Kickstarter and crowdfunding: how to ship your product from China to backers

The de-minimis exemption is gone: your campaign budget must include duties

Until 2 May 2025, packages from China valued under $800 entered the US duty-free. That exemption ended for China and Hong Kong goods on that date, and it has since been suspended for every country (see the US import rules timeline). Every commercial import from China now pays US import duties regardless of declared value.

For crowdfunding creators, this has a direct impact on campaign budgeting. If your stretch goal or manufacturing budget was set before May 2025, and it did not include US import duties, you may be shipping at a loss on the US leg. Recalculate your landed cost per unit before finalizing your fulfillment plan.

How crowdfunding fulfillment from China typically works

Most Kickstarter and Indiegogo campaigns that manufacture in China follow one of two models.

• Import to a US fulfillment center, then ship to backers: you import the full production run as one or a few shipments to a US 3PL or fulfillment warehouse. The warehouse breaks it down and ships individual packages to each backer. This is the most common model for campaigns with 200+ US backers. It keeps per-backer shipping rates domestic (USPS/UPS) and consolidates the customs complexity into one import event.
• Direct-to-backer from China: a fulfillment agent in China ships individual packages to each backer internationally. This model is simpler to set up but is now significantly more expensive for US backers because of the de-minimis change, every package pays customs duties individually, which means duties are applied per-backer rather than once on the consolidated import.

For US-heavy campaigns, the import-then-domestic-ship model almost always produces a lower total fulfillment cost in 2026, because duties are calculated on one wholesale-price shipment rather than on hundreds of retail-price packages.

Air vs sea: which is right for your campaign

The right method depends on your unit weight, total shipment size, and how urgently backers are waiting.

• Air freight: door to door in 7 to 14 days from factory to US warehouse. Best for products under 300 kg total or campaigns where backer wait time is critical. Market rates for consolidated air freight are typically $3 to $6 per kg at larger weights, and higher per kg for small loads. For a gadget campaign shipping 500 units at 0.4 kg each (200 kg total), air freight at those market rates is roughly $600 to $1,200.
• Sea LCL (less than container load): 28 to 32 days door to door with our sea service. Best for heavier or bulkier products where total weight is well above 100 kg and backers can wait an extra few weeks. For a board game campaign with 1,000 units at 1 kg each, sea LCL saves several thousand dollars over air. Plain Freight's own price, from our pricing engine (2026-10-30): 20 kg of general goods by air is $422.69 door to door with duty included ($21 to $22 per kg up to 20 kg), and air consolidation from 35 kg runs $4 to $14 per kg plus import duty.
• Full container (FCL): only relevant for very large campaigns (10,000+ units of a heavy product). Most Kickstarter campaigns do not reach this scale on their first run.

The decision rule: if your total shipment is under 300 kg or you are behind schedule and backers are already asking for updates, choose air. If you are on schedule and your product is heavy, sea LCL saves meaningful money.

What import duties apply to crowdfunding products

Crowdfunding products are treated the same as any other commercial import from China for duty purposes. There is no single China rate. The duty is the normal rate for your product's HTS code plus a Section 301 duty where the code is on a Section 301 list (7.5% or 25% for most listed consumer goods, higher for a few categories such as 100% on electric vehicles). The IEEPA tariffs added in 2025 were ended on 20 February 2026, and a temporary 10% surcharge ran from 24 February 2026 through 24 July 2026. Apparel, footwear and some electronics sit on higher lists, regardless of whether the importer is a brand or an individual creator.

The practical step: find your product's HTS code at hts.usitc.gov and calculate the duty cost per unit before you finalize your campaign budget. A $30 product at a 25% duty rate adds $7.50 per unit to your fulfillment cost. On a 1,000-unit campaign that is $7,500 unplanned.

Your freight forwarder or customs broker will confirm the HTS code and include the exact duty in a DDP quote.

Documents your factory must provide

Customs clearance requires accurate paperwork from your manufacturer. Missing documents are one of the top causes of fulfillment delays at the customs stage.

• Commercial invoice: product description, quantity, unit price, total value, manufacturer name and address, your name and address, country of origin (China).
• Packing list: carton count, dimensions, gross and net weights.
• Bill of lading (sea) or air waybill (air): issued by your freight forwarder.
• ISF filing (sea only): submitted by your forwarder 24 hours before the vessel loads in China.
• Product certifications (if applicable): electronics require FCC certification, children's products require CPSC certificates, some products require FDA prior notice. Confirm requirements with your customs broker before production finalizes.

Get these documents committed from your factory before production ships. A factory that cannot provide a clean commercial invoice will delay your fulfillment and frustrate backers who are already waiting.

Backer communication: what to say about the logistics timeline

Crowdfunding backers are more tolerant of delays when they understand the reason. Here is an accurate framing you can use in campaign updates.

When announcing shipping: name the freight method and an honest timeline ("We are shipping via air freight from our factory in [city], China. Transit to our US fulfillment warehouse is 7 to 12 days. Once goods clear customs and arrive at the warehouse, we expect to begin domestic shipping within [X] days.").

If there is a delay: identify the actual cause (production delay, customs clearance taking longer than expected, vessel schedule change) and give a revised date. Vague updates erode backer trust faster than honest bad news.