E-commerce

Forwarding from China: how do you get your stock to the Netherlands?

Lars Hurkmans·Co-founder·8 April 2026·Reading time 5 minutes

Forwarding is the whole journey from the Chinese factory to your door in the Netherlands: local transport in China, export, the warehouse, sea or air freight, customs clearance in Rotterdam and the domestic transport to you. A freight forwarder takes that entire chain off your hands from A to Z.

In our podcast with Daniël from Import4You, a forwarding partner we recorded a knowledge base episode with, he explains how that chain works and why most bol sellers are better off outsourcing it.

What exactly is forwarding?

Forwarding is the full transport journey from the Chinese factory to your door in the Netherlands, arranged by one party. In our podcast, Daniël describes that chain step by step. It starts with local transport in China, followed by the export and the warehouse. In that warehouse your goods are loaded into the container, measured, weighed and counted, and the documentation is put in order. Then the shipment travels by sea or air freight to the Netherlands, where customs clearance takes place in Rotterdam. The last leg is the domestic transport to your address.

A freight forwarder takes on all those links, so you don't have to negotiate separately with every party in the chain. What you pay in import duties and VAT during that clearance is covered in Incoterms, import duties and VAT when importing from China. How a freight forwarder relates to a sourcing agent, who finds your supplier, is covered in what a sourcing agent and a freight forwarder do.

Why do you outsource forwarding instead of doing it yourself?

Because setting up the entire chain yourself costs enormous amounts of time, network and relationships, and you rarely get it cheaper. The chain is complex: you deal with local processes in China, the export, contracts with shipping lines and airlines, customs formalities and the last-mile transport. Especially in China, relationships matter a lot, and you don't build those in a few months. For most bol sellers, outsourcing is therefore more logical than arranging everything yourself. How you build those relationships and get taken seriously on the other end is covered in communicating with Chinese suppliers.

On top of that comes volume. Because a freight forwarder ships with the collective of all their clients, they get better rates from shipping lines and airlines than an individual importer. Even if you could arrange it yourself, according to Daniël you'd never get it nearly as cheap.

What's the difference between an e-commerce freight forwarder, a forwarding agent and a courier service?

An e-commerce freight forwarder bundles shipments and gives you insight, an old-fashioned forwarding agent works through email without that insight, and a courier service is the most expensive route. Freight forwarders that specifically target the e-commerce entrepreneur bundle the smaller shipments of multiple clients into full containers. On top of that they offer a platform where you can see where your shipment is.

An old-fashioned forwarding agent often arranges the transport through endless email exchanges, without giving you that same insight. And the courier services you know, such as DHL, UPS and FedEx, can also transport your goods, but then you pay top dollar.

Why do transport rates fluctuate so much?

Because events outside your control, from a pandemic to war, can disrupt the entire supply chain. In the podcast, Daniël walks through a few years that showed this. The amounts below are real-world illustrations, not fixed rates.

Covid first caused lockdowns at Chinese suppliers and then chaos in the supply chain. The price for a container shot up, according to Daniël once towards 17,000 dollars, later dropping back to around 3,000 dollars. After that, the war between Russia and Ukraine imposed sanctions on rail freight, because that route runs through Russia. And the conflict between Israel and Gaza, with the Houthi attacks on ships, made the Suez Canal unsafe from late 2023. Ships had to reroute via the Cape of Good Hope, which cost about three extra weeks of sailing time and temporarily pushed rates towards 10,000 dollars.

Such events follow one another, and rates move along: if a route becomes too expensive or too slow, demand shifts to an alternative and the price there rises again. Eventually these fluctuations reach the consumer, who sees them reflected in the price. You can't steer around them much, but you can anticipate: start on time and, if possible, keep some extra stock in the Netherlands.

Does China remain the best place to source, or does an alternative pay off?

China remains the leader on price-quality, especially for more complex products and electronics. For simpler or cheaper work, Vietnam and India are coming up, and some importers are looking at Turkey and the Middle East because of speed and proximity. Still, according to Daniël, most importers stick with China. How you find a reliable supplier there yourself and avoid a bad purchase is covered in sourcing from China: the step-by-step plan.

How do you prepare for fluctuations in transport?

Start on time and consider keeping a larger stock in the Netherlands. Processes almost always take longer than you hope, so plan for more time than you would on paper. A larger stock in the Netherlands also makes you less dependent on fluctuations in transport. You can't fully hedge against it: you can't plan for a black swan, like a suddenly blocked Suez Canal. The best you can do is build margin into your time and your stock.

In short: forwarding from China to the Netherlands

• Forwarding covers the entire chain from the Chinese factory to your door: local transport, export, the warehouse, sea or air freight, customs clearance in Rotterdam and the domestic transport.
• A freight forwarder bundles shipments into full containers and thereby gets better rates than an individual importer.
• E-commerce freight forwarders give insight via a platform, old-fashioned forwarding agents work through email, and courier services are the most expensive route.
• Transport rates fluctuate due to events like covid, the war in Ukraine and the Suez reroute. Those amounts are illustrations, not fixed rates.
• China remains the leader on price-quality, with Vietnam, India and Turkey as emerging alternatives.
• Start on time or build up a larger stock in the Netherlands. You can't plan for a black swan.

Forwarding is one of the things you need to master to succeed on bol. The complete overview is in what you need to succeed on bol.

Read more:

• Sourcing from China: the step-by-step plan
• How do Incoterms, import duties and VAT work when importing from China?
• What do a sourcing agent and a freight forwarder do when importing from China?
• How do you get taken seriously by Chinese suppliers?