For ocean shipping, there are usually two ways, expedited or normal ocean shipping. Usually, expedited shipping from China to the US will be 3-10 days faster than normal.
Often, there are different size options when it comes to shipping containers. You can choose different sizes according to your needs.
FCL & LCL Shipping from China to USA
Depending on the quantity you buy from your Chinese supplier, you can fill the entire container or just one container. When you use the whole container yourself, you are shipping FCL (Full Container Load). More items equals a full container.
Generally, it is cheaper to ship a full case in volume units and weight units. However, many importers do not buy enough goods to ship full boxes. You can try air freight, but the cost is usually too high. In this case, LCL (less than the container load) is the ideal solution.
When shipping LCL, your items share the container with other people’s items. In other words, shipments from multiple buyers end up in the same container.