EXW, FOB or DDP — how buyers import from us

Three arrangements cover almost every order we ship. They differ in where our job ends and yours begins — and most experienced importers choose one of the first two.

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EXW · FOB · DDP
Ningbo & Shanghai
Docs prepared in-house
28 years exporting
80+ countries

The three ways buyers actually import from us

Almost every order we ship uses one of three arrangements. They differ in where our job ends and yours begins — not in how much the goods cost. Choosing the wrong one is the most common reason a first order goes badly, and it is entirely avoidable.

EXWFOBDDP
We deliver toYour forwarder's warehouse in ChinaThe vessel at Ningbo or ShanghaiYour door
You arrangeEverything from the warehouse onwardOcean freight, insurance, duties, customs, final deliveryNothing
You needA China-based agent or forwarderYour own forwarder + a customs broker at homeJust an address
Import dutiesYours to declare and payYours — and you can claim any preferential rateIncluded in our price
Who uses itBuyers consolidating from several Chinese suppliersMost experienced importersFirst-time buyers, gift companies, anyone without an import department

Worth saying plainly: EXW and FOB are what most of our buyers use. DDP is the easiest, but it is not the most common — experienced importers almost always have their own forwarder and get better freight rates than we can pass on. We quote all three and we will tell you honestly which suits your situation, including when that means you should not take DDP from us.

EXW — you send a truck, we load it

Ex Works Yongkang. Our responsibility ends when the goods leave our warehouse.

Finished goods warehouse in Yongkang where EXW collections are loaded — Jupeng Drinkware
Our finished-goods warehouse — where an EXW collection starts
Export cartons being packed and labelled — Jupeng Drinkware
Cartons packed and labelled to your spec before collection
Packing line preparing goods for consolidation — Jupeng Drinkware
Consolidation-ready packing

How it actually runs

You appoint an agent in China — usually one who is already consolidating goods from several of your suppliers. They send a truck to Yongkang, we load it, and they take it from there: inland trucking, export clearance, the vessel booking, everything.

When EXW is the right answer

When we are not your only Chinese supplier. If you are buying drinkware from us, packaging from Guangzhou and accessories from Yiwu, your agent consolidates all of it into one container. Paying three separate FOB charges makes no sense when one truck can collect from all three.

What to watch

  • Export clearance becomes your agent's job, not ours. They need the commercial invoice, packing list and our export licence details — we supply these, but someone on your side has to file them.
  • Agree the collection window in writing. Goods sitting in our warehouse waiting for a truck is the most common friction point on EXW orders. We hold them free for a reasonable period; tell us your target date and we will flag it if it slips.
  • Loading is at our dock. If your agent sends a vehicle that cannot be loaded from a dock, that is a wasted trip — worth confirming with them beforehand.

FOB — the term most experienced importers use

Free On Board Ningbo or Shanghai. We deliver to the port and clear export; you own the goods from the moment they are loaded.

How it actually runs

You nominate a freight forwarder and give us their China contact. Your forwarder books the vessel and sends us a booking confirmation with a cut-off date. We truck the goods to the port, handle export declaration, and hand over. From the rail of the ship onward, the shipment is yours.

Why it is the default for people who import regularly

ReasonWhat it means in practice
Better freight ratesA forwarder shipping hundreds of containers a month negotiates rates we cannot match on your behalf. On a full container this difference is usually larger than any unit-price negotiation.
Control of the scheduleYou choose the carrier, the routing and the sailing. If your season depends on a specific arrival date, you want that control.
One forwarder, many suppliersYour forwarder handles all your China shipments the same way, with one set of paperwork conventions and one point of contact.
Duty is yours to manageYou classify, you declare, you claim any preferential treatment available in your market. On DDP that decision is made for you.

What to watch

  • The cut-off date is the real deadline, not the sailing date. Miss it and the container rolls to the next vessel — often a week. Send us the booking as soon as your forwarder issues it.
  • Ask your forwarder what is not in their quote. Origin charges, THC, documentation fees and destination handling are quoted separately by some forwarders. A cheap-looking ocean rate can end up higher all-in.
  • Confirm who pays for detention and demurrage if clearance at your end is delayed. This is the single most common unexpected cost on a first FOB shipment.

DDP — one price, goods arrive at your door

Delivered Duty Paid. We arrange the forwarder, the freight, the customs clearance and the duties. You give us an address.

How it actually runs

We quote a single all-in figure per piece. Our forwarder handles export, ocean freight, import clearance at your end and the final leg to your warehouse or door. Duties and import taxes are inside the price. Nothing arrives for you to pay.

When DDP genuinely makes sense

  • You have never imported before and do not want to build the capability for one order.
  • A gift or promotional programme where the in-hands date is fixed and you would rather buy certainty than manage a shipment.
  • A small quantity where setting up a forwarder relationship costs more than it saves.

What to watch

  • DDP is not available everywhere. It works normally to Europe, North America, South America, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand, and to South Africa. Much of Africa and remote island destinations we generally cannot cover.
  • You lose visibility of the duty calculation. If your market has preferential rates you could claim, DDP may not capture them. Ask us for the HS classification we are using — 9617.00 for vacuum-insulated drinkware, 7323.93 for non-vacuum stainless — and check it against your own broker's view.
  • Compare like with like. A DDP price against an EXW price is not a comparison. Ask us for the DDP figure and the FOB figure on the same order, then get your own forwarder to quote the gap. Sometimes we are cheaper; often, for an experienced importer, we are not.

Full DDP coverage, timelines and FAQ →

Which one fits you — a short decision path

Do you already work with a freight forwarder?

No → DDP, or FOB once you have found one. Yes → go to the next question.

Are we your only supplier in China for this shipment?

Yes → FOB. No, you are consolidating → EXW, so your agent collects from everyone.

Is your in-hands date immovable?

If yes, FOB gives you control of carrier and sailing. DDP gives you one accountable party. Both work — pick based on whether you would rather steer or delegate.

Still unsure?

Tell us the destination, the quantity and whether you have a broker. We will quote EXW, FOB and DDP side by side so you can see the real gap rather than guess at it.

Documents we prepare, whichever term you choose

Export cartons prepared with full documentation — Jupeng Drinkware
Every shipment leaves with a complete document package
DocumentWhat it is for
Commercial invoiceDeclared value for customs at both ends
Packing listCarton count, dimensions, gross and net weight — your forwarder needs this to book space
Bill of ladingTitle to the goods. On FOB your forwarder issues it; we send you the copy
Certificate of originNeeded for duty assessment, and for preferential rates where they exist
Test reportsFDA, LFGB, EU 1935/2004, Prop 65, GRS — travel with the shipment. See what is on file →
HS classification9617.00 vacuum-insulated · 7323.93 non-vacuum stainless. Final classification rests with your customs broker

An experienced sales contact handles the import side of your order end to end — declaration, documents and the handover to your forwarder — so you are not chasing paperwork across departments or explaining your shipment twice. Missing documents at the destination is a delay nobody needs, and it is entirely preventable.

Related: MOQ & pricing · certifications by market · starting a drinkware brand · tooling costs.

Frequently asked

It is about where our responsibility ends. EXW: we load your agent's truck at our warehouse in Yongkang and everything after that is yours. FOB: we truck to Ningbo or Shanghai, clear export, and hand over at the vessel — you handle ocean freight, duties and delivery. DDP: we arrange everything including duties, and the goods arrive at your door. The goods and their price are identical in all three; only the division of work changes.

EXW and FOB. DDP is the easiest but it is not the most common — experienced importers almost always have their own forwarder and get better freight rates than we can pass on. FOB is the default for anyone who imports regularly; EXW is for buyers consolidating from several Chinese suppliers into one container. We quote all three and will say honestly when we think you should not take DDP from us.

Ask us for a DDP quote first, so you can see one all-in number and judge whether the programme works at all. If it does and you expect to reorder, it is worth finding a freight forwarder in your country before the second order — on a full container their rate usually beats what we can pass through. Most of our long-term buyers started on DDP and moved to FOB once they had done it once.

Yes — that is EXW, and it is what we do for buyers consolidating several suppliers into one shipment. Your agent sends a truck to Yongkang and we load it. Two things to agree in advance: the collection window (goods waiting in our warehouse for a truck is the usual friction point) and whether their vehicle can load from a dock.

We handle inland trucking to Ningbo or Shanghai, export declaration, and loading. You handle ocean freight, insurance, import clearance, duties and final delivery through your nominated forwarder. Send us the booking confirmation as soon as your forwarder issues it — the cut-off date is the real deadline, not the sailing date, and missing it usually costs a week.

Only on DDP. On EXW and FOB, duties and import taxes are yours — which is what most experienced importers prefer, because it lets you claim any preferential treatment your market offers. The HS codes we use are 9617.00 for vacuum-insulated drinkware and 7323.93 for non-vacuum stainless; final classification rests with your customs broker.

DDP works normally to Europe, North America, South America, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand, and to South Africa. Much of Africa and remote island destinations we generally cannot cover — for those, FOB to the nearest major port is usually the workable route. Tell us the destination and we will say straight away whether DDP is possible.

Ask us for both on the same order, then take the FOB figure to your own forwarder and get their all-in quote to your door. The gap is the real comparison. Also ask your forwarder what is not in their number — origin charges, THC, documentation and destination handling are quoted separately by some, so a cheap-looking ocean rate can end up higher all-in. Sometimes we are cheaper on DDP; for an experienced importer, often we are not.

Talk it through with us

Send the market, a rough budget and a reference product. We will tell you which decisions matter for your case and which can wait.