I benchmarked 6 US-to-China shipping carriers in 2026 — here's the cost dataset (CC BY)

One pound, two quotes: $15 and $97.

That gap is real. A student shipping used personal luggage from the US to China can pay
$15-25 with USPS First-Class, or $67-97 per pound with DHL Express — a 20x spread for the
same box arriving at the same address. I compiled a cross-carrier cost study to make that
gap legible, and the data is free to reuse (CC BY 4.0, JSON + CSV).

What I compared

I looked at six channels that people actually use for US-to-China personal luggage and
personal effects:

Carrier rates come from public rate lists and Shippo; the consolidated line is our own
published rate, so treat that row as a first-party number.

Three findings that surprised me

1. Chinese couriers and consolidated lines are 40-60% cheaper than the big four
   (FedEx / UPS / DHL / USPS) for US-to-China shipping.

2. Cost and speed are inversely correlated by up to 20x. DHL delivers in 3-5 days at
   $67-97/lb; consolidated air freight takes 10-15 working days from ¥100/kg.

3. Classification is where the surprises come from. Used personal effects are not one
   uniform bucket, and a mixed bag declared under a single heading is a common source of
   unexpected charges. Treatment depends on the actual contents and the declaring party,
   so confirm the classification before you ship anything unusual.

These are benchmarks, not a quote. Get your own quotes before you book anything.

What's in the download

• A machine-readable JSON with all six channels, rate ranges and transit windows
• Two CSVs: carrier rates, and the clearance process / documents checklist
• A short methodology note listing each source

Everything is CC BY 4.0. If you cite it, credit "Subao Luggage" and link back to the report:
https://subaog.com/en/report/usa-china-shipping-cost-report-2026

Direct downloads:
https://subaog.com/assets/downloads/usa-china-shipping-cost-2026.json
https://subaog.com/assets/downloads/usa-china-carrier-rates-2026.csv
https://subaog.com/assets/downloads/usa-china-customs-rules-2026.csv

A note on scope

I run a China-bound consolidated line for used personal luggage and personal effects, so
I'm not a neutral observer on the consolidated row — the carrier rates above are from
public lists, and you should get your own quotes. The point of publishing the dataset is
that this corner of logistics has almost no comparable public numbers.

If you spot an error in the rate table or want a custom cut of the CSV, tell me in the
comments and I'll update the file.

Data: https://subaog.com/en/report/usa-china-shipping-cost-report-2026