On this page
- The full timeline, not just the transit leg
- Why volumetric weight decides this, not the jersey count
- Express courier and air freight are not the same thing
- What the sea freight number does not include
- Choose by working backwards from the date
- The real cost of choosing sea and missing the date
- What we need in order to advise you
- Frequently asked questions
- Where to go next
Air or sea is usually the wrong first question. The right one is what date the kit has to be in players’ hands, then working backwards through clearance, transit, production and design approval to see which modes are still available to you. For most club and school orders the honest answer is that sea freight was ruled out weeks before anyone asked about it.
The full timeline, not just the transit leg
Transit time is only one segment of the chain, and rarely the longest. These are our own published production figures, which is the part we control; the freight legs are typical ranges rather than guarantees.
| Stage | Jerseys and polos | Jackets and structured activewear |
|---|---|---|
| Free digital mockup returned | Within 24 hours | Within 24 hours |
| Your design approval | However long your committee takes | However long your committee takes |
| Physical sample if required | 5–7 days | 7–10 days |
| Bulk production after approval | 15–20 days | 20–25 days |
| Express courier, door to door | 5–7 business days | 5–7 business days |
| Sea freight, port to port | 20–35 days | 20–35 days |
| Import clearance and inland delivery | Add several days for sea and air freight | Add several days for sea and air freight |
Add those up honestly. A jersey order with a physical sample and sea freight is realistically two and a half to three months from first email to delivery. The same order on express courier is around five to six weeks. The design approval row is the one clubs underestimate most, and it is the only row entirely within your control.
Why volumetric weight decides this, not the jersey count
Garments are light and bulky, so carriers charge on whichever is greater of actual weight and volumetric weight. A carton of jerseys almost always prices on volume. This is why the crossover point between air and sea is not a jersey count you can memorise: it moves with fabric weight, garment type and how densely the cartons are packed. Jackets hit the crossover far sooner than jerseys because they take up several times the volume for the same piece count.
Practical consequence: packing specification is a lever, not a detail. Tighter polybagging and a denser carton spec genuinely reduce a freight bill on apparel in a way they never would on something dense.
Express courier and air freight are not the same thing
People use “air” for both, and then compare quotes that are not comparable. Express courier is a single door-to-door service with clearance bundled in and a predictable transit. Air freight is airport to airport: you or your forwarder still arrange clearance and the final leg, so the headline transit is shorter than the real one. For small and mid-size club orders express courier usually wins on both simplicity and total elapsed time, even when the per-kilo air rate looks better.
What the sea freight number does not include
The 20 to 35 day figure is port to port. Around it sit stages that regularly add one to two weeks in total.
- Booking and cut-off. Consolidated LCL cargo waits for a sailing, and missing a cut-off means waiting for the next one.
- Consolidation and deconsolidation. LCL cargo is grouped at origin and broken down at destination, and both take days.
- Port congestion and blank sailings, which are outside anybody’s control.
- Import clearance, which does not begin until the vessel arrives and documents are lodged.
- Inland delivery from the terminal, because an LCL consignment is released at a terminal rather than delivered to your door.
None of this makes sea freight a bad choice. It makes it a choice you plan a season ahead rather than a month ahead.
Choose by working backwards from the date
Take the date the kit must be in hand and subtract. This is the calculation we run for clubs before recommending a mode.
| Time until you need the kit | Realistic options | What to do now |
|---|---|---|
| Under 4 weeks | Express courier only, and only if the design is already approved | Approve the mockup immediately and skip the physical sample |
| 4–6 weeks | Express courier | Approve within days; sample and bulk cannot both fit |
| 6–10 weeks | Express courier, or air freight for larger volumes | Physical sample is affordable in the schedule |
| 10–16 weeks | Air freight, or sea if the order is large | Sea becomes viable if approval happens in the first fortnight |
| Over 16 weeks | All modes, including sea | Plan sea freight and use the saving on better fabric or extra kit |
Notice that the first two rows have nothing to do with freight economics. If the season starts in four weeks, the mode is already decided; the only remaining question is whether the design can be approved fast enough.
The real cost of choosing sea and missing the date
Sea freight saves real money on a large order, and it is the right answer for a club that plans ahead. The failure mode is choosing it on price with no schedule margin, then paying for an emergency air shipment when the vessel is late, which costs more than having shipped by air in the first place and arrives under pressure. If the sea option only works when nothing goes wrong, it is not the cheaper option; it is a bet.
A useful middle path on large orders is to split the shipment: send enough kit by express to cover the first fixtures and move the balance by sea. It costs a little more than pure sea freight and removes the deadline risk entirely.
What we need in order to advise you
- The date the kit must be in hand, not the date you want it shipped.
- Quantity per design and the number of designs.
- Garment type, since jackets and jerseys behave very differently on volume.
- Destination city and postcode, and whether the address is commercial, school or residential.
- Whether you need a physical sample or will approve from a digital mockup.
With those five things we can tell you which modes are still open and quote freight against the kit price rather than after it. Freight is always a separate line on our quotes, and if you do not specify a term we quote EXW ex-works by default — ask for FOB Xiamen or DDP door to door if you want the freight and clearance included.
Frequently asked questions
How long does sea freight take from China?
Typically 20 to 35 days port to port depending on the destination, plus booking and consolidation at origin, import clearance on arrival and inland delivery from the terminal. Budget one to two weeks around the sailing itself.
How long does express courier take?
Usually 5 to 7 business days door to door, with customs clearance handled inside the service. That is the transit only — bulk production of 15 to 20 days for jerseys and polos, or 20 to 25 days for jackets and structured activewear, comes first.
At what order size does sea freight start to make sense?
There is no fixed piece count, because apparel prices on volumetric weight rather than actual weight. Jackets reach the crossover at far lower piece counts than jerseys. Send us the quantity, garment type and destination and we will tell you where the line falls for your specific order.
Can you split a shipment between air and sea?
Yes, and on large orders against a fixed season start it is often the smartest option: enough kit by express to cover the opening fixtures, the balance by sea.
Does the shipping mode change the import duty?
No. Duty is assessed on the goods value and the HS classification, not on how the goods travelled. The mode changes the freight cost and the transit time, not the duty rate.
Where to go next
Our shipping cost and import duty reference sets out transit expectations alongside HS codes, duty rates for the US, UK, EU, Canada and Australia, and the EXW, FOB and DDP responsibility split. If you are weighing who pays for which leg, see DDP vs FOB for custom sportswear, and for the US duty picture specifically, what it costs to ship custom jerseys from China to the USA.