EXW (Ex Works) is the incoterm with the seller’s minimum obligation: they fulfill the deal by making the goods available at their own factory or warehouse. Everything else, from loading the truck at the factory gate to delivery at your warehouse, is the buyer’s cost and risk.
How it splits costs and risks
The EXW price is the lowest a supplier will ever quote you, because it includes zero logistics. You take on inland transport at origin, export clearance, international freight, insurance, import clearance and final delivery. Risk is yours from the moment the goods are made available.
The China-specific catch
Chinese export clearance must be handled by a local entity, and as a foreign buyer you cannot file it yourself. You need a freight forwarder with its own operation at origin to solve it, or an equivalent arrangement with the supplier. That is why, for many operations, FOB or FCA end up cleaner than an EXW that looked cheaper on paper.
The common mistake
Comparing an EXW price against a CIF price as if they were the same thing. The cheapest EXW can cost more once you add every leg it excludes. The only fair comparison is total landed cost at your warehouse, with every line item on the table.
With our own offices in Shenzhen we handle the origin leg EXW leaves on your side: pickup, export clearance and international freight. Send us your quote and we convert it into real landed cost.
