Sourcing Notes
Sea Freight vs Air Freight for Floral Packaging
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Choosing between air and sea freight is the decision that most often turns a good purchase into a bad one. The goods price is fixed; the freight is not. On a heavy order the difference between the two modes can be larger than the difference between quantity tiers, which is why it deserves its own decision rather than being left to checkout.
The two modes side by side
| Air freight | Sea freight | |
|---|---|---|
| Transit time (door to door) | 7-12 working days | 15-30 working days |
| Cost per kilogram | High | Typically 2-3x cheaper |
| Best for | Urgent restocks, light items, samples | Heavy and bulky items, planned seasonal stock |
| Minimum sensible size | Any | Roughly 1 cubic metre |
| Main risk | Cost — it can exceed the value of the goods on cheap, heavy items | Time — a missed sailing pushes delivery by a week |
| Damage risk | More handling, more transfers | Less handling, but container humidity |
Notice the risk column. Air freight fails by costing too much. Sea freight fails by arriving too late. Almost every freight mistake is one of those two, and both are avoidable by planning rather than by choosing differently at the last minute.
The real question: weight and volume, not preference
Freight is charged on whichever is greater: actual weight or volumetric weight. This is the part most first-time importers miss, and it is why a big light carton can cost as much to fly as a small heavy one.
| Item type | What you pay on | Better mode | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paper reels and boxes | Actual weight | Sea | Heavy per unit of value — air freight dominates the cost |
| Glass and acrylic vases | Actual weight | Sea | Heavy plus fragile; fewer handlings is better |
| Sleeves and bags | Volumetric weight | Air | Bulky but very light — cheap to fly, no point waiting |
| Ribbon and floral tape | Actual weight | Air | Dense but small; a full carton flies at a reasonable cost |
| Card holders, small accessories | Actual weight | Air | Light and near-indestructible |
| Mixed seasonal stock | Both | Split the order | Fly the light lines, ship the heavy ones by sea |
The rule of thumb: if the item is heavy relative to its value, sea freight. If it is light relative to its volume, air freight. Paper, boxes and glass are almost always sea. Sleeves, ribbon and accessories are almost always air.
Splitting one order across two modes
You do not have to choose once. The most efficient pattern for a shop restocking several categories at the same time is to split the order: fly the light consumables so they arrive in a week, and ship the heavy paper and boxes by sea in the background.
| Line in your order | Mode | Arrives | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ribbon, floral tape, card holders | Air | Week 1-2 | You can keep working without a gap |
| Sleeves and bags | Air | Week 1-2 | Volume work continues |
| Wrapping paper | Sea | Week 3-4 | Cost per sheet drops sharply |
| Boxes and vases | Sea | Week 3-4 | Avoids paying air rates on glass |
Done this way, the air portion is small in weight and acts as a bridge while the sea portion travels. Total cost is closer to an all-sea order, but you are never out of stock.
Planning around the calendar, not around the order
The mistake that costs the most is ordering by sea too late for a peak. Work backwards from the date you need stock on the shelf, not from the date you place the order.
| Peak | Stock needed by | Sea order placed by | Air top-up if needed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Valentine’s Day (14 Feb) | 1 February | Mid-December | First week of January |
| Mother’s Day (varies by country) | 3 weeks before | 6-8 weeks before | 2 weeks before |
| Wedding season | April | February | March |
| Christmas | Mid-November | Late September | Late October |
Add a buffer for Chinese New Year, when factories close for roughly two to three weeks and nothing moves. If a peak of yours falls within six weeks of that shutdown, order earlier or pay for air.
What goes wrong, and how to avoid it
- Volumetric weight surprise. A carton of sleeves looks cheap by weight and expensive by volume. Ask for the carton dimensions before choosing a mode.
- Missing a sailing. Sea freight runs to a schedule. If your goods are not ready, they wait for the next vessel — a week, sometimes two.
- Container humidity. Sea containers breathe. Paper shipped by sea should be in a sealed inner wrap, or it can take on moisture across a long voyage.
- Customs paperwork errors. The most common cause of a delayed shipment is not the shipping line, it is an incorrect description or value on the documents.
- Ordering on empty. If you order when stock hits zero, you will be short for at least a week. Reorder at 30% remaining, not 0%.
How to decide in one minute
- Is the item heavy for its value? → Sea.
- Is it light and bulky? → Air.
- Do you need it within three weeks? → Air, regardless of weight.
- Is a peak within six weeks of your order date? → Order earlier, or split the order across both modes.
Our wholesale page sets out minimums and lead times, and the guide to wholesale pricing explains how quantity tiers and freight interact on the same invoice.
Worked example: deciding on one mixed order
Suppose a shop is restocking four lines at once and wants to know the cheapest sensible arrangement.
| Line | Weight profile | Mode | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| 400 sheets of wrapping paper | Heavy, compact | Sea | Air freight on paper can approach the value of the goods |
| 300 sleeves | Very light, bulky | Air | Charged on volumetric weight, but the volume is small enough to fly cheaply |
| 60 ribbon rolls | Dense, small | Air | A full carton flies at a reasonable cost and it removes a three-week wait |
| 50 rigid boxes | Heavy, bulky | Sea | Worst combination for air freight — weight and volume together |
The result: half the order arrives in under two weeks so the shop keeps trading, and the heavy half arrives on a cheaper per-kilo rate six weeks later. The split costs slightly more in paperwork and coordination than a single shipment, and it is still cheaper than flying everything or waiting for everything.
Questions to ask before confirming any shipment
- What is the chargeable weight? Ask for carton dimensions and gross weight, not just the total weight. The greater of actual and volumetric is what you pay on.
- What is the next sailing or flight date? Sea freight runs to a schedule. If your goods miss it, they wait for the next vessel.
- Is the paper sealed against humidity? On a long sea voyage, unsealed paper can take on moisture. Ask for an inner wrap.
- Who prepares the customs documents, and does the description match the goods? Paperwork errors delay more shipments than weather does.
- What is the total landed cost per unit? Goods plus freight plus any duty, divided by units. That single number is what tells you whether the order was a good one.
Get in the habit of calculating landed cost per unit for every order. Within two or three cycles you will know instinctively which lines belong on which mode, and the decision stops taking any time at all.
Next step
If you are still deciding what to order, start with how to choose wrapping paper. If you are planning for a specific date, our Valentine’s playbook gives the seven-day shop-side prep timeline that the freight schedule has to feed.
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