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How Collection From a China Supplier Is Actually Billed
SBT FulfillDock, trading as Shenzhen Shibotong International Logistics Co., Ltd., books collection from a Chinese supplier as its own chargeable leg, quoted against the factory's address and left as a separate line rather than folded into the freight figure. That separation matters because a change of collection point can change the lane your cargo travels, and a blended number hides the change and what must be re-booked after it.
Key facts
- Always chargeable. Collection is quoted against the factory's loading address; no collection leg is included at zero cost, inside the Pearl River Delta or anywhere else.
- Intake ruling of 2026-10-23. B2C parcels to Dongguan, B2B pallets, crates and oversized cargo to Shenzhen, Yangtze-delta suppliers to Suzhou, across 24,000 m². A lane leaving Guangdong still needs a Guangdong intake floor.
- Bands belong to the channel. Air DDP estimates read 4–6, 5–9 and 8–12 working days by channel; sea DDP we estimate at 18–25 calendar days on a US West Coast lane, and at 28–38 days reaching Europe.
What a collection instruction books
This page differs from two things already on the site. The site's existing collection FAQ settles the yes or no question, and the article on why nobody serious publishes a price list explains the missing rate card. Neither is a worked example. What follows is the decision tree behind the charge: the inputs a quote is built from, the routing rule they must satisfy, and the instruction you write when you deliver instead.
We do not publish a rate card. Pricing is quoted per lane against your cargo's dimensions, weight, cargo type and destination, so this leg is described as decisions, not a number. The channel terms it feeds sit on our DDP sea and air freight page.
The five inputs a collection quote is built from
Five inputs decide the leg's shape, and each changes what we book rather than what something costs: address, packing, whether the cargo fits the lane, the calendar, and timber.
| Input | What it changes structurally | What you confirm |
|---|---|---|
| Factory address and distance to the assigned intake city | Separates a short urban run from an inter-provincial movement, and tests whether the departure province matches the channel. | The loading address on the delivery note. |
| Carton or pallet count and packing shape | Sets the vehicle and the dock: loose cartons, pallets and crates are different movements, not sizes of one. | Carton count, outer sizes, gross weights or pallet layout. |
| Whether the goods are already sized for the booked lane | Decides a straight handover or a repack at intake, since a carton outside the channel cannot use that booking. | Finished carton dimensions, not the listing size. |
| Collection day flexibility versus a fixed slot | A flexible day joins a consolidated run with nearby factories; a fixed slot is a dedicated movement. | The days the factory can load. |
| Crating or ISPM-15 timber requirements | Timber needs treated material and a licensed operator's stamp, so the leg waits on packing rather than transport. | Whether timber is in the packing. |
Every figure above is a worked structure, not an offer.
Why one all-in number hurts you when the factory moves
Suppliers move: a workshop shifts site, an item passes to another factory, or a product change pushes the packed carton past the size the channel accepts. Folded into an all-in freight figure, none of that is visible until it becomes a problem: the collection point moves, so the intake floor can move, so the departing channel moves, and the band your plan rests on moves with it.
A separate line keeps that sequence legible. It lets you swap one supplier and re-cut only the leg that moved, and compare factories on what each adds rather than on blended totals covering different scopes. An all-in number is not simpler; it is a bundle nobody can audit piece by piece.
Which intake floor takes the cargo
A collection leg is quoted toward a settled destination, and that destination follows the routing rule rather than preference. Our intake ruling, in force as of 2026-10-23, is the table below: the shape of the cargo and the region of the factory decide the floor.
| How the cargo arrives | Intake floor | Structural reason |
|---|---|---|
| B2C parcels and small-carton dropship stock | Dongguan | Built for unit-level handling against the daily cut-off. |
| B2B pallets, crates and oversized cargo | Shenzhen | Forklift and container-door handling sits here; bulky cargo is never routed to Suzhou. |
| Suppliers in the Yangtze delta | Suzhou | Serves the delta cluster and consolidates factories into one outbound set. |
| Any cargo on a channel departing Guangdong | A Guangdong floor, not Suzhou | The lane's departure point controls the intake city, even if the factory sits north. |
A map gets this wrong: a factory north of the province still needs a Guangdong floor when its channel leaves Guangdong. Transit times are planning estimates. Carrier schedules, seasonal capacity and customs handling move them, and a re-cut collection instruction can change which band the cargo lands in. Ask on our contact page for the current intake address.
If your supplier delivers instead
Self-delivery removes the collection leg rather than discounting it, and the routing rule still binds: the supplier must reach the correct intake city, and a truck at the wrong floor is a re-direction. The count then depends on what travels with the cartons.
- the booking reference we issued, on every carton and on the delivery note;
- a packing list matching contents SKU by SKU, with quantities as packed;
- outer dimensions and gross weight marked on the carton, for the dock measurement to check;
- one SKU per carton, or an explicit mixed-carton list;
- for regulated items, the documents that keep their owner's signature, present at intake.
Cartons without a reference the dock recognises wait instead of being counted. Where this article does not apply: the collection instruction and the intake it feeds, not headhaul terms, storage billing after put-away, or destination-side duty, and nothing here alters the liability and compensation terms. Overseas points are staffed with in-country clearance partners, not intake floors, so every collection or delivery instruction ends in China.
Frequently asked questions
How is collection from a Chinese supplier billed?
Collection from a Chinese supplier is billed as its own chargeable leg, quoted against that factory's loading address rather than averaged from other shipments. The inputs are the address and its distance to the assigned intake floor, the carton or pallet count and packing shape, whether the cargo fits the booked channel, day flexibility at the loading point, and any timber requirement.
Does a Pearl River Delta factory make the collection leg cheaper?
A Pearl River Delta factory shortens nothing automatically, and no collection leg in that region is included at zero cost. Distance to the assigned floor is one input among five, and the departure rule overrides intuition: a channel leaving Guangdong still needs a Guangdong intake, so a northern factory is not served by the nearest delta floor. The instruction is subject to the quotation.
What must arrive with cartons a supplier delivers itself?
The paperwork arriving with supplier-delivered cartons is what the goods-in count reconciles against, so it has to be there before the truck arrives. That means the booking reference we issued on every carton, a packing list matching contents SKU by SKU, marked outer dimensions and gross weight, and the declared value carried at booking.
Sources / update note
Reviewed 2026-10-28 (28 October 2026). Figures reflect our published operating parameters as of that date. No external source is cited: the warehouse footprints, the 16:00 China cut-off, the estimated channel bands and the intake ruling dated 2026-10-23 all come from this site, subject to confirmation at booking.
SBT FulfillDock, trading as Shenzhen Shibotong International Logistics Co., Ltd.
