Feature, feature! Read all about it! That’s right – Airpool has a new feature on our website, and it’s going to change the way that you ship your goods (for the better, of course). In case you’re new here, Airpool is the indispensable logistics partner to any entrepreneur. We’re here to help you grow your small business, together!
Before we get into the nitty-gritty of our new landed cost feature, we thought we’d do a quick recap of why Airpool is the best shipping solution for small businesses. You know, in case you forgot. Did you forget? Be honest. We won’t be mad, we’ll just be disappointed. Just kidding!
If you’re an entrepreneur running a small business and you’re shipping your goods from China to South Africa, then you simply won’t find a more efficient and cost-effective solution than consolidated shipping – a.k.a consolidation, a.k.a the heart and soul of Airpool.
What is consolidation, you ask? Well, instead of making individual orders to different suppliers and having them shipped separately to your door, consolidating your orders with Airpool allows you to order from multiple suppliers and have all of your goods shipped at once. It’s like a rideshare app for your consumer goods.
Why is this a good idea? Well, in the world of shipping and logistics, everything is measured in containers. Unless your business is big enough to be filling containers all the way up (and – no offence – that’s unlikely), you’re paying for the empty container space that your goods aren’t even filling. You can read all about it in our blog on Why Consolidation Could Be the Logistics Solution for You.
Therefore, consolidation is a bit of a no-brainer when it comes to making cost-effective choices about your logistics solutions. Furthermore, because airfreight is the most efficient means of transporting your goods (hot tip: Airpool only uses airfreight), it’s also the fastest way to get your goods from a warehouse in China to your front stoep.
Our services are ideal for entrepreneurs who:
Does this sound like you? If you’ve come this far, it probably does. Perhaps you’ve even used our services before. Whatever your reasons for visiting, we’re stoked to see you and even more stoked to talk about our nifty new feature: our landed cost function!
If you’ve used our site before, then we’re preaching to the choir. But, if you haven’t, then you’ll be thrilled to learn that one of the best parts of using Airpool to ship your goods is 100% transparency. We’re like the crystal-clear waters of the Maldives, baby – you can see right through us.
With our live tracking feature, you can keep an eye on your parcel 24/7. Seriously. You don’t even need night-vision goggles to see where it’s at in the wee hours of the morning. You can see where it is, whenever it is.
And, in the unlikely event that something has gone wrong with your package’s journey, our live helpline will answer the phone to walk you through what’s happening. That’s right – a real live human being is going to answer your phone call and chat with you. We’re not about call centres and eerily calm robot voices. Our superior customer service is all about the human touch.
Finally, we’re happy to announce our new landed cost feature! The latest addition to your Airpool experience makes it super easy to calculate your landed costs. We’ll explain a little more.
Your landed cost is the total cost of your shipment from the factory floor to your front door. Every step is accounted for in this calculation. The only thing that might not be included in your landed cost is the transfer fee from your supplier in China to our hub in Yiwu. However, shipping fees between Chinese locations are nominal, if not free. So, don’t worry too much about that!
This is how you go about getting your landed costs from Airpool:
As you’ll see from the visual, your landed cost includes the following:
The quote that Airpool supplies you with is just for the costs on our end. So, that’s everything except the cost of goods.
At this point of the article, you might be leaning back in your armchair and wondering: why is this feature such a big deal?
With such easy access to accurate and automatically calculated landed costs, you can make business decisions with confidence and clarity of foresight. At Airpool, we believe strongly in empowering you with total oversight.
No more guesswork. No more nail-biting about delivery timelines or costs. When you ship with Airpool, you can take a load off. Literally! We’ll ship it for you.
Landed cost is the sum of all expenses associated with importing your goods from China to South Africa. This includes the cost of the goods paid to your supplier, the shipping costs, clearance costs and the import taxes & duties.
It is represented on a per unit cost and helps you with:
Note: This is not what you are paying to Airpool but rather what you are paying to all the suppliers and relevant parties: Airpool, the Manufacturer of the goods and the Import Taxes (VAT & Duties)
