Do NOT Send Samples To China Through Your Country’s Post Office

There is a very common and rather unfortunate issue that you need to be aware of if you’re sending samples of components, products, etc, to China: Using your country’s post office. The amount of packages that get lost using this postage method is seriously worrying.

The problem with national post offices

It appears that unfortunately once a package is sent to China and leaves your country, there’s little connection between the post office and their Chinese counterparts. The cheap and cheerful costs and ease of finding a post office mean that it’s probably a good option for sending, say, a birthday card.

However, for sending your samples to China? Wait a moment! Based on the number of customers our group has had who have suffered the fate of the package ‘going missing’ after posting to China through, say, the USPS, Canadian post office, or the UK’s Royal Mail, for example, we estimate that around a worrying 30-50% of packages get lost.

The motivation to use a local post office can be strong as it’s easy and cheap, especially if you want to save on costs compared to UPS/DHL/FedEx. Some of our own customers sent samples to us that we never received and it meant that the projects couldn’t make any progress for a while.

So, if you need to send samples to your Chinese manufacturer, for instance, this is a big problem that can set back your project, as well as waste precious time and money.

Pros

• Accessible in most places
• Easy to use
• Relatively low cost, especially when compared to UPS, FedEx, DHL, and other couriers
• Customs information isn’t too complex (for example, in the UK, British senders may only need to fill out this form for larger packages) – although this is not always a good thing (see below)

Cons

• Slow
• No or questionable tracking once the package is outside the home country (you are relying on your country’s system to join up with China post’s system and that’s unlikely to be good)
• National post offices often don’t care about the rules when importing goods into China, leading to packages being denied entry by customs
• They often don’t provide a phone number on the Chinese side, so there is no way to check where the package is, what has delayed it, etc.

The famous couriers are a safer option

You need your samples to arrive. Period. So, don’t go to the cheapest option.

It’s true that sending a package via courier can be a lot more expensive than the post office, but if it’s actually going to arrive safely and on time, what is that worth to you?

Let’s take DHL for example, sending a package to China from the UK with them starts from around US$40-50:

Compare that with the Royal Mail post office’s costs and it’s a lot more as they can send a 1kg package from around just US$10:

BUT, and this is the clincher, using couriers like DHL will not only provide you with detailed end-to-end tracking, but they also require and assist you in completing detailed customs information that they know will reduce the risk of delays or your package being seized.

According to UPS:

The commercial invoice (or pro forma invoice) is required for all cross-border shipments (except for documents that have no commercial value). It is the primary form used for importation control, valuation and duty determination.

There may be other forms you need to fill out, based upon the details of what you are shipping. Again, our shipping tool will guide you through and help you fill in the required info, but you can also view a rundown of other customs forms here.

A commercial invoice typically looks like this (from UPS) and will be included in your package as well as the shipping label:

Pros

• Fast delivery
• Detailed customs information to reduce risks of delays or seizure
• Door-to-door tracking through their own networks

Cons

• Expensive
• It may be a little more complex to use

Information you need to supply to couriers

Couriers will roughly ask you to provide the following information that may be a lot more detailed than is requested by the post office:

• Shipper details – as the shipper you should give your full name, address and phone number so you can be contacted with any questions or issues.
• Delivery details – give the size of the package and weight in kg in metric. Also include the name, address, and contact details of the recipient as the courier may call them to arrange a delivery time.
• Description of goods – provide a detailed description of the sample/s in your package, including what it is, what it’s made from, its purpose, and how it’s used.  The courier uses this information to select the correct HS code for import and duties calculations. If this part is done properly, you reduce the risks of your samples being delayed or seized by customs.
• Tax ID/VAT information – give your VAT status. You may also need to enter your VAT number if registered.
• Reason for export – reasons include: the package is a gift, a purchase, a returned product, include business information of a company, are samples (as is relevant here), or are products that are being sent to be repaired.
• Country of origin – you state the country where each of the samples were manufactured.
• Units – the number of each sample included in the package.
• Unit value – the value of each individual item.
• Customs declaration – you will declare that you are not shipping goods prohibited by the courier and/or the recipient country.
• Additional comments – any information you can give to help the delivery driver deliver the package smoothly.

What is not permitted to be sent to China?

A good start is to check the Universal Postal Union (UPU) rules specific to China. You can see the list here (you will need to scroll down to China).

Here are the restrictions, although this is subject to change so is only correct at the time of writing this post in September 2023:

The information above is pretty common for all of the couriers, however, it is recommended to check whether the items they don’t permit to be sent may vary, as they may have their own rules.

Conclusion

To reiterate, your country’s post office is not good for sending samples to China. Small gifts and cards, maybe, but not important goods that your business depends on. Through our experience, we recommend using a courier as the information they give can save you money in import duties and taxes and will likely reduce the risks of the samples being seized or delayed.

Any questions or concerns about sending samples to China?

Feel free to contact us and we’ll try to help if we can.

Disclaimer

Sofeast are not lawyers. What we wrote above is based only on our understanding of shipping and regulatory requirements. We do not present this information as a basis for you to make decisions, and we do not accept any liability if you do so. Please consult a lawyer before taking action.