The process for freight collect shipment via DHL/FEDEX/UPS

After the production is finished, the makeup brush factory need to send the shipment to the customers. Usually, the trade terms is FOB or EXW, so customers need to pay the shipping charge.  If ship via DHL/FEDEX/UPS, the charge of freight collect is much more higher than prepaid. There are two ways to save the cost, one way is that customers pay the shipping charge to the makeup brush supplier and then the supplier pay the DHL/FEDEX/UPS; the other is customers reach agreement with their local DHL/FEDEX/UPS and get special discount on the charge of feight collect.

 

When the production is finished and available for pickup. The makeup brush manufacturer should send detailed package information to customers, which includes total weight, total dimension, carton size, carton numbers etc, as well as the detailed pickup address.

 

Then customers will forward such information to their local DHL/FEDEX/UPS to get quotation and arrange the pickup. After everything is confirmed, the customer’s local DHL/FEDEX/UPS will input such information in their global system and instruct the pickup from the manufacturer. It will then generate a control number in the system.

 

After the manufacturer’s local DHL/FEDEX/UPS receive the instruction, they will contact the manufacturer to check all information and will tell the manufacturer of the control number. The manufacturer can call any customer service of DHL/FEDEX/UPS to arrange the pickup by such control number.

 

The most important thing is the consistency of information from both sides. If customer’s local DHL/FEDEX/UPS input wrong information in their system, for example, the pickup address or payer is not correct, or the carton number or weight is not the same as the actual situation, any inconsistency will hold the shipment.The manufacturer’s local DHL/FEDEX/UPS will never pickup the packages unless all information is consistant with that in their system. Therefore, to save time of both sides, manufacturers should ensure that the information they send customers is totally the same as the actual situation, customers also should ensure that they do forward the original information to their local DHL/FEDEX/UPS and ensure that the DHL/FEDEX/UPS staff do input the right information to their system.

 

If all information is consistant, the DHL/FEDEX/UPS will arrange the pickup ASAP, and the manufactures only need to follow their instructions.

 

 

The process to contact customers forwarder

No makeup brush factory has its own shipping company, so we need the professional forwarder to arrange the shipment for us. Sometimes, we can use our own forwarder, but sometimes, customers will require us to ship the goods via their own forwarder in China. Of course, using our own forwarder will be better for us, using customer’s forwarder will be more beneficial for customers.

 

The operation with our own forwarder is very easy and we can direct the whole process, but with customer’s forwarder, we should follow their instruction to prepare everything they required. Here we would like to introduce the process to arrange the shipment with customer’s forwarder.

 

After the production is finished and all packages are available for shipment, we need to contact the forwarder-customers usually will list their forwarders’ contact information in the order. Then the forwarder will send us a order form with their company template, which will need us to fill in the  detailed information of shipper, consignee etc, and also the description of goods, the dimension, gross weight, number of packages and Marks etc; after getting these information, the forwarder begin to book space for the shipment, and then send a Jincang notice to us together with the warehouse map, so that we can ensure to send the goods into correct warehouse. If you do not send the packages to the warehouse by yourselves but by shipping company, you should write the Jincang number on the waybill, otherwise, the shipping company will not be able to enter into the warehouse. Also, if you need the forwarder to declare at the customs, you should also send all related documents to the forwarder.

 

Then the forwarder will arrange everything for you. If it is FOB terms, they will send you the list of all fees you need to pay them. After customs declaration and the shipment is successfully released from customs,the forwarder will send you a B/L for your confirmation, so that they can confirm with the shipping compay, after getting confirmation, the shipping company will issue the official B/L.

 

Also, before the shipment reaching destination, the forwarder will send you a document to confirm if the B/L is telex release or original B/L. If you have got all payment from customers, it is usually telex release, then you will need to sign a document to declare that you will take all responsibility to such telex release.

 

After the shipments reach the destination, customers may need to do the customs clearance, you will need to support customers if necessary, such as send the invoice and packing list etc.

 

Even we need to ship via customers’ forwarders, it is also not complex, we just need to follow their each instruction, and prepare all documents carefully, then there should be no problem.

 

 

The corrective actions to package problem

For package/pouch inconformity:

The package mentioned here is the PP/PVC pouch for individual brush instead of makeup brush set or inner/outer carton.

Most Chinese makeup brush manufacturers defaultly use the inventory material to produce the packages if customers have no certain requirement on the style. So even for same customers, the package styles of two orders may be different. For example, the packages for first order is transparent, while in the second order, the packages may become frosted; the packages for one batch may have burrerfly holes, while another batch may not have….

If customers would like to have unified packages for all their orders, the following corrective actions will be implemented during our production:

1. Standardize and unify package material and style for same customer;
2. Establish and carry out more strict quality inspection system, especially on packing;
3. Before batch production, we will firstly send pictures of the whole brushes and packages to customers, and will not start mass production until getting customers’ approval; also before each shipment, we will send customers some pictures of the brushes and packages etc, and will not ship the goods until getting customers’ confirmation

For improper packages

Sometimes, the packages and makeup brushes are in good condition before shipment, while reaching customers, they are somewhat damaged. It may because rude shipment but sometimes it is because improper packages. For example, the outer carton is frail so can not avoid of related damage in transship; or some customers require certain packs for individual makeup brushes but such pack are fragile which are very easy to be damaged during shipment.

The following corrective actions can avoid of such problems:

1.       For international shipment, use secure outer and inner cartons, such as cartons with 4 levels.

2.       If the packs for individual makeup brushes are fragile, confirm with customers to check if we can supply makeup brushes in bulk and send the packs separately, and customers pack these in their warehouse.

3.       Label related marks on the outer cartons to remind the forwarders carefully and gently load and unload the cartons.

Matters need attention during inquiring from forwarder

Usually, we will send makeup brushes via Express, air or sea depending on the weight and size of the shipment. No matter which way, since we can not ship by ourselves, we have to check all details with the forwarders. Firstly, we need to get quotation from the forwarder on the shipment. Here we would like to list some matters that need attention during inquiring from forwarders.

While inquiring from forwarder, we need to offer detailed information to forwarders. The detailed information includes: 1) the detailed address and post code of shipper and consignee; 2) the total weight of the shipment; 3) the detailed size of the shipment. The detailed address of shipper and consignee decide the delivery distance; the weight and size decide the changeable weight. Some may concern why also needs size information? Should the shipping charge only depend on the weight? For this question, please refer to our explanation on Heavy cargo and bulky cargo.  

Some customers would like us to pay the shipping charge and arrange everything on the shipment, while some believe they can get better price from their forwarders. Usually, the shipping charge paid by shipper especially Chinese shipper must be cheaper than by consignee. For example, if the shipment is sent via FEDEX, the charge paid by Chinese shipper may be just USD1000, but if paid by consignee, the charge will be over USD4000.0. Freight prepaid causes no risks to forwarders but freight collect will cause high risks if the consignee is not available or refuse the shipment, therefore freight prepaid must be cheaper than freight collect.

Of course, if the customers have large business in China and have established long-term cooperation with the forwarder, they may get special offer from their forwarders, and can get lower price than shippers. In this case, they certainly should choose their own forwarders. Just ensure that the forwarder will certainly offer such price for the shipment. So it is better to sign a contract with the forwarder for the shipment.

Whatever, no matter ship via our forwarder or customer’s forwarder, we should offer exact information to forwarders, and try to find the best solution for customers in price and service.

The declared value of makeup brushes

Makeup brushes, as a kind of consumer goods, are not as expensive as some high-tech products. The price of the most expensive makeup brushes will not be higher than USD100.0. According to customs policy, the importers/exporters should indicate the actual value of the goods during declaration/clearing. If the declared value is obviously lower or higher than normal, customs will pay special attention on the shipment or even will not release the shipments until getting official prove.

Some of our customers are not so familiar with the customs policy, and believe it is better to declare higher value in case of the goods is missed during shipment. Recently, one customer sent us a prototype which is just a single makeup brush, but he declared USD2000.0 for the single brush. When the package reaches our customs in Shanghai, it can not pass our customs. As the customs really wonder why a single brush is so expensive, so they require us to submit some documents to prove that USD2000.0 is really the actual value of the brushes. The problem is the brush can not so expensive, so we can not get such documents to clear the package from customs. Therefore, we have to ask the customer to change the declared value at his side, till now, he is still working on changing the declared value, and the prototype is still held on customs. If the declared value is less than USD100.0, we must have already got the prototype.

Therefore, during custom makeup brushes, if customers would like us to send us any samples, please ensure that the declared value will be no more than USD100.0. According to Chinese customs policy, any shipment which value more than USD500.0 will need official declaration/clearing process; for samples, it is best to be lower than USD100.0, so that we can get them from customs quickly.

Heavy cargo and bulky cargo

Sometimes, customers would like us to pay the shipping charge for them, as they have no fixed forwarder in China and our forwarder can offer them much better price. In this case, we need to firstly estimate the weight of the shipment, get quote from our forwarder in advance, then send the quotation of shipping charge to customers, so that customers can pay the shipping charge to us.

However, if the makeup brushes will be shipped via air or express, during estimating the weight, we should consider if the shipment will be bulky or heavy. If it is heavy cargo, the shipping cost will be the same as estimated, but if it is bulky cargo, the shipping charge will be higher than estimated.

How to distinguish heavy cargo and bulky cargo?

For air shipment, we should firstly understand the bulk weight. According to airlines, if the shipment has small bulk but heavy weight, the shipping charge is calculated by weight; if the shipment has big bulk but light weight, the charge is calculated by bulk, i.e. the so called bulk weight.

The bulk weight =length (cm)*width (cm)*height (cm)/6000

That means if the weight of 1m³ is heavier than 168kg, it is a heavy cargo, the shipping charge depends on actual weight; if the weight of 1m³ is less than 168kg, the charge depends on bulk weight.

For example, if the actual weight of a package is 1kg, but the bulk weigh is 3kg (according to the above formula), the forwarder will consider the package is 3KG.

If the actual weight of a package is 1kg, but the bulk weigh is 0.5kg (according to the above formula), the forwarder will consider the package is 1KG.

Therefore, while estimating the shipment weight, we should also know the shipment size; otherwise, it may cause some loss to us on shipping charge.

Why your makeup brushes are held on customs？

After sending shipments of makeup brushes or the samples, we sometimes get emails from customers which said that the shipments are held on their local customers, which made them very panic as some believe they will not get the shipments any more.

 

In fact, it is normal that the shipments are held in customs, it does not mean that the goods will be leave in customs for ever. If the importer or exporter submit enough and exact documents, the shipments will finally be released from customs.

 

Then why the shipments are held in customs?

 

It is known that there are so huge shipments pass the customs every day. The customs are not able to check all shipments one by one, so they randomly check some shipments by checking the clearance documents offered by importers. If the documents are not enough, misdeclare or not up to local regulations, the customs will pay more attention to the goods and then hold the shipments until they get correct documents.

 

For makeup brushes, the customers/importers should at least submit the invoice and packing list which indicate the quantity and value of the shipment, as well as the detailed description of the makeup brushes, such as the material of the hair, ferrule and handle. If the hair material is animal or wild animal hair, the importers should submit related certificates and approval documents from the makeup brush manufacturers to ensure that the hair will not carry any pathogenic bacteria; if the handle material is wooden, the importers should also submit the fumigation certificate to ensure that no harmful pest etc. If the importers have submitted all essential documents, the customs will not hold the shipment any more.

 

If the makeup brushes are actually natural hair and wooden handle, but the importers declare to be synthetic and plastic on their documents, will also greatly reduce the chance of their shipments to be held on customs, but if they are unfortunately met the unpacking checking, the shipments will also be held on customs, and the makeup brushes will be quarantined at customs until they are tested to be safe

 

So, before custom makeup brushes, customers/importers should completely understand their local regulations on makeup brushes, and require all necessary documents from the makeup brush factory before shipment, then their shipment will not be held on customs.

 

Customs declaration of makeup brushes

Recently, Chinese customs released some new regulations on the declaration, for example, cancel the verification sheet for export goods. So the export company only needs to submit Customs declaration, customs proxy, invoice, packing list, declaration elements, and HS code.

 

Here, as a professional makeup brush manufacturer, we would like to introduce something about the makeup brushes during customs declaration:

 

The HS code of makeup brush: 9603290090

The Article description is: Shaving brushes, hair brushes, nail brushes, eyelash brushes and other toilet brushes for use on the person，including such brushes constituting parts of appliances of subheading No.96032000

 

The declaration elements of makeup brush

According to Chinese customs, the declaration elements of makeup brush should include the following:

1. Product name: Makeup brush

2. Usage: For makeup

3. Material: Goat/pony/synthetic hair, aluminum/copper ferrule, wooden/plastic handle

4. Wild Animal products or not: No

 

Supervision Provisions: NA

That means there is no need to do the commodity inspection before shipment

 

Others:

Legal unit: piece

MFN tax rate: 15%

Import tax rate: 100%

Export tariff rate: 0%

Consumption Tax: 0%

VAT: 17%

 

Although we are very familiar to the Chinese customs regulation, we are not sure about the regulations in customers’ location, so before custom makeup brushes from us or place final orders, customers should check their local customs regulations on the makeup brushes in case of any shipment hold during their customs clearance.

Combine shipments

Some frequent customers will place several orders within one month to custom makeup brushes with normal or new design. For example, some may order blush brushes and powder brushes on July 1^st, and then place order for eye brushes and lip brushes on July 15^th; some may order brushes on July 10^th and order boxes/bags on July 25^th….. It is not because they like many orders but they have different demand in different time.

If customers are not in urgent need of the brushes or boxes, to save shipping cost, they will require the makeup brush manufacturer to combine some shipments together. For example, they place 5 orders in July, and the normal lead time is 30 days, so if not urgent, they may would like the makeup brush manufacturer to ship all 5 orders by the end of August. In this case, although some orders can be finished by the end of July, the manufacturer will have to hold the shipment for about one month.

Since it is customer’s requirements to combine shipments, it is certainly good to the customer. For the makeup brush manufacturer, it is both advantage and disadvantage. The advantage is it decreases all related shipping preparation and documents. It is known that for international shipments, each shipment needs a set of documents and related job, 5 shipments will need 5 sets documents and 5 custom declarations. So shipment combination greatly saves time and money for manufacturers in customs. The disadvantage is that it somewhat affect the manufacturer’s Capital Returning. The payment terms is usually 50% prepay and 50% before shipment. If the shipments are held, the balance payment will also be held. It is really not good to manufacturer’s resource flow.

To support customers and ensure long term cooperation, most makeup brush manufacturer will agree with the shipments combination. Toney will also try our best to offer better service for customers all over the world.

Continuous rainstorm affects our normal production

The recent heavy rainstorm in china has become the disaster to us, it not only caused death to more than 100 people, but also caused huge economy lost, and also greatly affected our daily life and production.

Firstly, the rainstorm causes the delay on our incoming material. As a makeup brush manufacturer, we have ordered material for makeup brush production, however, due to the heavy rain, the transportations are always delayed. Usually, the material will reach us within 3 days after shipment, but now it is still hold on Transport Company to wait for rain stopping. We can not blame the transport company since it is force majeure.

Secondly, the rainstorm brings moist weather and environment in our workshop, which will cause our production delay. We have explained a lot on why and how the moist environment affects our production, here repeat no more.

Thirdly, the rainstorm and bad road conditions also affect our shipment to customers. Most of our customers are international customers, so we usually ship via air or sea. However, our local forwarder will not agree to pick up the goods from our warehouse in such bad weather; even if the goods are safely delivered to forwarder warehouse, the air or sea may also delayed since it is not wise to fly or sail in such weather.

We will do whatever we can do to deliver the makeup brushes to customers on time, however, we can not control force majeure, and so if we finally are not able to ship on time, we really hope to get the understanding from customers.

About the shipment delay

Due to some natural or manmade reasons, sometimes, the shipment may have to be delayed. For example, rainy season will obstruct the painting and glue drying; mismanagement of the makeup brush manufacturer will cause the quality problem. Although natural delay is inevitable while manmade reason is avoidable, once if the delay happens, the most important thing for the makeup brush manufacturer is not to pay a lot of time to ascertain where the responsibility lies, but try best to remedy and explain to customers immediately.

 

During our communication with customers on the delay, we should firstly tell customers the reason of the delay, the update shipping date and how to compensate for the delay. The compensation differs base on different situation: if the makeup brush manufacturer promises 30 days lead time, while customers requires urgent delivery for example 20 days, and the manufacturer just agree to try best, if not able to deliver after 20 days, the manufacturer should not compensate for such delay as long as they can deliver within 30 days; but if the manufacturer promises 30 days and can not ship on time, they should make compensation.

 

If the delay cause partial shipment, for example, the order quantity is 20000pcs and the delivery time should be May 1^st. While on May 1^st, only 15000pcs can be available for shipment, and the rest 5000pcs will be finished after one week. Then the makeup brush factory should communicate with customer to check if they can firstly send the finished 15000pcs and then the rest 5000pcs. Usually, the customer will agree as long as it will not affect their selling. But since it is the fault of the makeup brush factory instead of customer, and the shipping charge for two shipments must be higher than one shipment, so the makeup brush factory should initiatively promise to afford the shipping charge difference.

 

No matter what is the situation, since the delay happens, the makeup brush manufacturers should firstly realize that it is their own responsibility, sincerely communicate with customers and initiatively take related responsibilities.

Shipping charge advances for customers

It is known that most Chinese makeup brush manufacturers quote EXW price, which does not include any shipping charge or taxes besides production cost. The customers should arrange and pay the charge to deliver the makeup brushes to the port or their office.

 

If customers would like to ship via sea/air, they should require their Chinese forwarder to pickup the makeup brushes from the manufacturer or factory and afford all related charges; if customers would like to ship via express like DHL/UPS/FEDEX, they should advise their account# and then the makeup brush manufacturers will call DHL/UPS/FEDEX to pick the packages from the factory.

 

However, some customers do not have any forwarder in China or any DHL/UPS/FEDEX account #, so it is hard for them to handle the shipment at their location. To solve such problem, some customers will want to pay the shipping charge to the makeup brush suppliers in advance, and then the suppliers arrange all related issues and pay all related fees.

 

Toney, as a professional makeup brush factory, can handle in this way to help with the shipment. We will firstly estimate the total weight and size of the packages, then inquiry our forwarder about the shipping charge, of course, we should tell forwarder of the estimated delivery date and get an estimated charge; after getting total estimated shipping charges, we will send all information includes: package size, carton numbers, total weight and shipping charge to our customers. Then customers can have a rough idea about the charge. Some customers may want to compare the charge with their local forwarder to check if the makeups brush suppliers cheat them on the charges.

 

If customers confirm that they would like us to pay the shipping charge at our side, they will need to pay the shipping charge to us before the shipment. After getting their payment, we will arrange everything at our side and pay the shipping charge to our forwarder.

 

Sometimes, the actual charge is more than what customers paid us, if not too much money, we will afford such difference by ourselves; if the difference is too big, we will negotiate with customers to solve such issue: customers pay the difference before the shipment or in next order.

 

The suppliers handle the shipping will greatly save money and time for customers. If the charge is paid by customers once collected, the charge may be 2-3 times of prepay. Therefore, it is really a good way to handle the international shipment.

Shipping mark for makeup brushes

Although the shipping mark is not compulsory for international shipment, most customers will require marks on each carton in case of any missing or confusing.

 

The shipping mark content and style totally depends on customers and suppliers. If customers have their own fixed marks, they should send the mark to makeup brush manufacturers to make such marks on the cartons. If customers have no fixed marks and are no so familiar with the mark issues, the brush manufacturers can design the marks and send them to customers for confirmation.

 

Usually, the marks should be printed on the outer cartons, it means: the makeup brush manufacturer should send the marks to the carton factory and require the carton factory to print the marks on each carton. However, if the carton quantity is so few that the carton factory does not want to print the marks on each carton, the makeup brush manufacturers should feedback such situation to customers and try to get customers’ approval to firstly print the marks on paper and then stick the paper on each carton.

 

In fact, the customs has no requirement on mark style or content, no mark is also ok. Shipping mark is only a way to distinguish our cartons from all others, since there are so many cartons in a same port or airport. Shipping mark can help customers find their goods accurately and immediately.

 

A shipping mark usually contains such information: customer’s name or abbreviation, destination (port or city), order number and carton number. For example:

ABC (customer name)

Vancouver (customer’s location)

PO#20110101

Carton#:1-20

 

The important issue is the exporter should ensure the consistency of all related documents. For example, if your invoice shows no mark, all other documents (packing list, declaration, B/L), should show the same information. If the invoice shows mark information, all other documents should show the same mark information. Otherwise, the shipment may be hold on customs and can not reach customers.

Makeup brush shipment

For small orders, some customers would like to ship via DHL/FEDEX/UPS which will be much quicker than via air or sea. Also, they will prefer to prepay the shipping charge to the makeup brush suppliers, as freight charge paid by receiver is much higher than by shipper.

 

While after getting customers’ payment on freight charge, some makeup brush suppliers will choose to ship via DHL agent instead of official DHL, as DHL agent will be cheaper than official. Here we would like to introduce the advantages and disadvantages of DHL and its agent:

 

DHL agent: The most important advantage is low fee. Usually the shipping charge of DHL agent is 30% of official quotation, some may even lower. This is the main reason why many Chinese makeup brush suppliers choose agent.

 

Another advantage of DHL agent is the convenience especially for those suppliers who have no import-export license. Shippers only need to give the packages to the agent, no need to submit any declaration documents, and the agent will handle everything at customs; that is another reason why the agent is so popular in China.

 

However, the shipment via DHL agent will take longer time. The DHL normal time to USA will just 3 days, but if via agent, it may take more than 5 days; some may 7-10 days. That is because to decrease the fee, the agents usually transfer the shipment to another location to combine the packages with others. Such transfer will also cause the package missing or damage, if such issue happens, the shippers will have no way to require any compensation since the shipment is not handled via official DHL.

 

DHL official: The DHL will be quicker and safer than agent. If anything happened, DHL will handle for them, and the shippers can claim compensation from DHL for any package damage or missing. But the shipping charge is too high and shippers need to submit all related declaration documents to DHL, it is not easy for some small makeup brush manufacturers.

 

Despite of the advantages and disadvantages of DHL and its agent, we really suggest DHL official for samples, as the fee will not be much higher; if ship via agent, the small package is easy to be missed. For large shipment, it depends on shippers’ consideration on safety and cost. Usually, large shipment will not be missed.

Online shipment for samples

During custom makeup brushes, most customers will require samples. Some may agree to place orders first, but some may prefer checking sample quality before placing order or arranging payment.

It raises a question: how to arrange the shipment of samples? Certainly, the customers should pay the shipping charge, but how to pay if customers have no DHL/FEDEX/UPS account #?

Some customers would like to pay the charge to makeup brush manufacturer, and then the makeup brush manufacturer pay the express. But the bank fee is too high, for example, the shipping charge is USD50.0, but the bank fee may about USD30.0 or more, so the customers may need to pay USD80.0, but the makeup brush manufacturer can just receive USD20.0 which is too far from the real shipping charge. That is why most customers and makeup brush factory do not like bank transfer for shipping charge, not cost-effective.

In fact, customers can arrange the pickup online. Take DHL for example, customers can apply on DHL website and let the local DHL contact the makeup brush factory to pick up the package. Customers just need to fill in detailed information on DHL website, such as the customers’ address, contact person and telephone, the pickup address, contact person and telephone, customers’ bank information, the package size and weight etc. The DHL will contact the makeup brush supplier to arrange the pickup, or send email to customers to confirm the pickup date/time.

Sample delivery has been a bottleneck for both customers and suppliers for a long period, it affects our cooperation deeply. Now many of our customers use this way to arrange the sample delivery, it really helps us to solve this long-term problem.

The package of makeup brushes

We usually use PP bags for single brush; and makeup brush roll for makeup brush sets; the outside package is usually carton. However, no matter single or brush sets, the packages can be change upon customer request. Customers only need to send us all their requirements on the brush package, and then they will certainly receive the required package.

The shipment of makeup brushes

We always arrange shipment upon customer requirement. For small quantity and that requires prompt delivery, the Express like DHL, FEDEX, UPS will be better. The shipment via DHL/FEDEX/UPS usually will be reached customers within 7 days. While for large quantity cosmetic brushes, considering the cost, we usually prefer shipping via sea. If by sea, the duration will be much longer, and it requires a lot on the package. We have many years experience on oversea shipment, and our cosmetic brushes always reach customers in good condition.