Every Amazon seller shipping from China eventually faces the same question: ocean or air? The answer is never universal — it depends on your product, your margin, your inventory velocity, and how close you are to a stockout. Here's a decision framework we've developed after handling hundreds of FBA inbound shipments.
The Core Trade-Off
Ocean freight from China to a US FBA fulfillment center (via West Coast port + FBA partnered carrier) takes 25–35 days door-to-door. Air freight takes 7–12 days. The cost difference is typically 4–8x per kilogram, though the ratio compresses for high-density cargo.
For most standard FBA products, the breakeven analysis looks like this: if your product sells fast enough that stockouts would cost you more than the air premium, air wins. If you have healthy inventory buffers, ocean wins nearly every time on economics.
When to Choose Ocean Freight
- Your days-of-inventory coverage is 60+ days at current sales velocity
- The product is heavy or bulky (low value-to-weight ratio)
- You're doing a large initial or seasonal restock (500+ units)
- Margins are tight and logistics cost is a meaningful percentage of unit economics
When to Choose Air Freight
- You're within 3–4 weeks of a stockout and can't afford the ranking penalty
- The product is high-value, lightweight (electronics, supplements, accessories)
- You're launching a new product and need to test sell-through quickly
- It's Q4 and you need inventory before peak season cutoff dates
Hybrid Strategy: What Experienced Sellers Do
The most effective FBA operators use a hybrid model: ocean freight for base inventory (70–80% of volume) and air freight as a buffer tool when sales unexpectedly accelerate or ocean shipments are delayed. This requires good demand forecasting and a freight partner who can handle both modes quickly.
Key to making this work: build your reorder point around 45 days of cover for ocean, not 30. Port delays, customs holds, and Amazon receiving backlogs all eat into your buffer. The sellers who get surprised by stockouts are almost always the ones who planned too tightly.
FBA Compliance Considerations
Whichever mode you choose, FBA inbound compliance is non-negotiable. Amazon's receiving windows, box labeling requirements, and pallet specifications apply equally to ocean and air shipments. We prepare all carton and pallet labels in-house and coordinate directly with Amazon's partnered carrier program to minimize rejection risk at the fulfillment center.