What Do I Need to Know About Shipping Sublimated Sportswear in Vietnam?

Hi, my name is Chris. I have been figuring out shipping, logistics and freight forwarding in Vietnam since 2008. Are you interested in shipping sublimated sportswear from Vietnam to your distribution center? There are there basic steps we need to do first:

1/ Figure out the composition of your fabric. How much polyester is in your fabric?
2/ What is the HS Code
3/ Which country are you importing to and what is the duty rate listed in the country specific tariff schedule?

This information is important because you must pay your import duty to your government or else your shipment will be held up. Your local freight forwarding company has a customs broker on staff that can confirm your import tax rate for shipping sublimated sportswear from Vietnam. I can also help you.

Learn more about:

Color Theory
Color Management
Preparing Artwork Files
Sublimation Ink
Sublimation Paper

Imagine that you have an idea to produce sublimated surf shorts, sports jerseys or mouse pads. Would it be great to get inside a sublimation apparel factory to see how they print and sew? Would you like to check the quality yourself? I can get you inside Vietnamese sublimation factories for a tour. Watch my video for more details.

To ship samples by air will cost between $US40 to $US80 if the weight is under 5 kg. This is the price range I have paid using DHL.

There are cheaper options if you use discount shipping services like TNT which is being acquired by FedEx. https://www.tnt.com/express/en_vn/site/home.html

There are also local shipping services that charge $18/kg to be hand carried by airline staff. For example if you are sending samples to Australia then contact Ms. Vy @ +84 0908846855

In both cases the pricing is always changing so you need to contact a freight forwarding company and as for a quote. At this point in time I predict it will cost fourty us cents per garment by sea and $1.50 per garment by air.

You can contact Juliana at Cargo Team Vietnam and ask for a quote:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliana-dang-9a3a0744/

Or you can contact Sam at Interlog Freight Forwarding in Vietnam
https://www.linkedin.com/in/diệp-nguyễn-sam-9108a01b6/

They will ask you a ton of questions. To get an idea of the questions they will ask, check out the questions that DHL asks you:
https://mydhl.express.dhl/us/en/home.html#/createNewShipmentTab

Last time I checked a 100% polyester sportswear garment had a duty rate of 32% if made in Vietnam and shipped into the USA.

Cotton t-shirts have a duty rate of 16.5%.

Here is a quick guide to show you how to figure out your import tax for a particular item.

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Shipping 101

Freight forwarders are also known as logistics and or shipping companies. Freight forwarding companies ship your goods around the world safely, process necessary documents and help you when delays happen. Your relationship with a freight forwarding company starts with you asking for a quote. Contact freight forwarding companies and benefit from their consulting and guidance to learn and make the right shipping decisions.

Insider Tip - You can reach any freight forwarder in any country because they all work online. I recommend hiring a freight forwarder near you for the following reasons. They are familiar with your specific import laws and taxes. They are in the same time zone as you. They speak your language and share your business culture. You pay them in one currency and therefore avoid currency conversion fees. Your learning curve will be steep and it’s a lot easier to discuss details at length in person rather than by email.

Specifically, what do freight forwarders do? They move your goods around the globe, through customs, and deliver to your warehouse. There are many pitfalls in the shipping process that can cost you dearly so choose a freight forwarder carefully. My aim here is to intro- duce you to the basic services they provide. Here are some topics you should know in advance.

Incoterms: EX-WORKS, FOB, DDP, CIF Services freight forwarders provide Shipping routes

LCL vs FCL
Ocean vs air
Incoterms

Here are a few common Incoterms you should know about and understand before contacting freight-forwarders. Incoterms is short for International Commercial Terms. They are published by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). Wikipedia has a great article that explains them all. I am introducing you to the most common ones. When a factory quotes you a price, it will most likely be one of the following Incoterms:

Ex-works FOB DDP
An ex-works price is essentially the cost of manufacturing minus shipping. If you agree to an ex-works price then you are responsible for picking up the goods at the factory and paying for all shipping costs from the factory to your warehouse. Ex-works is sometimes referred to as ex-factory.

FOB stands for free on board. An FOB price means that the factory is responsible for everything up until the goods are free on board the shipping vessel. Whenever you talk about FOB you should include the name of the port. For example, the factory should say, our price is FOB Cat Lai, or FOB Hai Phong. Cat Lai and Hai Phong are two ports in Vietnam. The reason is that the factory is responsible for getting the goods to the agreed port.
DDP stands for delivered duty paid. This price includes import taxes and shipping all the way to your warehouse. So, if your garments enter the US via Long Beach Port, but your warehouse is in Las Vegas, then the freight forwarding company will arrange for vessel shipment to Long Beach and then arrange for trucking from Long Beach to Las Vegas.

Which Incoterms works best for you depends on your business model. From the factory point of view they prefer to do FOB because they don’t want to be responsible for problems that can occur during shipping and customs clearance in a foreign country. I recommend you use the Incoterm FOB and pay the freight forwarding company to transport, clear customs and deliver to your warehouse.