How to read a freight quote: what hub to door includes

1What is on the quote

When you get an instant quote the figure appears as you type, you get a reference number straight away, and our team sends the confirmed quote by email within a few hours. The confirmed quote is short on purpose. It carries your reference, one all-in total, a line showing how that total was worked out (the quantity, the unit and the rate, so a sea quote reads as so many CBM at so much per CBM), the transit band, the date the figure is valid until, and one sentence listing what sits outside it. There is no breakdown of separate handling, documentation or delivery fees, because there are none: the per-CBM or per-kg figure is meant to be the whole freight bill.

The figure on the quote is the figure you rely on. The rates on the pricing page, in the CBM calculator and in your instant quote are indicative; the confirmed quote is the checked version of the same arithmetic, built from the carton dimensions and weights on your packing list. If the cargo that arrives at the hub matches the packing list, the quote holds. Reading quotes from more than one forwarder? The freight forwarder page lists the six questions that make them comparable.

2What hub to door includes

Hub to door means the service starts when your supplier's cartons are received at our hub in China (Foshan for sea, Shenzhen for air) and ends when they are delivered to your Singapore address. Everything that has to happen between those two points is inside the rate. The table below is the same list that appears on your quote and on the pricing page.

The left column is what most forwarders' "freight" line leaves out and adds back later as separate charges. The right column is what no forwarder can fold into a per-CBM rate honestly: GST is set by Singapore Customs on the value of your goods, collection depends on where in China the supplier is, and storage depends on how long your suppliers take.

3Where hub to door starts and ends

The published rates assume your supplier delivers to the hub, which is what most 1688 and factory suppliers do as a matter of course; give them the hub address and your marking code and the cartons arrive. If you need us to collect from the supplier instead, say so when you ask for a quote and tell us where the supplier is. Collection is quoted as a separate line for that pickup, worked out for your route, so you see the whole cost before anything moves.

At the Singapore end, the rate delivers to the address you give us. It does not stop at the port or the airport, and we do not quote port-to-port transit times, because a date your goods reach a terminal you cannot walk into is not a date you can plan around. If you would rather collect at the port yourself, port to port is on the form, and the quote says so.

Transit on the quote is the hub to door band: 10–14 days by sea, 3–5 days by air, counted from the departure that leaves the hub after your cargo is complete. The transit times guide shows the live schedule and how the cut-off works.

4Three things that can move the figure after you accept

A quote is built on what you told us. Three things change between quote and delivery often enough to be worth naming, and all three are visible before the goods leave China.

1. The cargo does not match the packing list. We count and measure at the hub. More cartons, or bigger ones, mean more CBM, and the invoice follows the cargo that actually arrived. Ask your supplier for the packing list before you pay them, and quote from its carton sizes.
2. Storage runs past the free days. The hub holds your consignment for 5 days while the rest of your suppliers deliver. After that it is S$20 per CBM per day. Tell us the expected last delivery date when you book, and chase the slow supplier rather than the fast one.
3. Delivery needs something the address did not mention. A walk-up with no lift, a loading bay with a booking window, a request to unpack: all doable, all outside the rate. Say so when you book and it is priced once, not discovered on the day.

GST is the fourth figure that is not on the quote, and it is not a surprise: it is 9% of the import value as Singapore Customs defines it, paid by us at clearance and passed through on your invoice at cost. The GST and customs clearance guide shows how the value is worked out, with the official sources.

5Questions to ask any forwarder before you accept a quote

Two quotes are only comparable when they cover the same distance and the same work. These are the questions that make a quote comparable. We answer each one on ours; ask them of everyone.

• Where does the price start and stop? Port to port, hub to door or door to door. A port-to-port rate can look a third of a door rate and cost more once trucking, clearance and delivery are added.
• Is the import permit and customs clearance inside the figure? And who lodges it: ask whether the forwarder is a Registered Declaring Agent with Singapore Customs or passes your shipment to a broker.
• Is GST inside or on top? It should be on top, at cost, because it is a tax on your goods, not a freight charge. A quote that folds it in cannot show you what you paid Customs.
• What is the minimum, and what happens below it? Ours is 1 CBM by sea and 10 kg by air; a smaller shipment is billed at the minimum.
• How many free days at origin, and what does storage cost after?
• Is the cargo covered in transit, at what value, and by whom?
• When do I pay, and how? We invoice when your cargo reaches Singapore, payable by PayNow or bank transfer before we deliver it, with no deposit and no card details. A deposit before the goods move is a different risk from paying when they arrive.
• How long is the quote valid? Rates move; a valid-until date tells you when to ask again.

For the whole journey from supplier to door, read the China to Singapore shipping guide. Our published rates and what they include are set out in how much it costs to ship from China to Singapore, and the sea freight guide explains how CBM is measured. When you have your packing list, get an instant quote and the confirmed quote follows in writing within a few hours.