How we work

From our stock to your port, step by step.

We manufacture, and we sell by the container, from stock. Most of what we publish is on the shelf, a stock order is ready in about a week, and a full container goes straight to your port. Here is the whole process, in the order it happens, with what you do and what we do at every step.

An order with Lexical starts with a proforma invoice; your deposit confirms the order and reserves the goods. Stock lines are then picked, inspected and packed in about a week, and shipped from Ningbo once you approve the freight. The balance releases the bill of lading, and with it the container.

In stockMost lines are on the shelf

The catalogue is a stock list, not a wish list. The majority of what we publish is ready to pack.

~1 weekto prepare a stock order

Picked, packed in export cartons and palletised. Made to order: thirty to forty days. Branded or custom: about thirty-five, from deposit and artwork.

20–30new lines every month

It is how we keep our partners’ ranges ahead of the market they sell into.

100+countries served

By full container to your port, or by mixed consignment through your representative in China.

The order, start to finish

Eleven steps. Three of them are yours.

Walk it with the buttons, or click any step. The deposit reserves the goods, the balance releases the container, and everything in between is done here — inspected, loaded and confirmed with you before it moves.

OrderStep 1 of 11Answered as soon as possible
Pick from the live catalogue and tell us the destination.
Every line is published with its carton specification, gross weight and CBM, so you can plan a container before you ask for a price. We come back with a proforma invoice — the price per unit, the minimum quantity per line, what is in stock now, and the incoterm quoted — as soon as possible, typically within a week. Say the country and we specify the voltage, plug and packaging for it.
You receiveA proforma invoice with price, MOQ per line and availability.
OrderStep 2 of 11On confirmation
The deposit confirms the order and puts your name on the stock.
Once the deposit agreed on the proforma invoice arrives, the order is confirmed and the goods are reserved for you. Reserved means reserved: nothing allocated to your order is sold to anyone else while it is being prepared, whatever else comes in.
You receiveAn order confirmation. Your stock is held.
PrepareStep 3 of 11About a week
Picked, packed in export cartons, palletised.
Stock lines are picked and packed within about a week of the deposit. Each carton is marked, the pallets are built for the container, and the packing list is written from what is actually on them. Goods made to order — another voltage, a colour change, a plug type we do not hold in stock — need thirty to forty days of production first, and an order carrying your own brand, artwork or packaging around thirty-five days after the deposit is paid and the artwork confirmed; the lead time is stated on the quotation.
You receiveA packing list: carton count, weights and CBM.
PrepareStep 4 of 11During packing
Counted and checked as it goes in, not after it arrives.
Every unit is inspected and counted as it is packed, so what is on the packing list is what is in the box. Inspection happens before the container is sealed rather than after it lands — a problem found here costs a day, and a problem found at your warehouse costs a voyage.
You receiveThe confidence that the count and the condition were checked here.
PrepareStep 5 of 11Before booking
We pick the sailing. You confirm the freight before it is booked.
We select the sailing out of Ningbo that fits your order and your port, and send you the freight cost. Nothing is booked until you have confirmed it: the price of the voyage is agreed with you, every time, not discovered on the invoice.
You receiveThe sailing, the freight cost and the estimated transit, to approve.
ShipStep 6 of 11At booking
The commercial invoice and the packing list, line by line.
The commercial invoice is issued against the confirmed order and forwarded with the packing list. HS codes go on it where they have been agreed in advance, which makes your import declaration a copy rather than a reconstruction.
You receiveCommercial invoice and packing list.
ShipStep 8 of 11Two hours by road
Ningbo, about two hours from the factory by road.
The container is trucked to Ningbo — roughly two hours from the factory — cleared for export and loaded on board. Ningbo is the port we ship from; another can be arranged if your carrier insists, but it is not how we normally work. On the terms most of our partners buy on, this is the point where responsibility passes to you: the goods are on the ship.
You receiveExport clearance. The goods are on board.
ShipStep 9 of 11Depends on your port
Four to eight weeks to Europe. About four weeks to the Gulf. Two to three weeks to the Indian subcontinent.
Transit is a function of your port, not of us — the figures below show what to plan for. While the container is at sea, the bill of lading is issued by the carrier and held by us. It is the document that releases the container at the other end, and it changes hands at the next step.
You receiveThe vessel name, the ETA and the bill of lading number.
ArriveStep 10 of 11Before arrival
The remaining balance releases the bill of lading — and the box.
Before the container arrives you settle the balance due on the invoice. Against it we release the bill of lading, and with the bill of lading the container is yours to clear at your port. Import duty, VAT and customs clearance at destination are handled on your side, unless the order was quoted delivered.
You receiveThe bill of lading. The container is yours.
ArriveStep 11 of 11With the release
The declaration of conformity and the reports behind it.
With the release you receive the conformity documentation for the lines you bought: the EU Declaration of Conformity naming the directives and standards applied, and the safety and EMC test reports behind it, per model. They are supplied as documents, with the release — and on request before you order — never as a link into our own file storage.
You receiveEU Declaration of Conformity and test reports, per model.

How long to your port

Four to eight weeks to Europe. About four weeks to the Gulf.

The rail above asks you to approve a sailing and an estimated transit. This is what those weeks look like — the four lanes we are asked for most, indicative and for planning. Africa, North America, the Caribbean, the Pacific and the overland routes are all on the transit-times page, market by market, with the map. The figure for your order is confirmed in writing on the quotation.

35–54 daysWestern Europe

From Ningbo to Rotterdam · Antwerp · Hamburg · Felixstowe and London Gateway.

25–34 daysThe Gulf

From Ningbo to Jebel Ali · Salalah and Sohar · Dammam · Hamad Port · Shuwaikh and Shuaiba · Khalifa Bin Salman.

12–24 daysSouth Asia

From Ningbo to Chennai · Nhava Sheva · Colombo · Karachi · Chittagong.

30–47 daysSouth America — Atlantic

From Ningbo to Santos · Buenos Aires · Montevideo.

The map, and every market

Full container, or not yet

One decision changes the route.

Transit is one half of the answer; the other is how the goods travel. A full container ships directly to your port. Anything less travels through your representative in China, who receives it from us and consolidates it. Both are normal; only the second needs someone on the ground here.

A 40-foot high-cube container loaded with your order alone, sealed at the factory and shipped to your port. We handle everything from the shelf to the ship; from the ship to your warehouse is yours, or ours if the order is quoted delivered.

About 68 CBM of usable space — roughly nine more than a standard 40 ft, for the same freight.
One shipper, one seal, one set of documents.
Loaded and sealed at the factory in Yiwu, and shipped out of Ningbo.

Appliances are light and bulky. On a mixed appliance load you run out of room long before you run out of payload, which is why the high cube is the box we quote and the 40-foot standard rarely earns its place.

Usable volume: About 68 CBM loaded, of roughly 76 CBM internal
Internal height: 2.69 m — about 30 cm more than a standard 40 ft
Payload: Up to roughly 26 t, which an appliance load will not reach
Also available: 40 ft standard and 20 ft, quoted on request

Send us the lines and quantities, or the CBM you want to fill, and the destination port.
We come back with a loading plan and a proforma invoice: what fits, what it weighs, what it costs.
Deposit confirms it, the goods are reserved, and we book the sailing with you before anything moves.

If your order does not fill a box, say so early — we will tell you honestly whether to wait, add lines, or ship it LCL.

Settlement

How our partners pay.

Terms and the split are agreed with you and written on your proforma invoice. These are the ways our partners settle.

T/TTelegraphic transferThe usual route. Bank to bank, in USD or EUR.
D/PDocuments against paymentYour bank releases the documents when you pay.
L/CLetter of creditAt sight or usance, through a bank we can both work with.
BankDirect bank transferFor the balance, or for smaller trial orders.
WalletAlipayPractical for trial orders, and for buyers already here.

Other instruments can be discussed. Tell the export desk how you prefer to pay with your enquiry and it is quoted that way from the start.

What you receive

The paperwork, and when it reaches you.

Every document the shipment needs, issued at the step that produces it. Conformity documents are supplied as documents, with the release — never as a link into our own storage.

At booking
- Commercial invoiceLine by line, with HS codes where they are agreed in advance.
- Packing listCarton count, carton spec, gross and net weight, and total CBM.
Released against the balance
- Bill of ladingIssued by the carrier once the container is on board.
With the release
- EU Declaration of ConformityFor CE-marked lines, naming the directives and harmonised standards applied.
- Test reportsThe safety and EMC reports behind the declaration, per model.
On request
- Certificate of originPrepared on request, including Form A and FTA forms where a route qualifies.

Questions buyers ask

Before you ask for a price.

What is the minimum order?

There is no minimum order quantity on a first order. The minimum is a value rather than a piece count, it is quoted to you personally, and the order can be mixed across as many lines as you like.

From the second order on, the minimum per line is set on your proforma invoice, with the carton quantity beside it and how many cartons fit a 40-foot high cube. Most of our partners order by the container, which is the cheapest way to buy per unit.

A mixed consignment through your representative in China is the way to test several lines before committing a container to one of them.

How fast can you ship?

We hold ready goods for the majority of what we publish, and a ready-goods order normally ships within a week of the deposit: picked, packed into export cartons and ready to load, with no production run in between. Anything made to order — a voltage, a colour or a plug type we do not hold in stock — needs production time first, typically thirty to forty days, which is the wait a supplier without stock puts on every order.

Add the sea transit for your port: four to eight weeks to Europe while sailings route round the Cape, about four weeks to the Gulf, two to three weeks across the Indian Ocean, and three to seven weeks to Latin America. The map, and every market, is on transit times.

A special request for your market or your business — your own branding, packaging or logo — takes around thirty-five days on average, counted from the day the deposit is paid and the artwork is confirmed.

Do I need to order a full container?

No. A full container ships directly to your port. Anything less is consolidated by your representative in China — an agency company, a buying office or a forwarder with a depot in Yiwu — who receives the order from us and books the shipment.

Most distributors already have one. If you do not, ask us who we work with.

Which port, and on what terms?

Ningbo, about two hours from the factory by road, and the port we ship from. Most orders are quoted EXW or FOB. On EXW the goods are ready at our door in Yiwu; on FOB we deliver to the port, clear for export and load, and sea freight, insurance and import are yours.

FCA, CFR, CIF and delivered terms are available — each one is explained on the shipping page.

How is payment structured?

In two parts. A deposit confirms the order and reserves the goods in your name. The balance is settled against the shipping documents, and it is the balance that releases the bill of lading — which is what releases the container at your port.

The deposit is usually 30 to 50 percent of the order — the share depends on how long we have worked together — and the exact split is written on your proforma invoice. We settle by telegraphic transfer, documents against payment, letter of credit, direct bank transfer and Alipay — the full list is above.

What happens if the inspection finds a fault?

It does not ship. Every unit is checked and counted as it is packed, before the container is sealed. That is the point of inspecting here: a problem found in Yiwu costs a day, and a problem found at your warehouse costs a voyage.

Which documents come with the shipment?

The commercial invoice and packing list at booking; the bill of lading once the container is on board, released against the balance; a certificate of origin on request; and with the release, the EU Declaration of Conformity and the test reports for every CE-marked line you bought. The full list is on the compliance page.

Can I sell under my own brand?

Yes, and it is a large part of what we do: your brand on our tooling, with your artwork, manuals, plug and voltage variants and retail packaging built for the market you sell into. A branded order takes around thirty-five days of production after the deposit is paid and the artwork — the packaging designs and the logo — is confirmed. Start on the enquiry form and say which lines you are looking at.

Start

Tell us the lines and the port.

You will have a proforma invoice with the price, the minimum per line, what is in stock and the transit to your port — in writing.

Request a quote contact@lexical.com.cn