EXW, FOB or DDP? Shipping Small Kitchen Tool Orders from China

Short answer: for samples and orders of a few cartons, ask for a door-to-door price (DAP, or DDP if you want duties included). If you already have a forwarder or agent in China, use FCA and we deliver to them. For full containers or large sea shipments, FOB keeps control of the freight with you. HEHUI quotes all eleven Incoterms 2020 rules and ships to the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia.

HEHUI is a China kitchenware manufacturer with our own factory since 2010. Most of our vegetable choppers, graters, slicers and kitchen gadgets ship as general cargo, so we can arrange almost any delivery route our buyers ask for.

Which Incoterms can a kitchen tool factory quote?

We quote all eleven Incoterms 2020 rules. The difference between them is where our cost and risk stop and yours begin. This table shows each term from a buyer's side.

Term	Where we hand over	What you still pay	Good fit for
EXW	Your forwarder collects at our factory	You handle export clearance and all transport	Buyers with a forwarder who also handles Chinese export papers
FCA	We hand over to your carrier or forwarder in China, export-cleared	You pay the main freight and import	Buyers who have their own forwarder or agent in China
FAS / FOB	At the Chinese port (beside / on board the vessel)	You pay sea freight, insurance and import	Sea shipments, FCL or LCL, booked by your forwarder
CFR / CIF	We pay sea freight to your port (CIF adds insurance)	You pay unloading, duties and inland delivery	Buyers who want one price to their port
CPT / CIP	We pay carriage to a named place (CIP adds insurance)	You pay import and anything after that place	Air, rail or multimodal shipments
DAP / DPU	We deliver to your address or terminal (DPU: unloaded)	You pay import duties and taxes	Small orders and samples sent door to door
DDP	We deliver with import duties and taxes paid	Almost nothing until delivery	First-time importers who want a landed price

FAS, FOB, CFR and CIF are for sea and inland waterway transport only. For courier, air or rail shipments, use FCA, CPT, CIP, DAP, DPU or DDP instead.

What is the best shipping term for a small first order?

For a sample or a mixed order of a few cartons, a door-to-door price is usually the simplest. You get one number for the goods and delivery, and you do not need to book freight yourself. Choose DDP when you want import duties and taxes included in that number; choose DAP when you prefer to clear customs and pay duties yourself.

Many small buyers also work through an agent in Guangzhou or another Chinese city who combines goods from several suppliers. In that case, ask us for an FCA price to your agent's warehouse. We handle Chinese export clearance, and your agent ships everything together.

HEHUI order process from inquiry and quotation to sample approval, production, inspection and delivery — Our order process: inquiry, quotation, sample approval, production, inspection and delivery.

When should I choose FOB or CIF instead?

Choose FOB once you ship by sea, either a full container or a large LCL lot, and have a forwarder you trust. You control the booking, the shipping line and the destination charges. Choose CIF when you want us to book the sea freight and insurance to your port, but you still clear customs and arrange delivery from the port yourself.

One practical point: with CFR and CIF, destination port charges are not in our price. Ask your forwarder for the local terminal and handling fees before comparing a CIF offer with a DAP or DDP offer.

Can you deliver to my own freight forwarder?

Yes. If your forwarder or sourcing agent has a warehouse in China, we deliver the cartons there with the packing list and carton marks you specify. This is the most common setup for buyers who consolidate several suppliers into one shipment.

Send us the forwarder's warehouse address, the delivery deadline and any carton marking rules. We confirm the delivery date in the quotation.

How long do drawings, samples and production take?

Outside peak season, we send design drawings within 3 days and samples within 7 days. In peak season we confirm dates against our production schedule before we promise them. Stock items have no minimum order; logo, color and custom packaging orders start from 100 units.

Day 0: send the model, quantity, destination and preferred shipping term.
Within 3 days: drawings or artwork proofs for logo and packaging.
Within 7 days: samples dispatched by courier.
After sample approval: production date confirmed in the order.

Can I check the factory and the goods before shipping?

Yes. We can share production-line videos, a video factory audit or a video inspection of your finished goods before they leave. These files are large, so we send them on WhatsApp instead of hosting them here. You can also watch our factory tour or read our amfori BSCI monitoring summary.

Who ships these orders?

HEHUI is the export company of our family manufacturing group. Our factory, Yangjiang Hengli Hardware Products Co., Ltd., makes plastic and metal kitchen tools, and our export team has run its own shipping arrangements with forwarders for years. Buyers deal with the factory's own team from quotation to delivery.

Frequently asked questions

Which Incoterms does HEHUI accept?

All eleven Incoterms 2020 rules: EXW, FCA, FAS, FOB, CFR, CIF, CPT, CIP, DAP, DPU and DDP. Most of our kitchen tools ship as general cargo, so we can quote any of them.

Can you deliver to my own freight forwarder in China?

Yes. If you already have a forwarder or sourcing agent, we deliver the goods to their warehouse in China. FCA is usually the right term for this, because we also handle export clearance.

What is the best shipping term for a first small order?

For samples and orders of a few cartons, ask for a door-to-door quote (DAP, or DDP if you want import duties included). For a first container or a large LCL shipment with your own forwarder, FOB or FCA gives you control of the main freight.

Which countries can you ship to?

We ship to buyers in the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia. Tell us the destination city or port and whether you need duties paid, and we will quote the matching term.

How long do drawings and samples take?

Outside peak season we send design drawings within 3 days and samples within 7 days. In peak season we confirm the date against our production schedule.

Can I get factory or inspection videos before I pay?

Yes. We can share production-line videos, a video factory audit or a video inspection of your goods. The files are large, so we send them on WhatsApp on request.

Get a delivered price from HEHUI

Tell us the model, quantity, destination city or port, and the shipping term you prefer, or ask us to suggest one. If you have a forwarder in China, include their warehouse address. Final terms are confirmed in our quotation.

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