Shipping products from China to Amazon FBA involves choosing a shipping method, preparing your inventory to meet Amazon’s strict labeling standards, clearing U.S. customs, and coordinating between your Chinese supplier, a freight forwarder, and Amazon’s warehouses. The process has several moving parts, but once you understand each step, it becomes repeatable for every restock order.
Set Up Before You Ship
Before any goods leave China, three things need to be in place. First, you need a U.S.-based Amazon seller account (if you’re not located in China). Second, you need product listings created in Seller Central, because Amazon generates the shipping labels and barcodes you’ll need from those listings. Third, you need a Chinese supplier who can manufacture, label, and pack your products to Amazon’s specifications.
Many sellers skip ahead to shipping logistics before their listings are live, which creates problems. Amazon won’t generate your FNSKU barcodes or shipping plan until the listing exists, and your freight forwarder can’t book a shipment without knowing which Amazon fulfillment center it’s headed to. Get the account and listings done first.
Choose Your Shipping Method
You have three main options for getting goods from China to an Amazon warehouse: air express, air freight, and sea freight. Your choice comes down to how much you’re shipping, how fast you need it, and what your margins can absorb.
Air Express
Air express (through carriers like DHL, FedEx, or UPS) is the fastest option, typically delivering in 5 to 10 days door to door. It’s best for small, lightweight shipments, product samples, or urgent restocks when you’re about to run out of inventory. Costs run roughly $5 to $9 per kilogram depending on the carrier and shipment size, which makes it expensive for anything heavy or bulky. For a first small order under 100 kilograms, air express is often the simplest choice because the carrier handles customs clearance for you.
Air Freight
Standard air freight uses cargo airlines rather than express couriers. Transit times run about 8 to 15 days including customs processing and last-mile delivery to Amazon. Per-kilogram costs are lower than express, typically $3 to $6, but you’ll usually need a freight forwarder to arrange pickup, customs brokerage, and final delivery. Air freight hits the sweet spot for mid-sized shipments (100 to 500 kilograms) where speed matters but express pricing would eat your profit.
Sea Freight
Ocean shipping is the cheapest way to move large volumes and the standard choice for established sellers restocking regularly. Transit from major Chinese ports to U.S. ports takes roughly 20 to 40 days, and you should add another 5 to 15 days for customs clearance, drayage (trucking from port to warehouse), and Amazon check-in. You’ll choose between two options:
- LCL (Less than Container Load): Your goods share container space with other shippers’ cargo. You pay per cubic meter, which works well for shipments too large for air but too small to fill an entire container. Expect to pay roughly $40 to $80 per cubic meter, though rates fluctuate with market conditions.
- FCL (Full Container Load): You rent an entire container. A 20-foot container holds about 28 cubic meters of cargo, and a 40-foot container roughly doubles that. FCL rates vary widely by season and port, but per-unit costs drop significantly compared to LCL once you have enough volume to fill or nearly fill a container.
Sea freight requires more planning because of the longer lead time. Most sellers place restock orders 6 to 8 weeks before they expect to need inventory at Amazon.
Work With a Freight Forwarder
A freight forwarder coordinates the entire journey: picking up goods from your supplier’s factory or warehouse in China, handling export paperwork, booking cargo space, managing customs clearance on both ends, and delivering to Amazon’s fulfillment center. For FBA shipments specifically, look for a forwarder experienced with Amazon’s delivery requirements, since Amazon rejects shipments that arrive with incorrect labels, wrong pallet configurations, or without an appointment.
When you request quotes, provide your forwarder with the product dimensions, weight per carton, total number of cartons, the factory’s address in China, and the Amazon fulfillment center address from your shipping plan. The forwarder will quote a landed cost that should include origin charges, freight, customs brokerage fees, duties, and delivery to Amazon. Ask whether the quote is “DDP” (Delivered Duty Paid), meaning all taxes and duties are included, or whether you’ll owe customs charges separately.
Many forwarders offer inspection services at origin. For a relatively small fee, they’ll send someone to your supplier’s factory to check product quality, verify labeling, and confirm carton counts before the shipment leaves China. This is worth considering, especially for your first few orders, because catching a labeling error in Shenzhen is far cheaper than dealing with a rejected shipment at an Amazon warehouse.
Label Everything Correctly
Amazon’s labeling requirements are precise, and mistakes lead to delays, extra fees, or outright rejection of your shipment. There are two layers of labeling to get right: product-level and carton-level.
Every individual unit needs an FNSKU barcode, which is the unique identifier Amazon uses to track your specific inventory. Each product variation (different size, color, or bundle configuration) gets its own FNSKU. You generate these in Seller Central and either apply them yourself or, more commonly, send the barcode files to your Chinese supplier to print and affix during packing. If you’re selling multi-packs or bundles, each set also needs a label stating something like “Sold as set” or “This is a set. Do not separate.”
At the carton level, every box in your shipment needs its own unique FBA shipping label, which you print from your Shipping Queue in Seller Central after creating a shipping plan. Place labels on a flat surface of the box where they’re easy to scan, avoiding corners, edges, and curved surfaces. If you’re packing multiple case-packed boxes inside a larger master carton, apply the shipping label to the outside of the master carton. And if you’re reusing boxes, remove all old shipping labels and markings completely.
Most experienced sellers send their FNSKU files and carton label PDFs directly to their Chinese supplier, who handles all labeling before the goods ship. Confirm with your supplier that they understand Amazon’s requirements, or have your freight forwarder manage labeling as an add-on service.
Handle U.S. Customs Clearance
Every commercial shipment entering the United States must clear customs, and shipments from China carry specific requirements you need to plan for.
Your products need an HTS code (Harmonized Tariff Schedule code), which determines the duty rate you’ll pay. Your freight forwarder or customs broker will help classify your products, but you should verify the code is accurate because misclassification can result in penalties or unexpected duty charges. Duty rates on Chinese goods vary widely by product category, and many categories still carry additional tariffs beyond the base rate.
For shipments valued above $800, you’ll need a formal customs entry. If you plan to import regularly, purchasing a continuous customs bond (rather than paying for a single-entry bond each time) saves money over the course of a year. A continuous bond typically costs $250 to $500 annually, while single-entry bonds run around $50 to $100 each. Your customs broker can arrange this.
Shipments valued at $800 or less may qualify for Section 321 de minimis entry, which allows goods to enter without formal customs duties. However, this applies per shipment (technically per bill of lading), and CBP requires a precise cargo description regardless of value. The description must be specific enough for customs officers to identify the size, shape, and characteristics of the merchandise, written in plain language without filler or marketing copy.
Your freight forwarder typically handles customs brokerage as part of their service, but make sure you understand who is acting as the “importer of record.” As the seller, that’s usually you, which means you’re legally responsible for duties, tariffs, and compliance even if your forwarder files the paperwork.
Create Your Amazon Shipping Plan
Inside Seller Central, you’ll create a shipping plan that tells Amazon what’s coming, how it’s packed, and when to expect it. Amazon uses this information to assign your shipment to one or more fulfillment centers. You don’t get to choose which warehouse your goods go to, and Amazon frequently splits shipments across multiple locations, which can increase your delivery costs.
When building the plan, you’ll enter the number of units, how many units per carton, carton dimensions, and carton weight. Accuracy matters here. If the actual shipment doesn’t match the plan, Amazon may refuse it or charge you additional handling fees. Once the plan is complete, Seller Central generates the shipping labels for each carton and provides the delivery addresses.
Share the fulfillment center addresses and any delivery appointment requirements with your freight forwarder immediately. Amazon warehouses require delivery appointments for truckload and LTL (less than truckload) shipments, and missing your window can mean your shipment sits waiting for a new slot.
What Happens When Inventory Arrives
After your freight forwarder delivers the shipment to Amazon’s fulfillment center, Amazon receives and inspects the goods. This check-in process typically takes around 14 days, though it can be faster or slower depending on the warehouse’s volume and the time of year. During peak seasons (Q4 especially), receiving times can stretch considerably.
Once Amazon processes your inventory, your listings go active and products become available for purchase. Amazon handles storage, picking, packing, and shipping to customers from that point forward.
Track your shipment status in Seller Central under the “Shipping Queue” tab. If Amazon flags any issues during receiving, like damaged units, labeling problems, or quantity discrepancies, you’ll see them there. Keeping detailed records of what you shipped (photos of labeled cartons, packing lists, tracking numbers) helps resolve disputes quickly if something doesn’t match up.
Typical Timeline From Order to Live Listing
For a sea freight shipment, expect roughly 8 to 12 weeks from placing your manufacturing order to having inventory live on Amazon. That breaks down to 2 to 4 weeks for production, 3 to 5 weeks for ocean transit and customs clearance, and 1 to 2 weeks for Amazon to receive and process your inventory. Air shipments compress the middle portion to 1 to 2 weeks, cutting total time to around 5 to 8 weeks.
Plan your restock orders well before you run out of inventory. Running out means lost sales and a hit to your listing’s search ranking, which can take weeks to recover. Most sellers monitor their sell-through rate and place new orders when they have 4 to 6 weeks of inventory remaining.