Is the charging for import agency too complex? Teach you to see through the tricks

"Why is there such a big difference in charges for the same service?" This is Mr. Zhang's biggest confusion when looking for an import business agency. With the deepening of global trade, more and more enterprises need to rely on professional agencies to complete the import process. However, faced with a wide variety of charging standards, many people, like Mr. Zhang, feel confused. This article will uncover the underlying logic of import business agency charging to help you make a more informed choice.

The charging of import business agencies usually consists of the following parts:

• Basic service fee: Includes fixed processes such as document review, customs declaration and inspection, usually charged per ticket or as a percentage of the cargo value.

• Special operation fee: Such as special services like cold chain transportation and dangerous goods handling, and the cost may be up to 3 times that of the basic service.

• Hidden costs: For example, emergency fees, storage demurrage fees and other sudden expenses. Professional agencies like Zhongshitong will inform about such risks in advance.

Ms. Li's case of importing cosmetics is quite representative:

• Commodity category: The rate for ordinary daily necessities is about 3%-5%, while for medical devices it may reach 8%-12%

• Trade terms: The EXW term generates an average of 15% more service fees than the CIF term

• Customs clearance difficulty: The agency fee for goods that require 3C certification usually increases by 20%

• Enterprise scale: Enterprises with an annual import volume of over 5 million can strive for tiered discounts

• Service depth: A full set of solutions including tax planning is about 40% more expensive than basic services

Market research has found that these situations are worth being vigilant about:

• Quotations that are 30% lower than the market price often make up for it through subsequent surcharges

• Items with vague labels of "other administrative fees" in the package price

• Service agencies that refuse to provide a detailed charging statement

Zhongshitong suggests that customers request the agency to provide a copy of the Customs payment letter, which is an important voucher to verify the authenticity of the charges.

The application of blockchain technology is changing the traditional charging model:

• Smart contracts enable payment by node, saving 15%-20% of intermediate costs

• The AI pre - review system reduces the error rate to 0.3%, and related compensation expenses are greatly reduced

• Cloud - based collaboration reduces the cross - time - zone service cost by 40%

When you receive an agency quotation next time, you might as well ask three questions first: What specific service does this charge correspond to? What is the average expenditure of similar enterprises? Is there a digital solution to optimize costs? The essence of import agency is the value exchange of professional division of labor. Only a transparent and efficient charging system can keep the wheels of trade turning continuously.