needs and we prepare the documents to match.
For FBA we apply FNSKU and ASIN labels and suffocation warnings on the units and pack to Amazon's carton requirements before shipping to the fulfilment centre you assign; we need the warehouse address, shipment ID and label files. FBA prep is a priced line on the quotation, not a free extra — the full sequence is in the private-label FBA launch guide.
Do you quote DDP to every market?
We quote DDP where the duty position and clearance route are clear, most commonly to the United States, Canada and the main EU markets. Elsewhere we normally quote CIF or DAP and let your broker clear, which is usually cheaper and always more transparent.
Does a DDP order need a larger deposit?
No. The payment terms are the same as any other order.
Who insures the cargo?
Under CIF we insure at 110% of the CIF value. Under EXW, FOB and CFR the cargo insurance is yours to arrange, and it is worth arranging.
Can you quote more than one term at once?
Yes, and we recommend it. Two or three terms on one quotation shows you exactly what the freight and duty layers cost before you commit.
Eland Bag also manufactures wholesale pet carriers and travel bags and OEM pet backpack carriers at the same MOQ, so one factory can supply a complete travel range.