Shipping Package from China
 

I have a oversized package to ship from Beijing to my home in the US. It is about 70" (L+B+H) and weighs approximately 50lbs. The value of the item is low, so FEDEX/UPS/DHL are ordinarily not options. I know furniture stores often offer to ship their products.. any experiences? $175 oversize baggage fee is an option I am considering, while hoping there is a cheaper one somewhere.. flexible in terms of delivery time.

Appreciate hearing from those who may have experience.


Cheers

Tried as I might over the years, I have found that the only relatively inexpensive way to ship these sorts of boxes is China Post Sea Mail. I did a few boxes last year. It will take about 6-8 weeks to USA addresses, though to the West Coast, sometimes as little as 1 month. You cannot track the package. US Customs will receive at the incoming port, check it out if they wish, then give it to the USPS for delivery to your door. My stuff all arrived mostly intact (damage to a glass picture frame), though contents of one box had been given a workover by US Customs. A friend of mine shipped 14 boxes to California last year and all arrived just fine.

AFAIK, you must use China Post's own boxes, which are very sturdy and not expensive, but unfortunately the largest size (YQ-1) may not be big enough for your goods--it is 59 L x 29 W x 37 cm H. If you have a good custom box not too much larger than that, you can ask if they will take. Maximum weight per box is 30 kg so your 50 # is no problem. Cost (from 2010) is RMB 83 for the 1st kilo and RMB 23 for each kilo after that up to 30 max. Insurance required is 1% of declared value so don't overestimate. Data points from boxes sent last year from Beijing to SE USA (my notebook is fortunately sitting in front of me :) ):
18.5 kg, decl value RMB 3500--> RMB 486
16.8 kg, decl value RMB 3000--> RMB 442
13.2 kg, decl value RMB 2000--> RMB 371

You must send from a China Post office with international facility (Customs) and you must keep the package open for inspection there before they seal it for you. Every city will have at least one of these locations in town. They will generally not let you send counterfeit or potentially counterfeit items out, esp DVD's and trademarked items. Also, note that as of last fall, Chinese Customs law changed to permit them to charge duty on OUTBOUND shipments (esp electronics and luxury goods)--so if you use this method, ask if there will be anything due before you agree to ship. If anything due, they'll let you know asap and it would be paid there. My guess is for a Chinese craft product or average household/personal stuff, no outbound duty will apply.

FedEx and UPS are insanely priced for things like this, to the tune of many hundreds of $. China Post EMS Intl is nearly as bad pricewise and not as trustable. China Post Air-Sea combo (third method) seemed to have no real advantages. Seven Seas shipping company can do oddball boxes and stuff but not that cheap, and they get mixed reviews. Google their website if you are interested and use the calculator. Furniture stores ship back sea freight for their customers and usually things make it pretty well--so if you are a customer and this is your item, definitely consider their services. Probably will not do this for a non-customer though. Taking it back as excess baggage is likely to be a middle-cost solution but maybe best in the end.

Assuming you have friends that work for trading companies, DHL routinely offers 70% discounts. Cheaper still, are HK Post and Sing Post.

So does FedEx and UPS. Similar to what airline pricing use to be CHINA-US...substantially higher. Haven't found and easy workaround.

Jie Jie: Thank you for your very informative response. While it may not work for this particular item, I will certainly use the information later. Thanks again.
Cheers




Interesting! How would HK Post or Sing Post work for a Beijing-US shipment? Enquiring minds want to know!

Cheers

Or find expat friends who will hook you up (legitimately) with some deal with fedex...