Find and vet a supplier: confirm they are a real manufacturer if that matters to your price, check licenses and references, and treat their responsiveness as a preview of how they handle problems.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What are the steps to import from China to Amazon FBA?
Source and vet a supplier, order samples and negotiate price and terms, issue a purchase order with a clear incoterm, have the goods produced and inspected before shipping, arrange freight by sea or air, clear customs and pay duties through a broker, complete any Amazon prep and labeling, and ship into the fulfillment center. Each leg has a cost and a lead time that feed your landed cost and reorder planning.
How long does it take to import from China?
It varies, but a realistic total from placing the order to sellable stock at Amazon often runs two to three months: production is commonly 30 to 60 days, ocean freight adds roughly 20 to 40 days plus port handling, and Amazon receiving adds days to weeks. Air freight compresses the transit leg at a much higher cost. Plan on your own measured actuals, since each leg varies.
Andrew Erickson is the founder of Inventory Hero. He has spent years working with Amazon FBA sellers on demand forecasting, restock planning, and the cash flow side of running a private-label brand. Inventory Hero exists because every spreadsheet-based inventory system he tried eventually broke — usually right before Q4.
Order and approve a physical sample before committing to a run, and negotiate price, MOQ, and payment terms together.
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Settle the incoterm
Decide the incoterm (FOB, EXW, or DDP) alongside price and terms, because it defines how much of the origin-country journey the supplier handles and feeds your landed cost.
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Issue the purchase order
Put everything agreed into a purchase order: SKUs, quantities, unit price, terms, ship date, the incoterm, and the FBA-specific labeling and carton specs.
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Production and inspection
Track production as part of your supplier lead time, and arrange a third-party pre-shipment inspection before the goods ship while you still have payment leverage.
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Freight
Move the goods by sea for routine reorders or air to bridge a stockout, coordinated through a freight forwarder, and plan around peak-season delays.
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Customs and duties
Clear customs through a licensed broker who classifies the goods by HTS code, files the entry, and arranges the customs bond; duties are product-specific, so confirm the classification.
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Prep, label, and ship into FBA
Complete FNSKU labeling and any prep to Amazon's rules, ship into the fulfillment center, and reconcile received units against your PO to claim any shortfall.
Do I have to pay duties importing from China?
Almost always, yes. Import duties and any additional tariffs depend on your product's classification (its HTS code) and current trade policy, which changes, so the rate is product-specific rather than a flat number. Use a licensed customs broker to classify your goods correctly and handle clearance; misclassification can mean overpaying or facing penalties.
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Importing from China to Amazon FBA is a pipeline with distinct legs: source and vet a supplier, sample and negotiate, issue a purchase order with an incoterm, produce and inspect, ship by sea or air, clear customs and pay duties, prep and label, and deliver into the fulfillment center. The short version: every leg has a cost and a lead time, the incoterm decides how much the supplier handles, and duties are product-specific, so the whole pipeline feeds your landed cost and your reorder timing. Below is the process, leg by leg, and where sellers get caught.
Finding a supplier is the easy part; vetting one is what protects you. Confirm the factory is a real manufacturer rather than a trading company if that matters to your price, check business licenses and references, and start a paper trail. A supplier's responsiveness and communication during sourcing is a preview of how they will handle a problem later.
Never skip samples. Order and approve a physical sample before committing to a run, because a spec that reads fine in a message can arrive wrong at scale. Negotiate price, the MOQ, and payment terms together, and settle the incoterm now, because it changes who does what for the rest of the journey.
Before you can write the PO, decide the incoterm, because it defines how much of the origin-country journey the supplier handles and therefore what you are actually paying for:
FOB has the supplier deliver to the origin port and load the vessel, and you take over the ocean freight and destination. This is the common default for FBA.
EXW leaves everything to you from the factory door, including origin export.
DDP has the supplier or forwarder handle everything to Amazon, convenient but with less visibility into cost and control.
Whichever you pick, it feeds directly into your landed cost, so settle it alongside price and terms in the negotiation, not after.
With the incoterm decided, put everything agreed into a purchase order: SKUs, quantities, unit price, terms, ship date, the incoterm, and the FBA-specific labeling and carton specs. The PO is what you reconcile against when the goods arrive, so completeness here prevents disputes later.
Production is usually the longest leg, commonly 30 to 60 days for private label, and it is the most variable, so track it as part of your supplier lead time. If you run more than one factory for a SKU, track it per supplier; see managing inventory across multiple suppliers. Before the goods ship, arrange an inspection: a third-party pre-shipment inspection catches defects and quantity shortfalls while the goods are still in the supplier's hands and you still have payment leverage. Fixing a problem after it reaches Amazon is far harder and more expensive.
Ocean freight is the standard for FBA, roughly 20 to 40 days in transit plus port handling on each end. It is far cheaper per unit and suits planned reorders.
Air freight compresses transit to days at a much higher cost, worth it for a launch, a fast mover, or bridging a stockout, not for routine restocks.
A freight forwarder books and coordinates this leg. Peak seasons, including the run-up to Chinese New Year, can stretch timelines and rates, so plan around them.
When the goods reach the destination country, they must clear customs:
Duties and tariffs depend on your product's classification, its HTS code, and current trade policy. Rates are product-specific and policy shifts over time, so there is no flat number to quote; confirm your classification rather than guessing.
Use a licensed customs broker. They classify the goods, file the entry, and handle clearance. Misclassification can mean overpaying or penalties, so this is not a place to improvise.
A customs bond is typically required for commercial imports; your broker arranges it.
Duties are a real line in your landed cost, so get the number right rather than discovering it after the fact.
The last leg gets the goods Amazon-ready and into the network:
Prep and labeling to Amazon's rules: FNSKU labels, poly bagging, and any category-specific prep. Much of this can be done at the factory if you specified it on the PO, or at a domestic prep center.
Inbound to the fulfillment center, where Amazon receives and stows the stock. Check-in adds days to weeks, and only then is the stock sellable.
Reconcile on receipt. Compare received units to your PO and claim any shortfall while it is inside the window. See purchase order tracking.
Because the whole pipeline runs two to three months, it has to live inside your replenishment math:
Total lead time is the sum of every leg, not just production. Feed it into your reorder date.
Landed cost is the sum of every cost leg (goods, freight, duties, prep), not the factory price. It drives your real margin.
Cash is committed across the whole pipeline, which is why import-heavy businesses feel the cash conversion cycle most acutely.
Put a real example on it. A PO placed March 1 with 45 days of production is ready around April 15; add 35 days of ocean freight and port handling and it lands around May 20; add 10 days of Amazon receiving and it is sellable around May 30, roughly 90 days end to end. At 10 units a day, you needed about 900 units committed on day one to cover that pipeline. And the landed cost stacks up per unit: 9.00 dollars goods + 1.20 freight + 0.65 duties + 0.35 prep = 11.20 landed, not the 9.00 factory price. Plan on the 90 days and the 11.20, not the quote.
Importing from China to FBA is a multi-leg pipeline where every step adds cost and time: source and vet, sample and negotiate, PO and incoterm, produce and inspect, freight, customs, and prep into Amazon. Get the incoterm and the duty classification right, inspect before shipping, and plan the full two-to-three-month timeline into your reorder dates and cash. Done deliberately, it is a predictable process; improvised, it is a series of surprises. For the wider system, see restock planning.