Ocean Express (ocean + delivery): China port → destination port → truck to FBA — cheapest, 25-45 days transit. Air Express (air + delivery): China airport → destination airport → truck to FBA — 8-15 days transit, 2-3× the cost of ocean. Trucking: usually the last leg after ocean — once cargo lands in the US, trucks (LTL or FTL) move it to the FBA warehouse.

Long restock window (3 months+) with large volume → Ocean Express is most economical. Urgent stockouts or new-product launches → Air Express for transit certainty. If you have a local US warehouse and arrange domestic dispatch yourself → buy ocean only and book your own trucking. For hero SKUs, combine: ocean for the bulk to control cost, plus small air shipments to prevent stockouts.

DDP: all duties, VAT and clearance fees are bundled — the quote is your final cost. DDU: the quote covers transport and delivery only; the seller files clearance under their own IOR / EORI and pays duty separately. DDP saves operational effort but is 10-25% more expensive; large sellers with import licenses can save on DDU. New sellers: DDP is strongly recommended.

Yes — FBA warehouses strictly require appointments. Carriers submit an Inbound Shipment Appointment (ISA) in Amazon Carrier Central in advance; only after receiving the POD / PRO number can the truck unload. Without an appointment the shipment is refused or held with fees. Our forwarding quote includes appointment service — sellers just deliver cargo to our China warehouse.

Common refusal reasons: wrong box label, damaged outer carton, oversize (single box > 50 lbs / > 25 inch), appointment mismatch. Refused shipments typically return to a local 3PL for relabeling (extra cost). For losses, file a claim in Seller Central with POD and invoice — Amazon reimburses at invoice value. Forwarders are responsible up to warehouse handover; post-receiving issues follow Amazon's claim process.

On the homepage "FBA" tab, enter origin port, destination warehouse code (e.g. ONT8, LAX9, FRA1), weight or CBM, and commodity type (general / battery / sensitive) to see all-in to-FBA quotes across Ocean / Air / Trucking channels. After signing in, you can see transit commitments, prohibited-item lists, and channel ratings.