Small shipments from China,
without customs surprises.
One price to your door, Amazon FBA or 3PL, on screen in seconds, before you talk to anyone.
1 kg $28.795 kg $111.0520 kg $419.49 by air, duty included, 6 to 12 working days
Not in a hurry? By sea, 20 kg is $116.89 with US duty included, 28 to 32 days, confirmed for your product before you book.
Air over about 20 kg pays US duty at import.
Air prices up to 22 kg include the carriers' Black Friday peak surcharge (about 13 to 26%) until the peak ends.
No signup, no sales call. Nothing to pay until your cartons are weighed.
Branded products welcome: we legally ship brand-name goods on a dedicated branded channel.
- Nothing to pay now. You are invoiced only after your cartons are weighed at our China warehouse.
- The price holds. If the weighed shipment is within 5% of what you entered, the quoted price stands.
- A person is reachable. The founder's phone number is on this page, and every reply to your offer is read.
What it costs today
General goods, China to a US door, from our pricing engine (2026-10-28). These are the same numbers the form gives you.
1 kg
Air: $28.79, duty included, 6 to 12 working days
Sea: from about 10 kg
5 kg
Air: $111.05, duty included, 6 to 12 working days
Sea: from about 10 kg
20 kg
Air: $419.49, duty included, 6 to 12 working days
Sea: $116.89, duty included, 28 to 32 days
100 kg
Air: $707.15, duty paid at import, 10 to 14 days
Sea: $584.42, duty included, 28 to 32 days
Up to about 20 kg, air is door to door with US customs and duty inside the price. Heavier air loads fly as air consolidation: the customs entry is in the price and the import duty is paid at import. Sea is the cheaper lane from about 10 kg and takes 28 to 32 days. Bulky cartons are priced on volume, so add the carton sizes for an exact number. Prices by product ›
Invoice before payment
You approve the exact number first. No payment up front, no deposits.
Duty shown per lane
Duty is inside the price on door to door air (to about 20 kg) and sea. Every offer says which.
Registered US business
A real company you can contact and hold accountable.
Customs handled, human-checked
The customs entry is filed for you on every lane, founder-approved.
Most forwarders make you wait days for a number.
Tell the form what you are shipping and roughly what it weighs, and the price shows on screen in seconds, with a copy to your inbox. It is priced by the same engine our own team quotes from, and it says whether US duty is inside the number.
You describe the shipment
What it is and roughly what it weighs is enough to get a price. Cartons and destination sharpen it.
You get real prices
Air, and sea for heavier loads, in seconds. The air price is firm; the sea price is indicative until we confirm it for your product. Each option says whether US duty is inside it.
Then it gets checked
Our agent re-opens your shipment: whether the cartons make volumetric weight govern, what your goods need at customs, which option actually fits. It adds the questions that matter.
We legally ship branded products too: sneakers, bags, toys and other brand-name goods travel on our branded channel and get an instant price like everything else. Only restricted goods, such as lithium batteries or food, wait for a person to check them before we quote. Using ChatGPT or Claude? Plain Freight is an app in ChatGPT and a Claude connector, so your assistant can quote this itself ›
Importing from China got harder. We make it simple again.
The $800 de-minimis exemption is gone. Customs fees now apply to every shipment, with no more duty-free small parcels.
On door to door air (up to about 20 kg) and sea, one price covers freight, customs, duty and delivery, so nothing is left to settle at the door. Heavier air loads fly as air consolidation: the customs entry is in the price and the duty is paid at import.
How we make it safe to ship
Price before anything moves
Tell us what the goods are, roughly what they weigh, and where they are going. You get a method recommendation and an all-in price before anything moves. If your product needs special handling, batteries, children's goods, food contact, we say so at the quote, not at the border.
Pay after the weigh-in
Your supplier sends the cartons to our China warehouse, where they are counted, weighed and measured. Then you get a real invoice from a registered US business for the number you approved. You pay by ACH or wire, in US dollars, straight from the invoice, with no payment fee from us. Nobody here asks for money before you have seen the price. No deposits.
Customs prepared
Commercial invoice, packing list, and HS code get checked before the shipment moves. Those three pieces of paper decide your duty rate and whether the border waves your goods through, so we get them right up front instead of fixing them in a hold.
A person owns the judgment calls
Software keeps quotes, documents, and updates moving around the clock. Anything that touches your money, an unusual product, or a promise to a third party stops at a human first. The founder personally signs off on those calls.
This is who signs off on your shipment
I am Melkon. I built Plain Freight because small importers get treated like rounding errors: quotes that take three days, a surprise bill at the door, and nobody who picks up when a shipment stalls.
The software quotes, files, and updates around the clock. Every call that touches your money goes past me first: an odd HS code, a product we should not price automatically, a number we would rather not take back later.
If anything about your shipment feels off, reach me directly. You get a person, not a ticket queue.
Melkon Hovhannisyan · Founder, Plain Freight · melkon.tech ›
Buying from several Alibaba suppliers?
Use our China warehouse as the delivery address for every order. Your suppliers ship domestically inside China, we receive the packages, combine them into one box, and deliver it to your US door as a single shipment: one price on the combined weight. Customs and duty are inside it on door to door air (up to about 20 kg) and sea; on heavier air loads the duty is paid at import.
Why Plain Freight
Built for small loads
Amazon FBA restocks, Shopify DTC stores, TikTok Shop sellers, samples, and sub-pallet freight: small loads are first-class shipments here, not an afterthought.
Clear costs upfront
Freight, handling, the customs entry, duties, and delivery are spelled out before anything moves, so you know what you are approving. The one leg outside our price is the domestic courier from your supplier to our China warehouse, and we say so.
Pay a US company, in dollars
We are a US company with a US bank account. From a US account you pay like any domestic bill, by ACH or a domestic wire; from abroad, an international wire in US dollars to that same US account works too. Nothing goes to an overseas account, there is no card surcharge, and no payment fee from us.
Always on, still human
Quotes, documents, and updates move 24/7 without you chasing anyone. When something needs judgment, a person decides, not a queue.
Branded goods, shipped legally
Sneakers, apparel, bags, toys, accessories: we legally ship branded products from China to the USA on a dedicated branded channel. Brand-name goods get an instant price like everything else, on the branded rate, which costs more per kg than plain goods.
Who we ship for
Different platforms punish different mistakes: a Whatnot seller loses show dates, an FBA seller gets cartons rejected, a Shopify brand mis-prices a launch. Pick your page and see how we handle the part that usually goes wrong for sellers like you.
Common questions
What does DDP mean and what exactly is included?
DDP stands for Delivered Duty Paid. It means the price you receive covers everything from our China warehouse to your door: air freight or sea LCL, US customs clearance, import duties, the customs entry filing, HS code check, and US door delivery or Amazon FBA handoff. Nothing is billed at delivery. Our door to door air price (up to about 20 kg of general goods) and our sea price are both DDP. Heavier air loads fly as air consolidation, where the customs entry is in the price and the import duty is paid at import; every offer says which one it is before you accept. The courier leg from your supplier to our China warehouse is sent by your supplier and is not in our price.
Do I need my own customs broker?
No. The customs entry is filed as part of every shipment we carry, and its cost sits inside the price we quote you, so there is no broker for you to find. On a DDP shipment the duties are paid for you too: no bond to buy and nothing to pay at import. On air consolidation the entry is still filed for you and the import duty is the one amount paid at import. If you would rather be the importer of record and use your own broker, say so in your quote request and we will price the freight on its own.
Is the quoted price final? Can it change after I pay?
Yes, for the shipment you described. Your cartons are counted, weighed, and measured when they reach our China warehouse, and if the chargeable weight is within 5 percent of what we quoted on, the quoted price stands. If it is further off, or the goods turn out to be different from the description, you get the weigh ticket and the new number before anything moves, and you decide. You are invoiced only after that, and there are no additional invoices after delivery.
What is the minimum shipment size?
We handle shipments from a single 100 g parcel upward. Samples, single high-value items, small B2B orders, and sub-pallet loads are the core use case.
Do you ship branded products?
Yes. We legally ship branded products from China to the USA: sneakers, apparel, bags, toys, accessories and other brand-name goods. They travel on our dedicated branded channel, which costs more per kg than plain goods, and the instant quote prices them on the spot and shows that rate.
Can I ship my Alibaba orders to your warehouse in China?
Yes. Order on Alibaba (or 1688) as usual and set the delivery address to our China warehouse; we send you the exact address and receiving instructions when you are ready to order. Your suppliers ship domestically inside China, which is cheap and often free, and we take it from there.
Can you combine packages from different suppliers into one shipment?
Yes. We receive the packages from each of your suppliers at our China warehouse, combine everything into one box, and ship it as a single shipment with one price on the combined weight. Up to about 20 kg by air, and on sea, that price covers freight, customs, duty and US door delivery; a heavier air load flies as air consolidation, where the customs entry is in the price and the import duty is paid at import. The offer says which one you have.
What is the maximum shipment size?
About 2,000 kg per shipment, by air or by sea. From roughly 10 kg, sea is usually the cheaper lane and the offer shows it next to air so you can choose. Sea prices are indicative until we confirm them for your product.
Go deeper: shipping time from China to the USA, LCL shipping from China and DDP shipping from China.
Rated 5.0 out of 52 reviews on Trustpilot
“Was kinda sketched out at first because I never ordered through China or used a forwarder. I was surprised when my items arrived on time like I was promised. I’m here in California and will use this service again 100%!!”
Virgil KepleyOct 14, 2026
See what your shipment costs, all in.
Two required answers, a price on screen in seconds, and nothing to pay until your cartons are weighed.
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