1688 and wholesale shipping to Singapore

1. Give every supplier our warehouse address with your Paotui code at the end of the street address (get it on WhatsApp: reply Address). 1688 sellers, Alibaba suppliers and factories can all deliver there.
2. Suppliers deliver within China to Guangzhou. Keep each tracking number.
3. When everything has arrived, send us one order list. Not sure about air or sea? Ask for a weight check and we send you both prices.
4. Pay in SGD by PayNow or bank transfer. We ship, clear customs and deliver to your shop, office or home.

Volume is measured at the warehouse and rounded up to the next 0.1 m³. Heavy goods count at most 500 kg per m³ (600 kg in 0.8 m³ is charged as 1.2 m³). Add 9% import tax on the value of the goods. Sea LCL takes about 2–3 weeks (est.) from dispatch to your door. Smaller or urgent orders can go by air, est. 4–5 working days. Work out your cartons with the CBM calculator.

• Over 40 kg in one parcel (or over 140 cm long, or 70 cm or more on two sides): S$60.00 once per shipment on air or sea by kg. Not charged on Sea LCL.
• Over 60 kg in one piece: the Singapore courier may charge about S$200–300 for special loading equipment, paid to them. Ask suppliers to pack in lighter cartons where they can.
• Wooden frame for fragile goods: added at the warehouse, about S$40–80 per m³, confirmed once the goods arrive.

• Electronics with batteries, liquids, cosmetics, packaged food and magnets are Sensitive: same price, but they must be declared.
• Ask us first on WhatsApp before your suppliers ship: branded goods, medicines and health products, fresh food, seeds and radio equipment. Some need a Singapore permit. We can't ship live plants, toy guns, swords, drones, e-bikes, e-scooters and other mobility devices, chewing gum or nicotine products. Full list: what you can and can't ship.
• Air-cons, fridges, clothes dryers, TVs, water heaters and three-phase motors need NEA registration before import (free at go.gov.sg/elsportal, about 7 working days).
• Declare the real goods value: the 9% import tax is based on it.

By default, compensation is 3 times the shipping fee or the declared value, whichever is lower. For fuller cover, add a premium of 10% of the declared value. Fragile goods and minor cosmetic damage aren't covered; see our Terms.

Take a common export carton of 60 × 40 × 40 cm. Each one is 0.096 m³. At 15 kg a carton, the load is light for its size, so volume decides the price. We add up every carton, round the total up to the next 0.1 m³, and read the price from the table above.

Three things to notice:

• The steps are flat at the bottom. Up to 0.4 m³ is S$90.00, and anything from 0.5 to 1 m³ is S$138.00. So 5 cartons and 10 cartons cost the same freight. If you're at 0.5 m³, the next few cartons up to 1 m³ add nothing to the freight.
• Just over a step costs the full step. Up to 4 of these cartons fit within 0.4 m³. The fifth puts you on the S$138.00 step. Know where your order sits before your suppliers pack.
• From 1 m³ it's a straight line: S$138.00 per m³, and S$136.00 per m³ once the shipment is over 10 m³.

An LCL figure before loading is an estimate. The final volume is measured when the goods are loaded, so leave 20–30% room in your costing. All the tiers are on China to Singapore shipping rates.

Sea LCL is charged on volume, with one limit: each cubic metre covers up to 500 kg. For a heavy load we work out weight ÷ 500 and charge whichever is higher, that figure or the measured volume. It's a way of counting the volume, not a surcharge.

• A quick test per carton: volume in m³ × 500. A 40 × 30 × 30 cm carton reaches the limit at 18 kg, and a 60 × 40 × 40 cm carton at 48 kg. Lighter than that, and volume decides.
• No extra-heavy fee on Sea LCL. The S$60.00 charge for a parcel over 40 kg applies to air and sea by kg only.
• Keep each piece under 60 kg where you can. Above that, the Singapore courier may charge about S$200–300 if they decide special loading equipment is needed. That's their charge, paid to them at delivery. It isn't on our invoice and we can't confirm it in advance.

The CBM calculator takes a weight per carton and applies this rule for you.

Not every order is a pallet. For lighter loads we charge by weight, on the higher of the actual and the volumetric weight.

• A sample carton of 40 × 30 × 20 cm at 4 kg has a volumetric weight of 4.8 kg, so it's charged as 5 kg: S$44.00 by air (est. 4–5 working days) or S$18.00 by sea by kg (est. 3–4 weeks).
• A 28 kg restock in two cartons: S$246.40 by air, or S$75.50 by sea by kg.
• From 34 kg, sea by kg would cost more than S$90.00, so the shipment goes by Sea LCL instead, starting at a flat S$90.00 for up to 0.4 m³. We don't charge more than S$90.00 by kg.

Urgent samples can fly while the bulk order follows by sea. Send two order lists, one per method. There's more on tiny shipments in small parcel shipping.

The flat steps are charged once per shipment. If three suppliers' goods travel separately, each one pays its own minimum. Together, they share one.

• Storage makes this possible. Each supplier's goods are stored free for 45 days from the day they arrive, so a fast supplier can wait for a slow one. We can't keep goods beyond 45 days, so if a factory's lead time is longer, tell us early on WhatsApp.
• One shipment, one Singapore address. Stock for two locations needs two shipments.
• Send the list when everything is in. After that the shipment is sealed and measured, and nothing can be added. A late supplier's goods go in the next shipment.

1. The supplier sends the goods to Guangzhou with a China courier. Ask for a tracking number for every carton. At our warehouse each box comes in under its own tracking number, so if a supplier says two boxes went out under one number, ask them for the second one.
2. The cartons are scanned in. Check each number on Track Parcel. We don't send arrival messages, and we don't open cartons or count what's inside. For bulky pieces the warehouse doesn't record a weight at intake, so "1 kg" there means one piece received.
3. You send one order list, with the total value of the goods for the import tax. Put your company name under Recipient if you want the invoice issued to the company.
4. We weigh, measure and invoice. Pay within 24 hours by PayNow or bank transfer.
5. We dispatch. The warehouse dispatches Monday to Saturday. Sea shipments leave weekly and the cut-off varies, so WhatsApp us if you're working to a date.
6. Sea LCL takes about 2–3 weeks (est.) door to door, customs and local delivery included. The courier messages you before an LCL delivery. They set the day and time. We can't book a slot.

Can't get the factory to deliver? It's simplest when the supplier sends the goods to our warehouse themselves. We don't usually collect from factories. If you'd like us to arrange a pickup, there's a S$5.00 arrangement fee on top of the China courier's fee, and we'll need the pickup address in Chinese, a contact person there, and the size and weight of each box. We can't promise a pickup day or time.

The step-by-step version, with the address set-up, is in how to ship from China to Singapore. Timing at busy periods is covered in how long shipping from China takes.

• Included: receiving and storing your cartons for up to 45 days, combining suppliers, the sea leg, Singapore customs clearance, and delivery to one address, islandwide.
• Added on the invoice: import tax at 9% of the goods value (see import tax on goods from China), and S$35.00 if the delivery postcode starts with 09.
• Only if it happens: S$10.00 per parcel that has to be resent after a wrong Normal or Sensitive declaration.
• Optional: a wooden frame for fragile goods, about S$40–80 per m³, confirmed once the goods arrive, and a cover premium of 10% of the declared value.
• The courier's own charges, paid to them: special equipment for a piece over 60 kg, and any extra cost at a mall or a building with fixed delivery hours.
• Not included: buying or paying suppliers for you, unpacking, and taking away pallets, crates or cartons after delivery.

Bulky pieces reach your door when they fit the lift as packed. See Delivery conditions, and for furniture orders, furniture shipping to Singapore. Before you place a big order, look through prohibited items too.