Excess baggage shipping to China
Boxes and suitcases sent to China without the furniture — collected from your UK address, shipped by sea or air, and delivered to your door in China.
Excess baggage is the right service when you are shipping personal effects but no furniture — typically between about 0.5 m³ and 2 m³, or somewhere between five and twenty cartons. It is priced per cubic metre with a minimum charge, which is why sending four boxes often costs much the same as sending eight.
By sea, plan on eight to fourteen weeks door to door. By air, one to two weeks. Air costs several times more per cubic metre but the difference on a genuinely small consignment is smaller in absolute terms than people expect, so it is worth pricing both.
- Typical volume
- 0.5–2 m³ (roughly 5–20 cartons)
- Priced by
- Cubic metre, with a minimum charge
- By sea
- 8–14 weeks door to door
- By air
- 1–2 weeks door to door
- Collection
- From your UK address
- Best for
- Students, single relocations, furnishing locally
Because there is a minimum charge, plan around it
This is the piece of information baggage-shipping pages tend not to volunteer. A per-cubic-metre rate with a minimum means the first cubic metre carries most of the fixed cost — collection, documentation, consolidation, clearance and delivery all happen whether you send four boxes or fourteen. The practical consequences:
- Send one consignment, not three. Three separate small shipments pay the minimum three times. If your things are in two UK locations, get them to one address first.
- Fill the space you are already paying for. If you are at 0.7 m³, adding the winter coats and the books costs very little extra.
- Pack densely and squarely. Cubic metres are charged on the space occupied, and a half-empty carton is charged as a full one. Standard cartons stack; odd shapes waste paid-for space.
- Weigh your options if it is going by air. Air freight is charged on volumetric or actual weight, whichever is greater — so dense, heavy things like books are relatively expensive by air, and bulky light things are relatively expensive by sea.
What people send this way
- Clothes, including bulky winter coats that are expensive to replace.
- Books, papers, and personal archives.
- Kitchen equipment — knives, pans, a coffee grinder.
- Bedding and towels, which are bulky but cheap to buy in China, so often not worth it.
- Sports equipment and bicycles, which need their own packing.
- Children's toys and comfort items.
These are still personal effects. Baggage shipments into mainland China are cleared the same way a household shipment is — against your passport and residence permit, with the same restricted and prohibited item rules. "It is only a few boxes" does not change how customs treats it.
Excess baggage compared with the alternatives
| Option | Typical door-to-door time | Suits | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Excess baggage by sea | 8–14 weeks | 0.5–2 m³, no rush | The minimum charge; consolidation waits |
| Excess baggage by air | 1–2 weeks | Anything needed on arrival | Volumetric weight on bulky items |
| Airline excess baggage allowance | Same flight | One or two extra bags | Per-kilo airline rates get expensive fast; you carry it |
| Courier parcels | 1–2 weeks | One or two small boxes | Cleared as parcels, not personal effects; duty is common |
| Full household removal | 8–14 weeks | Furniture as well | Not economic below a few cubic metres |
Questions people ask before booking
How much does it cost to ship a suitcase to China?
A hold suitcase takes up about the same space as one of our large cartons, roughly 0.14 m³. That is well below the minimum charge, so you would be paying the minimum for a fraction of the space. Either combine it with more effects or use airline excess baggage. See the cost breakdown for how the minimum works.
Do you supply the boxes?
Yes — we can supply export cartons and packing materials, or pack for you at collection. Owner-packed cartons are acceptable for baggage shipments, but note that insurance cover on owner-packed contents is limited.
Can I send excess baggage to China before I get there?
You can send it, but for mainland China it will not clear customs until you have arrived and your residence permit is in place. Goods waiting at a Chinese port accrue storage charges. Time the sailing to land after you do.
Is it cheaper than airline excess baggage?
Almost always, once you are past two or three bags. Airline excess is charged per kilo per bag at rates that stack up quickly. Freight is charged by volume with a minimum, so it gets cheaper per unit the more you send.
Can I track my shipment?
You are given the vessel or flight details and we tell you when the shipment arrives, when it is entered for clearance, and when it is released for delivery. Consolidated groupage is not parcel-tracked item by item.
Get a quote for baggage shipping to China
Five short questions, and a move consultant replies with a written estimate.