Sock WholesalersSock shipping policy: the mode, the carton, the paperwork, and who carries what
Four things settle before the carton tape goes on: which mode the load travels on, how many cartons the order fills, which Incoterm the price sits on, and which documents travel with the goods. This page is the shipping half of the trade terms; the minimum, the lead times and the claims window stay on wholesale terms.
Every figure below is the one the rest of this site quotes. Where a window is typical rather than binding, this page says so, and names the document that does bind.
On this page
We book the freight. You name where it lands.
The export desk books the load and prepares the two documents a consignment cannot move without. Neither the booking nor the paperwork is an extra you buy: they sit inside the same order as the knitting.
The street name on this gate is the one that has to appear on your packing list. If a document carries a different address, ask why before the deposit moves.
What the desk does on every bulk order: books the freight, prepares the invoice and the packing list, and sends you the tracking once the order moves. What the desk does not do: pick, pack or post single consumer parcels. There is no parcel-per-shopper service here, so a marketplace or DTC seller takes delivery in bulk and does the picking at their own warehouse or 3PL.
Where the load lands is your call, and it is written on the proforma invoice: your own warehouse, a 3PL, a forwarder you already use, or a marketplace receiving dock. Send the receiving rules with the brief — case pack, carton marking and any carton label your warehouse scans — and they go into the packing field of that same invoice rather than into a later email thread.
Sample courier freight is the one exception on this page. A sample travels on the buyer’s courier account or is booked against it, because it is a separate parcel from the bulk load; the terms for it are on sample policy.
Currencies, trade term and duty treatment are confirmed on the quotation, not on this page.
The four modes, and the window each one carries
Transit is quoted as a window rather than a date, because it depends on destination and on the sailing or flight the forwarder books. These are the windows this desk quotes.
| Mode | Typical transit | What decides the booking | Where the cost sits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sea freight | approx. 25–40 days | Volume and destination port; the cheapest per cubic metre | Quoted per order, on your quotation |
| Air freight | approx. 5–10 days | Chargeable weight from your forwarder’s divisor | Quoted per order, on your quotation |
| Express courier | approx. 3–7 days | Door-to-door on a small load; the dearest per pair | Quoted per order, on your quotation |
| Sample parcel | Set by your courier account | The carrier you name, or the desk books against your account | Buyer’s, per the sample policy |
Bulk lead time is separate from transit and runs before it: 20–30 days after the deposit is received and the sample is approved. Sampling adds 3–5 days before that. Sea transit then adds its own window on top, which is why a sea load quoted in October is planned against a November bulk date plus a long crossing rather than against one number.
Neither the bulk window nor the transit window is a guarantee. Both are planning figures for the quantities this floor runs; the binding date is the one stated on your proforma invoice.
Four measurements turn an order into a number a forwarder will quote
Socks run out of space before they run out of weight allowance, so a forwarder prices the slot rather than the mass. That means the carton is measured before the freight is, and the measurement is taken on the outside of a closed box.
| Step | What you measure | Worked order |
|---|---|---|
| Order quantity | Total pairs on the purchase order | 10,000 pairs |
| Carton size | Outside dimensions, flaps closed | 60 × 40 × 40 cm |
| Pairs per carton | From the packing agreed on the order | 100 pairs |
| Cartons | Pairs ÷ pairs per carton, rounded up | 100 cartons |
| Volume | cm³ ÷ 1,000,000, then × cartons | 0.096 m³ per carton, 9.6 m³ total |
96,000 cm³ is 0.096 m³, and 100 cartons of that size is 9.6 m³. Round up rather than down: a part carton still takes a pallet slot and still gets measured.
A forwarder measures the loaded pallet, not one carton. The pallet adds its own height and footprint, so the stacked height and the pallet size go into the request, board included.
The last line of any volume calculation comes from outside this floor: the forwarder’s volumetric divisor. Sea and air use different divisors, and the divisor decides the chargeable weight. Ask for it in writing, because a wrong divisor is the usual reason two forwarders quote the same order differently.
The full method, the worksheet to copy into your own file, and the arithmetic behind these five lines are on how to calculate sock shipping volume per carton. Send your own carton size and order quantity and the desk checks the arithmetic against the packing it would actually run.
Which Incoterm the price sits on, and where duty lands
The Incoterm decides where the seller’s cost stops. The desk quotes the best term for your market and confirms it with your quotation, so the same sock can come back priced on two different terms and both are correct for the address they were quoted for.
| Term | Where our cost stops | Where you will see it quoted |
|---|---|---|
| EXW | At the factory gate in Datang, Zhuji | Buyers who already run their own China consolidation |
| FOB | Loaded on board at the port of departure | Importers and distributors who book their own main carriage |
| DAP | At the named place, duty not paid | EU-bound loads, where the value is confirmed on the quotation |
| DDP | At the named place, duty paid | US-bound loads, where the duty treatment is confirmed on the quotation |
Duty is not a figure this page can carry: it moves with the tariff line, the destination and the declared value. Where the order is quoted DDP, the duty treatment is stated on the quotation; where it is quoted DAP, the value arrives the same way and the import clearance is yours.
Three documents travel with a bulk load
Each one is prepared by the export desk against your order number. Each one is worth checking before the container closes rather than after it lands.
Document 1
Commercial invoice
Carries the price, the trade term, the currency and the duty treatment. It is also where the binding numbers live: the declared value, the Incoterm and the validity of the quotation all sit here rather than on a web page.
Check the entity name against your own purchase order: QS Knitting Co.,Ltd is the contracting entity, and Zhuji Qingsheng Knitting Co.,Ltd. is the factory entity.
Document 2
Packing list
Carries the carton count, the pairs per carton and the size split. It is the document the volume calculation above resolves to, and the one a customs broker reads alongside the carton marks.
Check the address on it against the gate: No. 79, Jiangbei Road, Datang Sub-district, Zhuji City, Zhejiang.
Document 3
Certificate of origin, where the destination asks
Issued for the markets that require one at import. Where a destination does not ask for it, the invoice and the packing list travel alone; where it does, it is prepared with the rest of the set rather than requested afterwards.
If your broker needs a specific form, name it in the brief; the form belongs with the order, not with the shipment.
The tracking reference follows the same route: the desk sends it once the order moves, against the same order number that appears on all three documents.
Questions buyers ask about shipping
Who pays the freight?
It depends on the Incoterm, and the Incoterm is on your quotation. The freight cost itself is quoted per order against your own quantity, carton size and destination rather than read off a table, so two destinations on the same order come back as two freight figures. Sample courier freight is always the buyer’s, per the sample policy.
Can I use my own forwarder?
Yes — name them on the proforma invoice and the load is delivered to the forwarder, warehouse or 3PL you name. What changes is not the packing but the paperwork: an EXW or FOB order hands the main carriage to your forwarder, so the transit window becomes theirs rather than the one in the table above.
Is the transit window a guarantee?
No, and it is not written as one. Transit figures on this site are typical windows for planning; the binding date is the one stated on your proforma invoice. If a load is held, ask the desk for the carrier’s status in writing with your order number rather than for an estimate.
Does a pallet change the volume?
Yes. A pallet adds its own height and footprint, and the forwarder measures the loaded pallet rather than one carton. Give them the stacked height and the pallet size you will ship, board included, and the volume figure moves with it.
What if one load carries several styles?
Send one line per carton size. Mixed cartons are measured the same way and mixed contents do not change the volume of a carton — but the count per carton does change, so each carton size gets its own line on the request. The carton marking is confirmed per style on the proforma invoice.
Do you ship to Amazon or to a 3PL?
Yes, in bulk. The load goes to the warehouse, 3PL or forwarder named on the proforma invoice, with the case pack and carton label your receiving dock scans. What this floor does not do is pick, pack or post single shopper parcels — that part of the operation stays with you.
Who wrote this page
This page was written by Michelle Zhang, Export sales manager at Sock Wholesalers. She sits on the export desk that books the freight on these orders, which is where the questions above come from.
Measure the carton, name the address, then book
Three answers start a freight figure: the quantity band, the carton size, and the town the load lands in. Send those and the desk replies within one working day with the mode it would book and the term the price sits on.
We answer every enquiry within one working day; replies come from Michelle Zhang, Export sales manager.