How to Ship Clothes Internationally

Are you trying to deliver the latest fashion and accessories across the globe?  Are you curious to introduce your new trend instantly to your audience? So that you can stay ahead of your competition?  

In this article, we will help you to know as an entrepreneur and a business owner how to deliver your trendy apparel worldwide. We’ll also see which mode of shipment is profitable for your business of shipping clothes. 

Clothes are an essential part of human expression. For centuries from the Egyptians to the Romans, every culture has its distinct expression. And it can be expressed through clothes.  

However, producing and manufacturing clothes is one thing, and shipping them overseas, across borders is another thing. One has to factor in a high possibility of return in this category whereby users are most used to using their other 3 senses i.e. sight, touch, and feel in an offline and whereas, online they only rely on sight.  

What is the Best Way to Ship Clothes Globally?

The textile business as a whole is a time-sensitive industry. Goods must arrive on schedule at a specific destination. Otherwise, your profit may be harmed. Textile owners frequently notice reduced or no profit as a result of inconsistencies in getting items to a specific location.  

Any sort of compromise on your logistics can become the reason for your heavy loss. The cost of raw materials is always changing. The timely transportation reduces risks of loss for the company. 

Similarly, the trends change all the time too. If you delay in transporting your new styles, who knows they might just go out of fashion. That’s why, out of different modes, air service is the best way for shipping your clothes overseas. 

What are the Things You Need to Keep in Your Mind for Shipping Clothes?

• You should check if there are any restrictions from the destination country. 
• You should know about your incoterms. This document includes the responsibilities of the Shipper and the consignee. 
• You should have the updated rates because they usually vary within a month. You should make sure that they have a fresh quote 
• You should know the payment terms of the contracted freight forwarder. 
• After the confirmation make sure you don’t cancel the booking because you’ll have to pay the fine.  
• You should know your equipment. 

For shipping your cargo, we’ll see how much does it weigh and what could be the better option for shipping it. 

How to Ship Clothes Weighing Between 30 to 50 kg? 

Clothes weighing around 30 to 50 kg is light cargo or small quantity. Therefore, it is preferable to avail courier service for that. 

For Small Quantity (Under 30-50kg)

It won’t take much of your effort to transport clothes if they are small in the quantity like under 50kg. All you need is to contact the reliable courier service and they will handle the rest. Here is each step of the process: 

• You need to pack your goods 
• Contact a courier service online 
• Provide the details: your address, consignees’ address, etc for booking. 
• Prepare Cargo for your clothes by following the packing procedures.  Keep all the documents ready as well. 
• You need to complete your Airway bill 
• Drop your cargo for the flight 
• Receive at the destination     

Valuable Tip 

For this small-scale shipment, you can visit the courier service center to open up your account. You can also contact a freight forwarder who already has the account with the couriers. We recommend the latter option. 

Whereas, if your freight is 50kg or above, then you have to go for an air freight which is a little complex process. But with this guide, we are going to simplify that complexity for you. 

For Bulkier Shipping of Clothes (Over 50kg) 

Your goods will have to go through quite a lengthy process if they are in bulk. It includes the process of packaging as well which you can do yourself with labeling. The overall process is here below: 

• Contact a reliable freight forwarder 
• They’ll pick up your products from the warehouse after the booking 
• You’ll get the cost according to the volume and weight of your cargo. 
• Get your cargo insured 
• You’ll need pallets according to the volume of your cargo of clothes. 
• Loading of the cargo 
• Unloading at the destination  
• Inspection of the cargo and the custom process 
• Finally to the destination 

But to ensure the safety of your cargo you must not neglect the packaging process. It is always important to pack your product according to safety standards. So, here are few steps for you to know about the proper packaging of the clothes: 

Packaging Essentials for Your Clothes

The clothes are usually packed in flyer bags and you can even put them in a card box.  Make sure that there is a distance between clothes to avoid damage.  

The preference should be for the dual walled box. And the empty space. To make your items even more secure you must fill the box with some other materials like cotton or paper.  

Even before putting the clothes into some box or bag, you must wrap them with wrapping tape.  

Make sure there is no extra cloth coming out of the flyer bag.  

Pasting a label on it is also necessary so that one can identify the possible threats or hazards. 

Now let’s find out how to calculate the cost of air 

Calculating the Cost of Air for Shipping Clothes

Calculating the cost depends upon the incoterm. It is a document made by you as the shipper and the consignee. it is an agreement between you and the consignee. The freight forwarder needs it to tell you the cost. Incoterm includes responsibilities of a buyer and a seller.  

The cost of your air shipment depends upon the volumetric weight of the cargo. Dimensional details of cargo are important to find the chargeable cost. There are other charges included.: 

• Transport of the origin 
• Customs of the Origin  
• Origin port  
• Courier of the origin.  

These are necessary with the freight charges to get the cost.  

For details about the cost process for the Air you, can check this article ‘how much does air freight cost?’  

Customs and Clearance for Shipping Clothes

The process of customs clearance often becomes trickier for the companies when importing. It consumes little extra time and requires the preparation of a package of documents.  

What are the difficulties when exporting goods from one country to another country? You can figure it out before going through the procedure here?     

What are the Documentation and Certification for shipping clothes? 

To pass the customs declaration of clothing, you need to prepare a package of documents:  These are the basic documents for your air freight: 

• Commercial invoice and consular invoice 
• Waybill 
• Certificate of origin 
• Shipper’s Export Declaration (SED) 
• Packing list 

You can read this for further details about the Documentation required for Customs.  

What are the Extra requirements for shipping clothes? 

• Declaration of Conformity with the regulations of the Customs Union. Required for all categories of imported goods.  
• Certificate of conformity.  
• State Registration Certificate (SGR).  

It is worthwhile to understand in more detail what documentation is necessary.  for different categories of imported goods.  

As already mentioned, all imported products need a CU declaration of conformity. SGR is important only for children’s products from this list:

• Sanitary and hygienic products for children under 3 years old; 
• Toothbrushes, including electric ones, for children under 3 years old; 
• Hosiery and underwear jerseys, headwear of the 1st layer. 

The first layer of clothing includes the products that are in direct contact with the skin. These are underwear, tights, summer hats, and swimwear.  

Certificates of conformity are issued for adult clothing from categories such as 1st layer hosiery, swimwear, and underwear.  

Certification is carried out according to HS codes. The size of the customs duty depends on the selection of the code. It is not even always possible to correctly choose it.  

You should also note few other things. Due to the constant changes in customs legislation, it is better to entrust the procedure for choosing foreign economic activity codes to professionals.  

The required information for customs clearance of clothes is already indicated above. Customs clearance of shoes involves a different set of data:  

• Producing country 
• The size
• Insole length in cm
• Weight
• Manufacturer and brand
• Vendor code
• total quantity and weight 
• cost  

How a Freight Forwarder Can Help You?  

A freight forwarder can help you in a number of ways. First of all, it has connections with the topmost airlines and it can provide you with the best one. With the advanced technologies, freight forwarder offers you real time tracking service. 
 
You can save enough time and save yourself from trouble. For eg, the customs process and documentation is something you won’t need to worry about.