What the agent does and what the forwarder does
An agent in China runs the buying: finding and verifying the supplier, following the order and checking the goods before loading. A forwarder (špediter) clears the goods through customs: it prepares the customs declaration and works out the duty and VAT. In the Balkans many forwarders also offer transport from China, so the word often covers both.
With us the roles are split. Transcont has its own agents, offices and warehouses in Yiwu and Ningbo. We run sourcing and checks, collect the goods in our warehouse and arrange transport to the customs warehouse. We do not carry out customs clearance: a forwarder handles clearance, duty and VAT, your own or one we recommend.
Comparison: agent in China and freight forwarder
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| Key facts | Agent in China | Forwarder (customs broker) |
|---|---|---|
| When the work starts | Before the order: product, supplier, sample | When the goods reach the customs warehouse. If it also handles transport, as soon as the goods are ready for collection |
| What it does | Collects and compares offers, visits factories, negotiates, arranges samples, follows the order and checks the goods before loading | Files the customs declaration, clears the goods and works out the duty and VAT. Many forwarders also offer transport from China |
| How it is charged | Per day, per task or by commission, depending on the agent | Per shipment |
| Risk it reduces | An unsuitable supplier, a production run that differs from the sample, a wrong quantity, poor packing | Goods held at customs because of incorrect or incomplete documents |
| What it does not cover | A late ship, port charges, customs | Whether the cartons contain what you ordered |
| With Transcont | Our employed agents and warehouses in Yiwu and Ningbo. We also arrange transport to the customs warehouse | Your own forwarder or one we recommend. Handles only clearance, duty and VAT |
Outside the scope of both are the choice of the product itself, changes in duty rates, market freight prices, and a deposit paid before the supplier has been verified. Neither the agent nor the forwarder can promise that the supplier will make no mistakes or that the goods will be free of defects.
When a forwarder is enough
You can order without an agent when you know the supplier, the product is reordered to the same specification, the goods come from one supplier and you have your own way of checking them before loading. What remains to be decided is the route, the transit time, the price and the documents. We also arrange transport to the customs warehouse as a service on its own, in a full container or as a consolidated shipment (LCL), and clearance stays with your forwarder. Work out the volume in the CBM calculator.
When you need an agent on the ground
- You are buying a new product or from a new supplier.
- You do not know whether the supplier is a factory or a trading company.
- The offers have to be compared in Chinese as well as in English.
- The sample was good, but you cannot be sure that the production run will match it.
- You have had quality problems before.
- You are choosing a wide assortment of small items. In that case we recommend a buying trip to Yiwu, with our agent beside you in the market shops.
How we verify suppliers is described in the guide how to verify a Chinese supplier.
The same order, three ways
Take an order from four suppliers in Yiwu: toys, office supplies and two plastics factories.
Forwarder only. Here the forwarder handles both the transport and the clearance. Each supplier delivers its goods to the forwarder's warehouse or to the port. A classic forwarder usually takes the goods over for transport, while checking production, quantity and quality at the factory is a separate service. If one supplier is late, the others wait, or the goods leave in several shipments.
Freelance agent only. The agent visits the suppliers and sends photos, and the goods are then handed to a forwarder chosen by the supplier or by the client. With an individual agent, the client often has no company in the Balkans to turn to directly.
Agent, warehouse and transport in one company. This is how we work. The goods from all four suppliers arrive at our warehouse. We count them, open cartons and compare them with the order. You receive a photo and video report and decide whether they are loaded. We then load them, issue the bill of lading, bring them to the customs warehouse and hand the documents over to the forwarder, who clears them. You have one list, one transport document and one contact for the whole shipment.
What to ask before you choose
If the forwarder also offers transport, ask where the quote ends (at the port, at the customs warehouse or at your warehouse) and who issues the bill of lading. If we arrange the transport, all you need from the forwarder is clearance.
Ask the agent in China:
- Are you employed by a company, or do you work on your own?
- Do you take a commission from the supplier?
- Do you send a photo and video report after every check?
- Do you have a warehouse where the goods are collected and checked?
- In which cities are you physically present?
How we combine sourcing and transport
We have been in the Chinese market since 2006. Our head office is in Skopje, and we have three offices in all.
In China, before loading
- Four agents employed by Transcont work in English and Chinese.
- Our strongest operational presence is in Yiwu, with Ningbo a focus for containers.
- An agent can travel anywhere in China: to visit a factory, to check the goods, or to go with you to any market.
- Consolidated shipments and goods from Yiwu are checked in our warehouse, full containers at the factory. Either way you receive a photo and video report.
Transport, documents and delivery
- We issue our own bills of lading, so the transport document is prepared by the company that loaded the goods.
- We have a direct presence in Thessaloniki, Durres and Bar, with annual shipping contracts.
- We deliver the goods to the customs warehouse and hand the documents over to the forwarder. Once the forwarder has cleared the goods, we arrange delivery to your warehouse, if agreed. More on the page customs documents and delivery.
An office supplies chain we work with has more than 30 shops, imports more than 10 containers a year and uses both services. Its goods are collected in our warehouse, checked and shipped, and a forwarder handles clearance.
The agent's work is described on the page agent in China, and the check before loading on the page quality control in China. For a first import, start with the guide how to import from China, and estimate the total cost in the landed cost calculator.
Send an inquiry
Tell us whether you have a supplier and an agent, what you import and how often. We will tell you whether you need transport only, an additional check or the whole process.
