Comparing air and sea freight for a small gift-packaging order

A UK gift business asked for baskets, boxes and fillable ornaments in small quantities; freight, not product price, decided the delivered cost.

Enquiry: September 2026

What the buyer asked

The buyer wanted metal gift baskets, ribbon gift boxes, wicker baskets, packaging with a clear window and clear fillable hanging ornaments from 10 cm up, in several colours.

Quantities were small, mostly 10–50 per item, with delivery wanted before November 2026. Close alternatives to their reference products were acceptable, and no branding was needed at this stage.

What we checked

• Matching products in China for each reference link; several looked identical to listings we found.
• Weights, sizes, and whether each item folds flat or nests.
• Air and sea freight on chargeable weight: the higher of actual weight and volume weight (length × width × height ÷ 6,000 for air).
• The larger sizes the buyer then asked for: a bigger metal basket, exact wicker basket sizes, and 10 cm and 12 cm ornaments.

What we found

• On an early small trial mix, about £100 of goods faced indicative air freight of about £113. Freight was the main cost.
• Light but rigid items drive the cost. For 26 square 16 cm metal baskets, our indicative figures were £40.30 for the goods, about £145 by air and about £37.50 by sea. They weigh about 300 g each but cannot be stacked.
• Clear ornaments do not nest, so they are charged on volume: 26 of the 10 cm size came to £7.28 in goods and about £32.50 by air.
• Flat-packed items travel cheaply: 26 ribbon gift boxes came to £3.12 in goods and about £6.50 by air.
• Sea freight was far cheaper for the bulky items but takes roughly 6–8 weeks door to door. With the China holiday period, it might not meet a firm pre-November date.

Status

Indicative air and sea comparison sent; awaiting the buyer's confirmed quantities and product mix.

What this means for other buyers

• For light, bulky goods, ask for freight on chargeable weight before judging the product price.
• Items that fold flat or nest cost far less to ship than rigid items of the same weight.
• If the date allows, sea freight changes the economics of bulky items, so plan small trials early enough to use it.

Related pages

• Sourcing gift hamper baskets and packaging from China
• Sea or air freight?
• Consolidating small orders
• Small first orders
• All project notes

Anonymised: we do not name the buyer, their business, the brands involved or the factories. Every fact comes from our own project file for this enquiry; nothing has been added.