A small appliance seller in Shenzhen had one 40HQ of stock and a retail window that would not wait for the factory. The order went out in three parts — roughly 300 cartons, then two more — all DDP, all to the same warehouse outside Los Angeles. Freight per kilo came to almost the same number. Everything else did not.
Three customs entries, three broker files, three delivery minimums, three inbound appointments. The per-unit landed cost ended well above the single-shipment quote, and nobody had priced that before the decision was made.
DDP is priced per shipment, not per kilo
Ocean freight is linear: weight and volume decide it. Most of what sits inside a DDP rate is not linear at all. It is charged once per shipment, whatever the size.
| Charge | How it is levied | What splitting does |
|---|---|---|
| Customs entry and broker file | Per entry, with a minimum | One per batch, not one per order |
| ISF and manifest filing | Per shipment | Filed again for each arrival |
| Delivery and waiting time | Per truck, with a minimum | Three trucks instead of one, three minimums |
| Terminal handling and release | Per container, per visit | Three gate transactions |
| Inbound appointment and unloading | Per booking slot | Three slots, three times the queueing |
The split is not the mistake — the un-priced split is
There are good reasons to break a shipment: a retail window, one SKU out of stock, a factory that ships late. The mistake is treating it as a freight decision. It is a fixed-cost decision, and it has to be priced before the first booking, not after the third invoice.
When splitting is still the right call
- The first batch starts earning while the rest is still on the water, and the margin covers the repeat fees.
- One product line is the only thing out of stock; the rest can wait for a single shipment.
- The buyer's dock can only take one truck at a time, so a single container would sit and wait anyway.
Five things the desk does when a split is unavoidable
- Tell the forwarder at quotation stage that the order will ship in N parts, and ask for the quote by batch.
- Keep one consignee and one broker instruction across all batches, so the file does not restart each time.
- Book delivery slots on the same day where the calendar allows, and ask for one truck to cover two drops.
- Prepare the product and HS information once, and reuse it — that is the cheapest part of a split to get right.
- Put the fixed cost per batch into the landed cost model, then compare it with the stock-out risk it avoids.
Three answers that cost money
"DDP is quoted per kilo, so splitting changes nothing" — it changes everything except the freight. "Splitting only adds a little more freight" — the freight is the smallest part of the difference. "We can split and pay less duty" — that is not a split, that is a valuation problem, and it is the fastest way to lose a whole container.
A plain note from the desk: a DDP quote is a stack of fixed fees with a freight line on top. Split the shipment and you buy the stack again.
If the next order may go out in parts, send us the batch sizes, the warehouse address and the retail dates on WhatsApp before booking. We will price it per batch, so the landed cost is known before the decision, not after the invoice.