Air vs sea price by weight
General goods, China to the USA, our own prices at each chargeable weight. Sea is priced from 10kg. Read the "includes" column before you compare the two numbers: they do not always cover the same costs.
| Chargeable kg | Air | Air includes | Sea (duty included) | Lower number |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10.2 kg | $219.63 | Duty included | $60.08 | Sea |
| 22 kg | $456.43 | Before duty | $129.56 | Sea |
| 30.6 kg | $475.46 | Duty included | $180.20 | Sea |
| 53 kg | $556.08 | Before duty | $312.11 | Sea |
| 82.3 kg | $650.25 | Before duty | $484.65 | Sea |
| 102.5 kg | $700.83 | Before duty | $596.15 | Sea |
| 159.2 kg | $868.35 | Before duty | $904.61 | Air, before duty |
| 221.4 kg | $1,047.33 | Before duty | $1,227.07 | Air, before duty |
| 308 kg | $1,288.55 | Before duty | $1,671.80 | Air, before duty |
| 534 kg | $1,919.76 | Before duty | $2,779.17 | Air, before duty |
| 829.3 kg | $2,704.53 | Before duty | $4,140.72 | Air, before duty |
| 1,033.5 kg | $3,220.73 | Before duty | $5,091.08 | Air, before duty |
| 1,604.9 kg | $4,666.12 | Before duty | $7,665.15 | Air, before duty |
| 2,000 kg | $5,654.34 | Before duty | $9,462.89 | Air, before duty |
Priced 2026-10-30 by our pricing engine for general goods. Sea prices are indicative until your cartons are weighed. Branded goods and some categories price differently: see the pricing page › or get a firm number for your goods below.
Where sea stops being the cheaper option
On our prices, sea is below air from 10 kg up to about 140 kg. At 22 kg the figures are $456.43 by air before duty and $129.56 by sea; at 534 kg they are $1,919.76 by air before duty and $2,779.17by sea. Past the crossover the air consolidation price is lower, but it leaves out US duty and the sea price does not, so the honest comparison adds your goods' duty to the air number first. Duty depends on the product, which is why we do not guess it here.
What the time difference costs you
Door to door, air takes 6 to 12 working days and sea takes 28 to 32 days. That gap is stock sitting in transit instead of on a shelf. For a launch date, an Amazon restock or a seasonal item, the saving on freight can be smaller than the sales lost while you wait, so decide from the date you need the goods, then pick the cheaper mode that still makes it. The guide on air vs sea freight from China › walks through that choice, and the one on LCL shipping from China › explains why market LCL rates look different from ours.
How to get the chargeable weight right
Both modes bill on chargeable weight: the greater of actual weight and volumetric weight. Measure the packed carton, multiply length by width by height in centimeters, divide by 6,000, and use the larger of that and the scale weight. Several cartons: add them up. The CBM and chargeable weight calculator › does it for mixed sizes. A light, bulky load is the one where the first guess is most often wrong, and single-box weights entered for a multi-carton shipment are the second.
FAQ
Is sea freight from China to the USA cheaper than air?
On our prices, for small loads it can be. Our sea price is lower than our air price from 10 kg up to about 140 kg of chargeable weight, and the sea price already includes US duty. Above that weight air consolidation is the lower number before duty, so add the duty on your goods to the air price before you compare. Priced 2026-10-30.
Why does the table show air with duty and air without duty?
Our door-to-door air service includes US duty in the price. Some weights are priced as air consolidation instead, where the price does not include duty and the duty depends on what the goods are. Sea includes duty at every weight. The table marks each row so you compare like with like.
How long does each take?
Air door to door: 6 to 12 working days. Air consolidation: 10 to 14 days. Sea: 28 to 32 days. These are the transit times from our pricing export, door to door, not port to port.
What would a 50 kg order cost by air and by sea?
At 53 kg of chargeable weight, our air price is $556.08 before US duty and our sea price is $312.11 with US duty included. Air takes 6 to 12 working days door to door and sea takes 28 to 32 days, so the cheaper number is only the better choice if you can wait for it. Priced 2026-10-30, general goods.
What weight do I enter?
The chargeable weight: the greater of the real weight and the volumetric weight (length x width x height in cm, divided by 6,000). A light, bulky load bills on volume. If you only know carton sizes, the CBM calculator gives you the number.
Are these prices a quote?
They are the prices our engine produces for general goods at each weight, so they track what the instant offer shows for dense cargo of the same chargeable weight. Branded goods and some product types price differently, and the firm number is the offer you get when you submit your goods. It is free, and you pay nothing until the goods are weighed.