Fulfill orders in the US vs Fulfill orders in China

Some of the sellers face the dilemma about whether to send from China fulfillment center or fulfill orders in the US. It depends on your categories of products, quantities, market, supplier location and budgets. This article is going to help you differentiate the pros and cons of these 2 approaches of order fulfillment supposing that your supplier is located in China while your target market is in the US.

Fulfill orders in the US

“Fulfill orders in the US” refers to sending goods to NextSmartShip’s fulfillment center in the US and complete order fulfillment within the US.

Pros:

1. Fast shipping to survive in the peak season. When it comes to shopping carnivals, like Black Friday, global sellers would deliver the goods on the same day and shipping delays occur. With the global warehouse, it can save time for customs clearance and the buyers could receive the goods in 1-3 days.
2. Ease of return and restock. If consumers are not satisfied with the products, they may return and exchange their items. The ease of returns and exchange procedure can not only regain the favor of buyers but also save shipping rates and reduce losses for sellers.
3. Conducive to the market expansion. If you are an Amazon seller, order fulfilled by local warehouses would put your listing in front of more buyers as it is more easily recognized by foreign consumers.

Cons: 

1. Normally, the oversea warehouse would charge more than warehouses in China. If your inventory cannot be sold in 60 days, the expenditure on warehouses is not a small one.
2. If some of your products are specially customized for some buyers, it is not suitable to take time to store in the US fulfillment center. For example, an insightful shoe merchant would renew his items list when a new trend arrives. If the turnaround rate is low, the warehouse fee would arise due to the storage.

Fulfill orders in China  

“Fulfill orders in China” refers to sending goods to NextSmartShip’s fulfillment center for storage in China, sorting, inspection, put-away, pick&pack and others are done before it is shipped to the US.

Pros

1. Affordable. Shipping rates for one item of standard size and weight charge lower. For example, China Post from China to the United States charges about $5.85 for one kilogram of goods while “Fulfill orders in the US” is $10.12.
2. Order tracking info received immediately. Once you place orders in our OMS system, after confirmation, you could get shipping info to keep track of your orders from the day you ship. NextSmartShip has collaborated with many logistics companies, providing multiple shipping methods for you to choose, such as China Post, DHL, special line shipping, etc. China Post provides a one-stop cross-border export solution, taking care of customs clearance and delivery of goods from China to your end consumers. 
3. No need to bear custom taxes: industrial goods more than $800 entering the United States should pay a tariff rate of 2.0 percent. If you do the dropshipping of non-expensive goods sending from China fulfillment centers to the US, you don’t need to pay it at all.

Cons

1. An Achilles’ heel is that shipping time sometimes is uncontrollably owning to bad weather. The delays in shipping would result in the complaints of your buyers.
2. No Item return service. If you dropship from China, most manufacturers do not support item returns.

Which one to choose?

If the goods are oversized and overweight, it’s recommended to use the local warehouse near to your customer. Sending from China would charge more shipping rates for every extra kilo and size. But if you are a start-up, such as less than 300 orders per month. There is no need to use local warehouses, especially when products are also in standardized size and weight, it is more secure to send from China.

The best-sellers among your products and those anticipated for the new explosion are suggested to use the US fulfillment center. In case the goods are out of stock in the peak season, using global fulfillment centers is your prime choice.

Strategically, you can adopt these 2 fulfillment strategies together. In the prior 2 months before peak season, send products to the warehouse in the US in case of a shortage supply. And on normal days, keep on fulfilling your orders from China.

To sum up, although NextSmartShip now offers free 30 – 90 days warehouse storage, try not to store too many goods for the first time because every product has its life cycle. For the sake of a faster turnaround of products, the needs and preferences of consumers are our first concerns. But remember one thing, balance profits and costs in choosing shipping methods.