Question on listed FOB pricing

2 replies
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When looking at suppliers I notice a FOB price of for example:

FOB:45$
Product name I'm looking to buy:35$

Does that mean its 80$ to your door?

Or does the FOB price include the product and shipping?

Thanks,

Donny
#fob #listed #pricing #question
  • Profile picture of the author the_icon
    Originally Posted by Dreaded14 View Post

    When looking at suppliers I notice a FOB price of for example:

    FOB:45$
    Product name I'm looking to buy:35$

    Does that mean its 80$ to your door?

    Or does the FOB price include the product and shipping?

    Thanks,

    Donny
    It means Free On Board, basically its all paid to get to the port of your choosing, but when its there, its normally your responsibility to have it uplifted and delivered. So you have to pay unload costs, shipping from your port to your destination etc.

    Beware costs and do your due diligence on checking the costs when the items arrive. Once they load it, its becomes your responsibility
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    • Profile picture of the author Importexport
      Originally Posted by the_icon View Post

      It means Free On Board, basically its all paid to get to the port of your choosing, but when its there, its normally your responsibility to have it uplifted and delivered. So you have to pay unload costs, shipping from your port to your destination etc.

      Beware costs and do your due diligence on checking the costs when the items arrive. Once they load it, its becomes your responsibility
      You are quite right, but I think the OP is a complete newbie, so I will explain some more.

      From my long experience in dealing with China, I know that many Chinese businesses use FOB incorrectly. They will often quote FOB when they really mean Ex Works (EXW). If they mean EXW, the buyer will be responsible for all costs of picking up from the factory and shipment to seaport or airport.

      Those costs can include a pick up fee, road transport, tolls, documentation fees, export Customs declaration, insurance from factory to port, and possibly others depending on location of the factory and port of shipment.

      Dreaded14 should learn at least something about the overseas sourcing and importing process or he could find himself losing his money. I had one case of a lady writing to me after she had placed a large order for some bulky goods without knowing anything about what happens next. She paid for the goods and then found that she had to ship them at her expense.

      Unfortunately for her the only advice I could give her, because the supplier quite rightly would not refund, was to abandon the goods and let the supplier keep them. That saved her spending $4,000 on freight for an order that cost her $1,000.

      She could have sold the goods for about $2,500 and she would have spent $5,000 in the process.

      FOB and EXW are just 2 of the 11 shipping terms known as Incoterms. I have today posted a new thread that explains Incoterms in more detail: INCOTERMS What every newbie should know about importing

      There is another important point in the original post. @Dreaded14, you refer to the "Product name" of the item you wanted to buy. I hope you are not considering buying brand name goods. If so, no matter how cheap they are, chances are you will lose your money trying to import illegal goods.
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      Use emotions and perceptions to build a great brand. Ask me about my book LabelsThatExploit. For safe sourcing and easy importing from 41 countries globally, see https://provenglobalsourcing.com
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