Everything a buyer needs to build a landed-cost sheet, without three rounds of email.
Incoterms
- EXW — ex-works Xiaolan, Zhongshan. Our default quotation basis.
- FOB — Guangzhou, Shenzhen or Zhongshan port, your choice.
- CIF / CFR — to your nominated destination port.
- DDP — door to door, duties paid, on request for established accounts.
Packing
Every model is packed to one standard so cartons stack and count predictably:
- Inner: polybag plus fitting pack (screws, spindle, strike, template, instruction sheet)
- Colour box or white box per set, or brown export carton for trade packs
- Master carton marked with model, function, finish, handing, quantity, gross and net weight
- Carton quantities: 6 pcs handlesets · 20–24 pcs lever locks · 30–40 pcs knob locks · 20 pcs deadbolts and combos · 40 pcs pocket door locks · 50 pcs hinges · pull handles in pairs
Retail-ready packaging — hang tabs, barcodes, multilingual inserts — is part of the OEM programme.
Container loading
As a working rule for mixed door-hardware orders: a 20’GP holds roughly 17–18 CBM palletised or 26–28 CBM floor-loaded, and a 40’HQ roughly 55–60 CBM palletised or 70–74 CBM floor-loaded. Door hardware almost always fills the cube before it reaches the weight limit. We send an exact loading plan with the proforma invoice once the model mix is fixed, so you can check it against your own volumetrics.
Payment
- 30% deposit by T/T with order, 70% against a copy of the bill of lading
- L/C at sight, accepted above an agreed order value
- Western Union or PayPal for sample orders
- Open account terms discussed once a track record is established
Documents
Commercial invoice, packing list, bill of lading, certificate of origin (Form A, Form E or CO as required), declaration of conformity for the destination market, and fumigation certificate where wooden pallets are used. Tell us the destination at order stage and the paperwork is prepared before the container is sealed, not after.
Lead time
25–35 days for catalogue models in standard finishes, from the later of deposit receipt and final approval. Add 30–45 days for OEM packaging, or 45–60 days for new ODM tooling.
The packing standard
- Inner: polybag plus fitting pack — screws, spindle, strike, template, instructions.
- Unit pack: colour box, white box or brown trade pack, one set each.
- Master carton: 5-ply for handlesets and deadbolts, 3-ply for lever and knob locks, with dividers so plated surfaces never touch.
- Marking: model, function, finish, handing, quantity, batch number, weights, dimensions, origin and your PO, on two adjacent faces.
Master carton sizes and the logic behind them
Carton quantity is chosen so packed gross weight lands between 12 and 18 kg. Below that you waste cube and cardboard; above 20 kg a warehouse worker cannot lift it repeatedly and damage claims rise. The counts follow from that.
| Handlesets | 6 sets · 470 × 330 × 300 mm · 0.047 CBM · 14 kg |
|---|---|
| Heavy-duty lever locks | 24 sets · 500 × 340 × 300 mm · 0.051 CBM · 15 kg |
| Light-duty lever locks | 24 sets · 470 × 320 × 290 mm · 0.044 CBM · 12 kg |
| Tubular knob locks | 30 sets · 460 × 310 × 290 mm · 0.041 CBM · 15 kg |
| Deadbolts and combos | 20 sets · 400 × 300 × 280 mm · 0.034 CBM · 14 kg |
| Sliding / pocket door | 40 sets · 420 × 300 × 260 mm · 0.033 CBM · 13 kg |
| Hinges | 50 pcs · 380 × 280 × 250 mm · 0.027 CBM · 16 kg |
Figures are nominal and move with finish and box style. Exact numbers for your model mix go on the proforma invoice, so your volumetrics and ours agree before anything is built.
Palletisation and container maths
Door hardware runs at roughly 250–300 kg per cubic metre. It cubes out long before it weighs out, so container planning is a volume exercise.
| 20GP floor loaded | 26–28 CBM · about 7–8 t · roughly 500 lever-lock cartons, 12,000 sets |
|---|---|
| 20GP palletised | 10 pallets, 1,200 × 1,000 mm, stacked to 1.45 m · 17–18 CBM |
| 40HQ floor loaded | 62–66 CBM · about 17–19 t · roughly 1,270 cartons, 30,000 sets |
| 40HQ palletised | 21 pallets, 1,200 × 1,000 mm, stacked to 1.90 m · 46–48 CBM |
Palletising costs about 28% of the cube. Worth it if your warehouse is forklift-only; a waste if you unload by hand. Pallets are ISPM 15 heat-treated, corner-boarded and stretch-wrapped, with a card repeating the packing list. A loading plan goes out with the proforma invoice.
Lead times by order type
| Samples, stock finishes | 5–10 working days |
|---|---|
| Samples, non-stock finish or keying | 15–20 working days |
| Catalogue models, standard finishes | 25–35 days, from the later of deposit receipt and final approval |
| Catalogue models, master keyed | 25–35 days, if the keying schedule arrives with the order |
| OEM packaging and marking | 30–45 days from artwork approval |
| ODM with new tooling | 45–60 days to T1 samples, then production as above |
Incoterms we quote
- EXW Xiaolan, Zhongshan — our default basis, and the cleanest for comparison.
- FOB Nansha or FOB Shenzhen (Yantian or Shekou); Zhongshan port by feeder barge on request.
- CFR / CIF to your destination port, insured at 110% of invoice value.
- DDP door to door, duties paid, for established accounts on written confirmation of the tariff position.
We quote HS heading 8301.40 for door locks, 8302.10 for hinges and 8302.41 for pull handles and mountings. The national suffix and duty rate are yours to confirm.
Payment terms by stage of relationship
| Samples | 100% in advance — T/T, Western Union or PayPal |
|---|---|
| First bulk order | 30% deposit by T/T with the order, 70% against copy bill of lading |
| Larger first orders | Irrevocable L/C at sight, confirmed, above an agreed value |
| Repeat accounts | 30/70 as above or L/C at sight; deposit sometimes waived on repeat runs |
| Long-standing accounts | Open account at 30 or 60 days, after a clean record across several shipments |
Samples are charged at catalogue unit price plus courier, freight collect on your DHL, FedEx or UPS account or prepaid and invoiced. Charges are credited against your first bulk order of the same model. Finish swatches are free.
Documents provided
- Commercial invoice and packing list, by model, finish, carton and batch
- Bill of lading, original set or telex release, or air waybill
- Certificate of origin — ordinary CO, Form E for ASEAN, Form A where the destination still runs a GSP scheme, or RCEP where it gives a better rate
- Declaration of conformity for the destination market, plus test reports on request
- ISPM 15 heat treatment statement where wooden pallets are used
- Beneficiary and inspection certificates, and any wording your L/C requires — send the draft before it is opened so we can check the clauses
What causes a shipment to slip
- Keying schedules or artwork approved mid-build. The commonest cause, and avoidable.
- A finish change after the plating batch is scheduled. The line runs one finish at a time; a change sends you to the back of the queue.
- A deposit that clears late. Production is scheduled from the day funds arrive, not the day of signature.
- A failed XRF or salt spray check. We would rather re-plate and lose four days than ship it; you hear the same day.
- Consignee and notify details supplied late, which delays the certificate of origin more than the bill of lading.
- Space at peak — August to October, and the fortnight either side of Chinese New Year.
- Destination conformity schemes, which must be booked before production finishes.
