China port delivery and door-to-door are two different ways of organising the leg between the factory and your building site. With China port delivery, the supplier’s price covers the fixture, factory quality control, export packing and delivery to your nominated Chinese port, and you — or your freight forwarder — handle the international leg, customs clearance and final delivery. With door-to-door, the supplier (or its nominated forwarder) arranges the entire route, so you receive one combined figure but a less visible split between product cost and logistics cost. The right choice depends on whether you already work with a forwarder, the size of the shipment, your project timeline and the level of control you want over each leg.
The rest of this page walks through both options in plain language, then gives a checklist of what to confirm in any quotation before you decide.
What “China port delivery” actually includes
When a product page on a Chinese lighting supplier shows a price with “delivery to your designated China port”, the figure is meant to cover everything the factory controls. In a Staylighting quotation, that is:
- The lighting fixture, built to the configuration shown on the product page.
- Factory quality control and pre-shipment inspection before packing.
- Export-grade packing, protection and palletising for international transit.
- Domestic delivery to the China port you nominate, such as Shenzhen, Shanghai or Ningbo.
After that point, the buyer takes over. We hand over the export packing list, the dimensions and weights, the container number or carton count, and loading photos. From the port onwards, you — or the freight forwarder you have appointed — book the vessel or the flight, insure the cargo, clear customs, pay duty and tax, and deliver to your warehouse or project site. The boundary is sharp, which is what makes the price comparable to other suppliers offering the same handover point.
What “door-to-door” means in practice
A door-to-door quote is a single figure that aims to cover the fixture, the international freight, customs clearance, import duty and tax, and the last-mile delivery to a named address. The supplier is either arranging this themselves, or — more often — passing the work to a nominated forwarder and packaging the result into a single line for the buyer.
Internationally, this is usually priced against an Incoterm such as DAP (Delivered At Place) or DDP (Delivered Duty Paid). DAP leaves the duty and tax to the consignee. DDP prepays them, which is convenient for the buyer but tends to load risk back onto the supplier or its forwarder, who often has to estimate the duty to give you a number up front. The same fixture cost is in both options; the difference is how visible each leg is, and who is on the hook if anything goes wrong between the port and the door.
Side-by-side: what you can compare and what you cannot
Before choosing an option, it helps to look at the same six questions on both sides of the table.
- Price transparency. China port delivery shows product cost and logistics cost as two separate numbers. Door-to-door shows one bundled number with an estimated duty and tax inside it.
- Choice of carrier. With China port delivery you (or your forwarder) pick the carrier, the routing and the transit time. With door-to-door the supplier’s nominated forwarder picks, unless you negotiate a specific routing.
- Customs broker. With China port delivery you keep your own broker. With door-to-door the supplier’s broker handles the entry, and you may not see the entry documents directly.
- Cargo insurance. With China port delivery you arrange and own the policy from the port onwards. Door-to-door may or may not include insurance; this needs to be confirmed in writing.
- Duty and tax payment. In both cases the consignee is legally the importer of record and ultimately pays. Door-to-door under DDP just prepays on your behalf; door-to-door under DAP leaves it to you.
- Comparison across suppliers. China port delivery makes supplier A and supplier B easy to compare on a like-for-like basis. Door-to-door is hard to compare, because each supplier’s “one number” bundles different assumptions about routing, duty rates and last-mile cost.
If you only take one thing from this page, it is that China port delivery is the format that lets you compare product costs. Door-to-door is the format that lets you avoid managing the international leg. They are not better or worse in absolute terms — they answer different questions.
Four buyer profiles, and the option that fits each
The same project does not always pick the same option. The right answer is usually driven by the buyer’s logistics setup, not by the product itself.
Profile A — you already work with a freight forwarder. Stay with China port delivery. Your forwarder has negotiated rates, knows your preferred carriers, your customs broker, and your insurance arrangements. Using a supplier’s nominated forwarder usually means you leave those benefits on the table, and you may pay more for the same ocean leg.
Profile B — first-time buyer, single project, no broker. Request a reference door-to-door quote from the supplier and one from a neutral forwarder. Compare them on the same named address, the same delivery window and the same insurance. Use whichever is clearer to your finance team, then move on. Most first-time buyers default to door-to-door for speed, which is reasonable as long as the duty and tax assumptions are written down.
Profile C — hotel project with a firm install date. Discuss timeline ownership in writing before paying. Ask: if the container is delayed, who owns the delay between the China port and your door — the supplier, the forwarder, or the customs broker? The answer changes which option is actually safer for the install. In a tight-window project, China port delivery plus a forwarder you can call is often calmer than a door-to-door handover where the responsibility is spread across three parties.
Profile D — consolidating multiple suppliers into one shipment. China port delivery is the only practical option here. Your forwarder collects from each supplier’s nominated China port and consolidates the cargo into a single LCL (less-than-container-load) or FCL (full-container-load) shipment. A door-to-door quote from one supplier cannot consolidate with anyone else’s cargo.
What to confirm in any quote, whichever option you pick
The single biggest source of “the supplier said one number and we paid another” complaints is unstated assumptions in the quote. Before you accept either type, the following seven points should be answered in writing.
- The Incoterm the quote is based on (EXW, FOB, CIF, DAP, DDP and so on), and the exact place the price covers.
- The named port of loading in China and the named place of delivery at the destination.
- Who books the vessel or flight, and who pays the freight — confirmed, not assumed.
- Whether cargo insurance is included, the insured value and the deductible.
- Whether the duty and tax figures are a binding quote or an estimate, and the rate used.
- Who is the importer of record at the destination, and who signs the customs entry.
- Who is responsible for delays, demurrage, detention and storage at either end, and the financial cap on each.
A quotation that answers those seven points can be compared accurately. One that does not is a guess, however attractive the headline number looks. The full Buying Guide runs through the same check in the wider project context.
How Staylighting supports either option
Every product page on this site shows the same cost basis: the discounted order price per piece, the minimum order quantity, and the fact that delivery to your designated China port is included. The product cost you see is the product cost. There is no second fee for QC, packing or the China port leg.
If you want to use your own forwarder, you nominate the China port — typically Shenzhen, Shanghai or Ningbo — and we hand over the export packing list, dimensions, weights, container or carton plan and loading photos at the gate. Your forwarder then books the vessel, clears customs and delivers. Our shipping policy sets out the handover process in detail, and the transparent pricing page explains what is and is not in the price you see.
If you would rather see a reference door-to-door number for comparison, ask us for one with the same destination and volume you are quoting from your own forwarder. We can provide a reference freight and customs option for benchmarking; you can then decide whether the convenience is worth the price difference. Certification documentation for CE, UL and RoHS is arranged per order and destination market, so the certification path does not change between the two delivery options.
For a concrete example of how the price, MOQ and the China port delivery basis appear together, see this custom crystal chandelier for a hotel project, or a large-scale lobby chandelier where the same cost basis is shown next to the production and lead time notes. Both product pages follow the same pattern: one price, one MOQ, one named delivery point.
Both delivery options look identical on a product page, which is deliberate. Compare the starry-sky cross-frame chandelier, the glass-tile statement chandelier and the three-tier alabaster drum chandelier: each shows one price, one MOQ and one named China-port handover, so the freight decision can be taken after the product cost is settled.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between China port delivery and door-to-door?
China port delivery ends at a named Chinese port, with the supplier responsible for manufacture, inspection, packing and the domestic leg. Door-to-door continues past the port through international freight, customs clearance, duty and tax, and the last-mile delivery, all the way to a named address. The first is easier to compare across suppliers; the second is easier to administer as a single line item.
Can I use my own freight forwarder if the product price already includes China port delivery?
Yes. The China port leg is part of the price because it is the work we control, not because it locks you into a particular carrier. Your forwarder collects at the port, books the vessel, insures the cargo, clears customs and delivers. You can also ask us for a reference freight and customs quote to compare against your own forwarder’s rate.
Who pays import duty, VAT or GST?
The consignee — the importer of record in your country — is legally responsible. With China port delivery, you pay your broker directly. With door-to-door under DAP, you pay on clearance. With door-to-door under DDP, the supplier or its forwarder prepays on your behalf and adds it to the invoice, often with a margin. In all three cases, the underlying tax is the same; only the timing and the paperwork change.
Which option is cheaper?
It depends on the size of the shipment and your relationship with a forwarder. For regular importers, China port delivery plus a forwarder is usually the cheaper path because the forwarder’s rates are negotiated. For a single project or first shipment, door-to-door can be cheaper once you add up the time cost of managing freight, customs and delivery yourself. Always ask for both numbers on the same cargo before deciding.
Can I switch from door-to-door to my own forwarder on a later order?
Yes. The China port delivery cost basis is the same for every order, so once you have a forwarder in place you can move to it without changing the product price. Many buyers start with door-to-door on the first order to learn the import workflow, then move to their own forwarder from the second order onwards.
If you want to compare a China port delivery price against a reference door-to-door quote for the same fixture and destination, send the product list, the destination country and the project timeline through our contact page. We will reply with the product cost, the certification path and a reference freight and customs option on the same email.