US ecommerce stores feature many items that appeal to customers in China. Sadly, not all sellers offer international shipping options. Here’s where shop-and-ship comes in.
Nowadays, the process is a bit nuanced, but it’s also not as complicated as you may think.
Today, we’ll show you how to shop and ship products from the US to China.
How Does a Shop-and-Ship Service Work?
As we said, shop-and-ship is a funnel used to sell items in territories abroad. This is an ideal service for brands that can’t afford to ship products abroad.
Here’s how it works:
- Sign up to a shop and ship service. Then submit a detailed description, including units and invoice amount.
- Select the territories where you’ll offer your items. Then, pack and send your products to the warehouse.
- The shipper measures the package dimensions to calculate the shipping costs.
- Once the fee is paid, the service transports the packages to their destination.
This is done with the help of third-party shipping companies, such as Borderlinx and Shop USA.
Besides shipping products, these services also feature online stores. Here, customers can review your product catalog. When they make a purchase, the shipping service then delivers the product to their homes.
Why Use Shop-and-Ship?
International shipping requires export knowledge. There are also high costs involved, including customs fees and marketing. And with all this comes an important language barrier for sellers.
Customers also have a hard time ordering products from the US, due to high import fees. But even considering shipping costs, US items still benefit from high demand overseas. Here’s why:
- Unavailability. US products are not always available overseas. In other cases, overseas versions may have a different design. With Shop and Ship, foreign customers can get authentic items made in the US.
- More offers. Ecommerce stores usually offer a broader selection of items and variations. This is especially true for US retailers. So, customers can get more personalized items from the US.
- Lower prices. Even with the extra shipping costs, international customers can actually save money when they buy from US retailers.
As of 2021, the US is the second largest ecommerce market. This year, Statista estimates that total online sales in the US may reach over $875 billion.
However, China is already the leading online market in the world.
Let’s look at the facts:
- The country totaled $2.1 trillion in ecommerce sales during 2021.
- 52.1% of global online retail happens in China.
- Chinese buyers represent 38.5% of the world’s digital customers. That´s around 824 million users!
Source: Shopify
It’s clear that staying out of China’s ecommerce is not a luxury you can afford. That’s why so many US brands want to capitalize on this growing trend.
Just look at Shopify, which partnered up with JD.com in 2021. This is a Chinese ecommerce giant used by more than 550 million customers.
The deal will allow Shopify stores to showcase their products in China. This deal will also simplify the selling process for US retailers down to a 3 to 4 week window.
Not all sellers have the same resources as Shopify. But that doesn’t mean there’s no way to go international.
Luckily, shop and ship can help you compete overseas.
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Shop and Ship Services
Here are a few entities that can help you sell your goods in China.
ShopUSA
ShopUSA is an international exporter based in Virginia. They currently ship to more than 100 countries.
Merchants can opt for two types of accounts to work with ShopUSA:
- Basic. Free membership plan. The account provides a US address to shop online in the USA. It also grants 85% lower shipping rates, 5-day storage, and product delivery tracking in real time.
- Premium. Features all the benefits from the basic account, plus 30-day storage. Additionally, premium members also get free consolidation, and multiple package discounts. The pricing tier is $1.99 per month.
ShopUSA also offers “Prepay duties and taxes”. This service can help sellers reduce customs delays to speed up deliveries.
Shiptao
This is a Chinese based company that allows sellers to store in warehouses in China.
From there, brands can ship products globally.
Shiptao provides customers with a China-based address to make buying Chinese products a smooth sail.
The company offers a wide spectrum of benefits. For example:
- Free product photography and storage
- Air and sea freight
- Purchase on behalf of customers
- Pay using PayPal, with 0% fees
- Product testing for electronics
- VAT at $4.80 per kilo, for every 100k units
Borderlinx
Borderlinx is more of a customer-oriented service. The company currently ships to 60 countries around the world.
You can set up a free account on the website. From there on, Borderlinx sets users with 4 free forwarding addresses. These will be located in the US, Germany, Hong Kong and the UK.
Some of the most popular Borderlinx features are the following:
- Free account setup
- Prepaid tax and duty
- Consolidate shipments
- Ship via DHL
The website also features an extensive store directory. The list showcases many global brands where customers can shop and ship items to their homes.
Related content: International Shipping for Amazon Japan
Final Thoughts
The age of market borders is long gone. Global shopping has turned China into a unique marketplace to sell US-exclusive items.
Shop and ship makes this an easier-than-ever opportunity for US retailers. So, don’t miss out on selling within and getting the most out of the leading ecommerce market.
Author
Esteban Muñoz is an SEO copywriter at AMZ Advisers, with several years’ experience in digital marketing and e-commerce. Esteban and the AMZ Advisers team have been able to achieve incredible growth on the Amazon platform for their clients by optimizing and managing their accounts and creating in-depth content marketing strategies.
