Ocean Transport USA

Why buy through us

An honest comparison

Three ways to buy from Asia

There are really only three — buying directly from China or wherever your factory is, paying someone to move goods you already own, or buying from us — and they suit different people. This page includes the cases where we are the wrong choice, because a comparison that never loses is not a comparison.

Option one

Buy direct

You find the supplier, negotiate, wire the money, become the importer of record, post a bond, hire a broker, and own the outcome.

Works when you have volume, time, and someone in-house who has done it before.

Hurts when it is your first order, the supplier turns out not to be the manufacturer, or something goes wrong at 3am their time.

Option two

Hire a forwarder

You still buy the goods and you are still the importer of record. A freight forwarder moves cargo you already own.

Works when you are comfortable being the importer and just want the transport handled.

Hurts when you assumed they handle everything — a forwarder handles freight, not the purchase, not the supplier, and not whether the goods are any good.

Option three

Buy from us

You buy a finished, delivered product from a Florida company. We do the sourcing, the buying, the importing and the delivery, and carry the risk until it reaches you.

Works when you want the goods, not the education. Especially on a first order, or an order too small for anyone else to bother with.

Hurts when you have the scale and the staff to do it yourself — at high enough volume direct is cheaper, and we will tell you when you reach that point.

That last line costs us a sale sometimes, and it stays. A buyer who hears “you have outgrown us” and comes back two years later for a new product line is worth more than one who feels oversold.

Side by side

Who does what

  Direct Forwarder Through us
Finds the supplier You You Us
Checks the goods You, or nobody Nobody Us
Pays the factory You, overseas You, overseas Us
Importer of record You You Us
Posts the customs bond You You Us
Deals with customs Your broker Your broker Us
Carries the risk in transit You You Us
Who you deal with if it goes wrong An overseas factory Your forwarder, for the freight only A Florida company
Best at High volume Mid volume, experienced First orders and small orders

Tell us what you’re looking for How it works

Common questions

Questions people ask

Can I buy from China without importing it myself?

Yes — by buying from a US company that imports the goods under its own name and sells them to you once they are here. That is what Ocean Transport USA does: we are the importer of record, so the entry, the bond and the duty are ours, and you make a domestic purchase from a Florida company.

Is it cheaper to buy directly from China?

At high enough volume, yes: for a buyer with the scale and the staff to import, buying direct is the cheaper answer, and we will tell you when you reach that point. On a first or small order, price in what lands on the importer — the bond, the broker, the entry, and the risk of a supplier who is not the manufacturer — before comparing unit prices.

When is buying through you the wrong choice?

When you have the volume, the time and someone in-house who has done it before. Then importing yourself is cheaper, and we would rather say so than keep you by default.

Before you decide

If you are leaning towards doing it yourself

Good — for the right buyer it is the cheaper answer, and we would rather you went in with your eyes open than came to us by default. These are the things that actually decide whether it works.