Air shipping product from China to Amazon warehouse? This video will give you 5 tips to save money shipping air.
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Full Transcript:
What’s up, guys? If you’re an Amazon FBA seller, where you’re importing product to your own retail shop, once in a while, you may have to air freight in the product, even though the air freight costs a lot more money than the ocean freight. But if you’re running out of stock or you are doing a product launch, you may have to air freight in the product. There’s a lot of people have been asking me, “Are there ways to save money, when I air freight in the product?” In this video, I’m going to share with you five tips to save you some money when you airfreight the product. Let’s get started.
My name is Yuping Wang. I have helped small, medium, large, even Fortune 500 companies sourcing products from all around the world. I am here to share the best sourcing tips and tricks to help you build success for your business.
Tip number one, ship loose.
What do I mean by that? When you have many boxes to ship, you can put these many boxes on one pallet, so you have the option to either ship one pallet or ship, many cartons lose. Which one is cheaper? In my experience, when I quote with freight forwarders or freight carriers, I often find that the loose cartons cost a lot less than the palletized load because the loose cartoons will give the airline more flexibility to find space, within their cargo space, to find space for your cartons, versus, they have to find one designated spot for your palette. That’s why the loose cartons I found often cost a lot less money than the palletized load, so ship lose.
Tip number two is to get three quotes, to door.
Don’t worry, guys. It’s very simple. First, get a quote from your supplier. Say you’re moving product from China to the United States, ask your Chinese suppliers to give you an air freight quote, because they could use a cheap Chinese freight forwarder to move the freight. Why don’t you ask for the air freight quote from them so you can compare? The second quote you should get is from the express carriers. FedEx, DHL, UPS, doesn’t matter. The express carriers have designated planes to move the freight from one airport to the other. This is especially needed when your air freight load is less than 200kg. Make sure you get a quote from the express carriers.
Their quote is to door, all-inclusive, no surprise.
Their rate could be super competitive when your load is small. The third quote, you should get it from your freight forwarder because each freight forwarder, when they move a lot of air freight shipment from one airport to the other, they negotiate a good discount with the particular airlines. You never know if your freight forwarder’s quote is better or not. So get three quotes from your supplier, from the express carrier and your freight forwarder, and compare. The only thing I need to point out is, when you ask a quote from your supplier or your forwarder, make sure you ask all-inclusive to door quote. Because the area’s best carrier’s quote is to door, you want everybody quoted to be apple, to apple, to apple. So you know which one gave you the most savings. If you wanted to save money, let them compete so you can win. That’s your tip number two, get three quotes, to door.
Tip number three, asks.
When you get a quote from your freight forwarder, don’t take it as is. Ask them. Shop for a different airline. Shop for a different flight schedule. Sometimes, a day or two delays could save you a few hundred dollars. This is just like if you’re buying a ticket for yourself, the different flight schedules, different airlines, the ticket price could be hugely different. So, if you wanted to save money to air freight your product, make sure you ask.
Tip number four is timing.
Why fight with the crowd? You know, during Christmas and the New Year, airline ticket prices way more expensive than usual. If it’s possible at all, try not to arrange the air freight during the major holidays. Not only the U.S. Holidays but the Chinese holidays as well, Chinese New Year, Chinese mid-Autumn festivals. If you don’t know all these Chinese holidays, go to Sourcing Warrior’s Facebook group, download that beautifully laid out holiday schedule, so you can be prepared and organized. To save money on air freight, try to avoid these major holidays.
Tip number five is to be smart with your air freight quantity.
What do I mean by that? Say you are air freighting, a thousand pieces. You get a quote from your supplier, from FedEx, from the freight forwarder. All of them are very expensive. Now, you’re very frustrated. Let me ask you a question. Have you thought about it to air freight 1500 pieces or even 2000 pieces? The reason is when you increase the airfreight quantity, the total air freight cost may only increase marginally because a big portion of the air freight costs is a fixed cost. Pick up, documentation, clearance, they’re the same cost. It doesn’t matter whether you air a thousand pieces or 2000 pieces.
So by balancing the total air quantity and the total air freight cost, you might find a position where the margin impact makes the most sense for your air freight case. So be smart about your air freight quantity. There, you have it guys. Five tips to save you some money when you air freight. But I have one more thing to share with you. When you airfreight, please, don’t forget to ask your supplier to double, triple protect your product because the risk of damage during air transportation increase dramatically. There is no bigger waste of money than spending a lot of money on air freight, but receiving the shipment damaged. So this is especially important if you’re sending the shipment directly to the Amazon warehouse. You’re not even seeing it. So there you’ll have it guys. I hope you enjoyed this video. Don’t forget to give me a thumb up. And by the way, if you have more questions, feel free to message me on the Sourcing Warriors Facebook, and I will be happy to answer your questions. Until then, I’ll see you soon. Have a brilliant day guys.
Check out the link, the Sourcing Warrior Mastermind link, undertake Sourcing Warrior’s quiz to find out your sourcing IQ. Make it fun, learn something, have a great day. I’ll see you in the next episode.
Video Version:
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