Shipping lashes: carton planning, weight and freight basics
Lashes are light and bulky, which makes freight behave in a way that surprises buyers used to buying dense goods. The consequence is that your shipping cost is driven by the space the goods occupy, not by what they weigh — and that is decided long before the goods reach a port.
Why volume decides your freight
Freight is charged on whichever is greater: actual weight or volumetric weight. Volumetric weight is calculated from length times width times height divided by a factor the carrier sets. A carton of lashes can weigh very little and still be charged as if it were heavy, because it takes up space. This is why reducing carton size is usually the single most effective way to cut shipping cost on a lash order.
Carton planning starts with the box
The outer carton should be sized around the retail packaging, not chosen from whatever is on the shelf. Ask for the carton quantity — how many retail boxes fit in one export carton — along with the carton dimensions, net weight and gross weight. Those four numbers let you calculate your volumetric weight and compare shipping options before you commit to an order.
- Carton quantity — the number of retail units per export carton
- Carton dimensions — length, width and height, in centimetres
- Net weight and gross weight — the goods, and the goods plus packaging
- Carton count — how many cartons your full order produces
Full container, LCL or air
There are three practical choices and each suits a different order size.
- Air express — fastest, most expensive per unit; suits samples and urgent small launches
- Air freight — middle ground on speed and cost; suits a first order that has a launch date
- LCL sea freight — you share a container; cheapest per unit but slow, and you pay fixed local charges whether your shipment is large or small
- Full container sea freight — only worth it once your volume fills a meaningful share of the container
The fixed costs that hurt small orders
On a small shipment, the cost that catches buyers out is not the freight rate, it is the fixed charges around it: documentation, terminal handling, and on LCL shipments a charge often calculated on a minimum volume regardless of how little you ship. On a small first order these fixed costs can be a substantial share of the total. Ask your supplier or forwarder to quote the total delivered cost, not just the freight rate, so you are comparing like with like.
Incoterms in one paragraph
An Incoterm decides where your responsibility starts and who pays what. FOB means the supplier delivers to the port of departure and you take over from there. EXW means you take over at the factory. CIF means the supplier pays freight to your destination port but you still handle import duty and local delivery. DDP means the supplier delivers to your door with duty paid — convenient, but the least transparent about what you are actually paying. For a first order, FOB is the most common and the easiest to compare between suppliers.
Duty, tax and the number buyers forget
Freight is not the last cost. Import duty and tax are charged on the value and, in many countries, on the value plus freight. Rates depend on the product classification and your destination, so they must be checked for your specific market rather than assumed. Budget for them before you set your retail price, not after — this is one of the few costs that can turn an apparently profitable product into a loss.
Practical planning for a first shipment
Keep the retail packaging as compact as your channel allows, because every centimetre of carton height multiplies across hundreds of boxes. Ask for carton numbers before you place the order and calculate volumetric weight yourself. Get a total delivered cost including duty and local charges before you compare suppliers. And if you have a launch date, work backwards from it — sea freight has a wide and variable transit range, and air is what you pay for certainty.
Next step
You can ask for carton quantity, dimensions, net and gross weight for any style before ordering, and quoting by quantity will give you a clear picture of the volume your order produces. Build an inquiry list from the catalogue, or write to [email protected] with your destination country and target quantity for a plan that fits your timeline.