Before dispatch
The last checkpoint is yours, not ours.
Packing is reviewed over the whole order, the result is photographed, and the photographs, the packing and the quantity are sent to you before a shipment is booked. This is the cheapest point in the order to catch a question.
The packing review
- Quantity
- Packaging method
- Label
- Barcode
- SKU
- Carton mark
- Any special requirement
- Order number
Sent to you after QC
- Representative bulk photographs
- Videos
- Packaging photographs
- Quantity information
Before the packing table the order has already passed finished-goods inspection against the approved standard — the final production artwork, the approved sample and the written specification — and a defective piece is removed and remade to the full quantity rather than counted as qualified. What is packed, counted and photographed is therefore the quantity and the specification the order was confirmed as.
Shipment is arranged once you confirm there is no obvious problem. The documentation that travels with the consignment is prepared for the consignee and the destination you confirmed, and the record of the shipment — shipping method, carrier, tracking number, ship date, ETA, consignee information and any exception — is kept against the order number. Where documentation we issued turns out to be wrong, that sits on our side and is corrected.
Shipping & freight
Decided on the order, not published in advance.
A destination, a consignee, a packing instruction and a quantity produce a shipping cost — but only for that order. So the freight is quoted with the order and re-confirmed with it, rather than estimated on a page.
- Where it is decided
- On your order, per order. The shipping method is chosen against the destination, the consignee and the service level you want, and the freight is quoted on the order rather than folded into the unit price.
- What it depends on
- The destination country and the receiving party, the packing requirement confirmed before the order, and the specification and quantity the order is built to. All of these are settled before a quotation is issued.
- When it is re-confirmed
- A quotation is valid for 30 days. After that, freight is re-confirmed along with material, labour, quantity and capacity, so a rate agreed in one quarter is not quietly reused in the next.
- What is not published here
- A carrier name and a transit time. The material fixes neither, and a transit figure printed on a page would be a promise the order has not made. Both are confirmed on your order and recorded when it ships.
- How arrival is worded
- As an estimated arrival inside a delivery range, with the risk disclosed. An absolute arrival date is not issued, because part of the journey is not in the factory's hands.
- Who you talk to
- Sales, throughout. Logistics and the merchandiser work the shipment internally, and any exception is raised with you as it happens rather than after a question.
If a date cannot move, tell us the in-hand date with the order: the schedule is then built backwards from it, and the delivery method is part of that decision rather than an afterthought. Lead Times & Rush Orders sets out what a date counts from.
Direct shipping
Straight to your end customer, or into your warehouse.
Where an order ships is a decision, not a default. It is confirmed before production, because it decides the packing, the label and the carton mark as much as the route.
Confirmed as the receiving party
- Your own company
- Your end customer
- A third-party warehouse
- A platform warehouse
- An event venue
- Your forwarder
And where it is an intermediary or a drop-ship
- Neutral packing
- Factory information left off
- A special label supplied by you
- The warehouse requirement that has to be met
Neutral packing, white-label packing and direct shipping to an end customer or a third-party warehouse are all part of what the factory supports for distributors, agencies, promotional companies and resellers. Your artwork, your project information and your end-customer relationships are treated as confidential, and nothing travels to your customer that you have not asked to be there.
Packing & labelling
How the order is packed, and where that instruction lives.
Packing is confirmed before the order rather than at the packing table, and it is held on the order file with the artwork, the sample and the colour reference — which is what keeps a repeat order packing the same way.
What the factory can run to.
Your brand on the outside, ours nowhere.
Written down, so the next order matches.
The carton mark, the order number and any special requirement are part of the packing review before dispatch, and a labelled, barcoded or individually packed order is checked the same way as a bulk carton. Packaging in more detail sits on Packaging.
Duty & clearance
What we prepare, and what is agreed on your order.
The material names customs, carrier delay, weather and a flight or port problem as things that are not fully in the factory's control. It does not assign import duty to either side, so neither does this page.
On our side
- The documentation we issue and the arrangement of the shipment. Where either turns out to be wrong, we carry reasonable responsibility for it and correct it.
- The record of the shipment, kept against your order number: shipping method, carrier, tracking number, ship date, ETA and consignee information.
- Reporting a logistics exception as it happens, and assisting actively with the carrier while the shipment is in transit — rather than waiting for you to ask.
Agreed in writing on your order
- The receiving party: your company, your end customer, a third-party warehouse, a platform warehouse, an event venue or your forwarder — confirmed before production.
- Who acts as importer at the destination, and which import duties or taxes fall to which side. The material does not set a fixed rule, so it is settled between us when the order is confirmed rather than assumed here.
- Any documentation requirement the destination names, so it is prepared before dispatch instead of being discovered at the port.
None of this is a published policy. It is what is agreed on your order, in writing, before the packing instruction is fixed — which is the only point at which the answer is still free to change.
Compliance, packaging and shipping requirements are among the things buyers most often say nobody helps them manage. If your destination or your customer has a requirement, name it with the order and it becomes part of the order rather than a surprise at the border.
Before you ask
Six questions a shipping page is expected to answer.
Each answer is the same rule the section above sets out, in the order these questions usually arrive. Where a number is not fixed, the answer says so.
Which carrier will you use, and how many days does it take?
Neither is decided on this page. The shipping method and the carrier are confirmed per order, against the destination, the consignee and the service you choose, and the material fixes no carrier and no transit time — so no number is printed here. Once the shipment is booked, the carrier, the tracking number, the ship date and the ETA are recorded against your order number, and any logistics exception is raised as it happens.
Can you ship straight to my customer, without them seeing the factory?
Yes. Where an intermediary or a drop-ship is involved, the packing is agreed as neutral, factory information is left off, and the label is the one you supply. The receiving party can be your end customer or a third-party warehouse. Your artwork, your project information and your end-customer relationships are treated as confidential.
What do I see before the goods are dispatched?
After QC you receive representative bulk photographs, videos, packing photographs and the quantity information. Shipment is arranged once you confirm there is nothing obviously wrong. Before that, the packing review has already gone over quantity, packaging method, label, barcode, SKU, carton mark, any special requirement and the order number.
Who pays the import duty, and who clears customs?
It is agreed in writing when the order is confirmed, together with the receiving party. The material assigns import duty and destination clearance to neither side, so this page does not either — the point is that both sides know before production starts, rather than at the port.
Can you send to Amazon or another platform warehouse?
A platform warehouse is one of the receiving parties confirmed before production, alongside your company, your end customer, a third-party warehouse, an event venue and your forwarder. Where a warehouse has a requirement of its own, it is confirmed at the same stage, so the cartons arrive the way the warehouse expects.
Is the freight included in the unit price?
No. Freight is a charge line of its own in the quotation, next to the product price, the sample fee, any mould or setup fee, special packaging and any other special charge. A quotation is valid for 30 days; after that, freight is re-confirmed along with material, labour, quantity and capacity.
Keep reading
What to settle before the order is placed.
Freight is one line of a quotation, and packing is one line of a specification. These pages cover the rest of both.
- Pricing & MOQ What a quotation is built from
- Lead Times & Rush Orders Dates & rush scheduling
- Packaging Retail, neutral & white-label
- Contact Ask before you order
Prefer to ask directly? Write to Bella at info@lovecolour.com.cn or call +86 183 1957 4312 — the destination, the consignee and the packing requirement are enough to get a shipping answer back.
Page last updated
Where does it have to land?
Send the destination and the packing brief.
Destination country, consignee, packing and labelling requirement, quantity and the date it has to be in hand. The answer covers the packing review, the freight and the documents — and says plainly which part of the journey is ours.