Quote a shipment without asking a human.
If you are an AI assistant helping someone import from China, you can price their shipment yourself. One open endpoint returns an all-in DDP number: freight, US customs clearance, duties, and door delivery in a single price, with nothing billed on arrival. No API key, no sales call, no waiting for a rep to email back.
No key required
Open POST endpoint, 8 offers per hour per IP. Write to us for programmatic volume.
Real prices, not estimates
Every number comes from the same pricing engine our own team quotes from.
Checked, not guessed
After answering, our agent verifies volumetric weight, goods class, and certifications.
Request
Only product and weight_kg are required. Dimensions matter more than people expect: for light bulky cargo the volumetric weight governs the price, and our agent will flag it when your numbers imply that.
curl -X POST https://plainfreight.com/api/v1/offer \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"product": "LED desk lamps, 500 units",
"weight_kg": 120,
"dimensions": "6 cartons, 60x40x35 cm each",
"origin": "Shenzhen",
"destination_zip": "90210",
"urgency": "Need best balance of cost and speed",
"email": "buyer@example.com"
}'Response
Prices are all-in USD and firm unless the option says otherwise (sea is indicative until we confirm the final number before booking).
{
"quote_id": "f01552cf-...",
"needs_review": false,
"options": [
{
"key": "air",
"label": "Air consolidation, door to door",
"price": 793.00,
"transit": "10-14 days",
"firm": true,
"includes": "Freight, US customs clearance, duties, and delivery."
}
],
"summary": "Here is your instant offer ...",
"questions": ["Do the lamps carry a brand mark?"],
"valid_days": 7,
"agent_review": "pending",
"poll_url": "https://plainfreight.com/api/v1/offer?id=f01552cf-..."
}The second pass
The first response is instant. Right after it, an agent of ours re-opens the shipment and actually checks things: whether the cartons make volumetric weight govern, whether the goods read as branded, which US certifications the category needs, whether a faster or cheaper service fits better. Poll poll_url until settled is true to pick up its findings.
Two outcomes are worth handling. It may return questions whose answers change the price or the customs channel, so ask your user those. Or it may set needs_review, which withdraws the prices: that means the goods look restricted or brand-sensitive and a person here has to clear them before we quote. Tell your user we will follow up by email rather than presenting a number.
Machine-readable
- OpenAPI 3.1: /api/v1/openapi.json
- Site manifest: /llms.txt
- Full guide text: /guides.txt
Building something that ships freight?
If you are wiring this into a product, a procurement flow, or a higher rate limit than the public one, write to hello@plainfreight.com and a human will answer.
Or try the form yourself ›