There are 3 main forms of ocean shipping to Australia: full container load (FCL), less than container load (LCL), and groupage (a Seapoe advantage). Customers don't need to worry about how to choose — Seapoe's highly experienced consultant team will recommend the right shipping solution based on each customer's situation and provide end-to-end concierge service.
Full Container Load (FCL) Ocean Shipping
If you have a large amount of furniture or bulky luggage to ship to Australia or back to China from Australia, and the volume reaches about 15-20 cubic meters or more, you may consider booking a 20-foot container for ocean shipping (because furniture and luggage are irregularly shaped, a 20-foot container can generally hold at most 25-26 cubic meters of furniture-type items).
FCL shipping does not necessarily mean the entire container must be completely filled; it means the container belongs to you alone, achieving the highest level of security and privacy protection. Common containers include 20-foot, 40-foot, and 40-foot high-cube containers; the main difference is the volume they can hold, and of course, prices increase accordingly.
Less than Container Load (LCL) Ocean Shipping
If your items are under 15 cubic meters, considering cost factors, it is generally not recommended to book an entire container directly. An available option is LCL shipping.
In the narrow sense, or as used in this article, LCL shipping means that when booking ocean freight, your goods are directly booked in LCL form and the shipping line allocates your goods to a certain container, in which the cargo is jointly owned by different shippers.
In the broad sense, the groupage mentioned below can also be considered a type of LCL, so sometimes no strict distinction is made between LCL and groupage.
Groupage (Consolidated Shipping)
Groupage can be considered a type of LCL. The key to groupage is that all cargo in the groupage container is owned by Seapoe's customers. Thanks to Seapoe's large customer base for Australia ocean shipping, multiple containers depart from port and travel between China and Australia every week.
The advantages of Seapoe groupage are, on one hand, reduced costs that save customers on shipping fees; on the other hand, all cargo in the container is coordinated by Seapoe, maximizing the security of customers' items.
Because items are shipped together with other Seapoe customers by LCL to Australia or from Australia back to China, based on mutual communication, you need to wait for customer service staff to arrange the plan and consolidate the shipment.
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