When you sell a product you hold in China to a customer abroad, the shipping price decides your margin as much as the product price does. This guide explains how Sourship prices a parcel, how to check the price before you quote a customer, and who pays the import charges when it arrives.
Two things set the price
A parcel’s price comes from two things:
- Where it is going. Each destination country has its own price.
- What it weighs. Every delivery is weighed in our warehouse when it arrives, and that weight is the one your orders use.
That is all. There is no per-order fee on top, and no storage fee while your plan is active.
Why the real weight matters
Every delivery is weighed when it reaches our warehouse, before it becomes your stock. From then on, the weight on the product is the one your shipping price uses. It is shown on the product page, next to its photos and variations.
You can plan before that, too. When you look at a 1688 product before buying it, its page shows the supplier’s weight for each variation, so you can estimate what one unit will cost to send before you commit to a quantity. Once the goods arrive, the weighed figure takes over.
Check the price before you quote
The shipping calculator in the app gives you the price and the delivery estimate for any destination and weight. Use it before you set a selling price or quote a customer, not after the order comes in.
A simple way to price a product:
- Take the product’s cost: the price shown in the app (the supplier’s price plus a small conversion adjustment) and the supplier’s delivery to our warehouse.
- Add the shipping price from the calculator, for the country you sell to most.
- Add what your store and payment provider charge you.
- Set your price above the total, with the margin you want.
If you sell to several countries, check the most expensive one you ship to as well.
Where we ship
Sourship ships to most countries worldwide, and we confirm the destination of each order before it ships. The app’s rate table lists 77 destinations, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, most of the EU, the Gulf, and North and West Africa. See orders and shipping for how an order moves from your store to the carrier.
How long it takes
Counted from dispatch, delivery usually takes 7 to 10 days to Europe and 10 to 12 days to the United States, sometimes up to 20. For other destinations, we confirm the time when you place the order. Products already in stock usually leave within 24 to 48 hours, although Chinese public holidays can delay dispatch. These are estimates, not guarantees, so tell your customers what to expect before they buy.
We do not promise faster than that, and neither should your store page: a delivery date you cannot keep costs more in refunds and reviews than it gains in sales.
Import taxes and duties
When a parcel crosses a border, the destination country may charge import taxes, VAT or duties. Who pays them depends on how the parcel ships:
- Duties paid (the default): we ship with import duties and taxes paid, including through the carriers’ import VAT schemes for eligible EU and UK parcels, so your customer pays nothing on delivery.
- Duties unpaid (on request): if you ask us to ship this way, the recipient pays any duties, taxes or fees, and if they refuse to pay or refuse the parcel, the cost is yours.
If you choose duties unpaid, tell your customers before they buy, so the charge is never a surprise at the door.
When you pay for shipping
Shipping is paid with each order, from your wallet. It is not part of the sourcing request: when you buy stock, you pay the product price and the supplier’s delivery to our warehouse, and the shipping to your customer comes later, order by order, at the Sourship shipping rate shown in your dashboard. Every charge is listed in your wallet with what it paid for.
If something goes wrong in transit
If a parcel shows no delivery 30 days after it was shipped, report it to us. Once we confirm it is lost, you choose a full refund to your wallet, covering the product, the supplier’s local shipping and the shipping rate you paid, or a free reship. This does not cover parcels seized by customs for prohibited or counterfeit goods, a wrong address you gave us, a duties-unpaid parcel the recipient refused, or a parcel that tracking shows as delivered. If we ship the wrong item, you choose a refund or a reship at our cost.
Returns from your customers can only come back to our facility in China, at the sender’s cost, and they are often delayed by Chinese customs. Set your store’s return policy with this in mind. The details are in our refund and cancellation policy.
In short
- The price comes from the destination and the weight of your product, weighed on arrival.
- Check the calculator before you set a price or quote a customer.
- Most countries worldwide, usually 7 to 12 days from dispatch, up to 20 on the slowest lanes.
- By default, duties and taxes are paid, so your customer pays nothing on delivery.
- Shipping is paid per order, from your wallet.
