Fragile goods from 1688 go through at least four handling events before they reach your warehouse: factory to domestic China truck, into the consolidation warehouse, onto a container, then customs clearance and final delivery in Vietnam. Each handoff is a chance for breakage. If you do not lock down packing requirements upfront, the loss rate eats your margin quietly until you open the shipment and count the damage.
Why breakage runs higher than you expect
When a factory ships a sample, they pack it carefully. They know that box is being evaluated. A production run of 200 to 500 units is different. Workers pack at speed, not with care.
Add to that: consolidated shipments (LCL cargo moving through a shared warehouse) get stacked with dozens of other sellers' parcels. Heavy goods end up on top of light ones. A container on a sea route gets knocked around by waves for 18 to 30 days. Air freight reduces that physical stress but costs far more, so it rarely makes sense for low-margin fragile goods.
Some product groups consistently produce the most damage: ceramics and decorative items, glass bottles and barware, lighting and electrical accessories, small kitchen appliances, and toys with thin plastic parts. Actual breakage across these categories typically runs somewhere between 3 and 15 percent per shipment, depending on material and route. This is a real range reported by sellers who track their numbers over multiple orders, not a theoretical estimate.
Packing specs to put in writing before you confirm the order
The most common mistake is discovering damage after the goods arrive, then trying to get compensation from the factory over chat. That process takes weeks and rarely ends well. The more effective path is stating your packing requirements before you confirm the order, in the chat thread, so there is a written record.
When you message the supplier (through a translator if needed), spell out the following:
- Each product needs individual cushioning. Bubble wrap, PE foam sheet, or molded foam inserts around each unit. No two products touching each other directly inside a box.
- Use a strong outer carton. Single-wall corrugated (3-ply) is adequate for light non-fragile goods. For fragile items, ask for double-wall (5-ply). An undersized or overly soft box is one of the most common causes of damage.
- Fill all void space. The gap between the product and the box wall needs to be filled with packing material so nothing shifts or impacts the side during transit.
- Mark the outer carton "Fragile" clearly. This does not guarantee that handlers will treat it gently, but it gives you a stronger basis for a claim if something goes wrong with the carrier.
- The outer carton must hold up under stacking. Ask the factory about the stacking strength of the box. Sea freight containers can have multiple layers stacked on top of each shipment.
If the factory replies that this is already their standard, push one step further: "For international export going 20 to 30 days at sea, what is your packing process?" Many factories use a different export packing protocol than what they use for domestic China orders, but they will not apply it unless you ask.
Use the sample to test packing, not just product quality
A sample order is not only for checking product quality. It is also a chance to evaluate whether the packing can survive the route. When the sample arrives, before you focus on the product itself, look at the outer box:
- Are there signs of crushing, denting, or puncture on the carton?
- Is the interior cushioning still in place, or has it shifted around during transit?
- Is the product scratched, chipped, or cracked even though the outer box looks intact?
If the sample arrives in good condition but the packing is loose, do not assume a bulk shipment will be fine. One sample traveling by air express is a very different experience from thirty cartons stacked in a sea freight container. Before the first production run, ask the supplier to photograph their packing process so you can confirm they are following your specifications.
Measure actual breakage after each shipment
A lot of sellers never track breakage systematically. They remember a bad batch or a good one but have no actual number. Without a number, you cannot price it into cost correctly, and you cannot give the factory a concrete target to improve toward.
After each incoming shipment, record three figures:
- Total units received (from the packing list or your own count).
- Damaged or broken units (unsellable or requiring a heavy discount).
- Loss rate = damaged divided by total, expressed as a percentage.
Track this by shipment and by supplier. After three or four runs you will have an average that is far more reliable than a single observation. If one supplier's breakage rate holds steadily above 8 to 10 percent, that is a signal to negotiate harder on packing specs or to consider switching sources.
Load the breakage rate into your real landed cost
This is the step that matters most, and the one most often skipped. If 7 out of every 100 units you import arrive damaged and unsellable, you are effectively only importing 93 sellable units. But you paid for 100.
The calculation is straightforward: divide the total shipment cost by the number of units you can actually sell (not the number that arrived), and that is your real cost per sellable unit.
A worked example: you import 200 glass bottles. Total cost including goods, freight, and fees is 12,000,000 VND. Your actual breakage rate is 8 percent, which is 16 bottles that cannot be sold. Your real cost per sellable bottle is 12,000,000 divided by 184, which comes to roughly 65,000 VND per unit, not 60,000 VND if you had divided by the full 200. The difference of 5,000 VND per unit across several hundred sales each month is real money leaving the business.
If you sell damaged goods at a steep discount to recover something, factor in that partial revenue too. It helps offset the loss but usually does not cover it fully.
When to ask the factory for compensation
This is a grey area. In principle, if goods arrived broken due to inadequate packing, the factory bears some responsibility. In practice, the goods have passed through two or three carriers since leaving the factory, and proving exactly where the damage occurred is difficult.
A few things that give you a stronger position:
- Photograph the shipment the moment you open it, before moving anything. Timestamped photos showing both the outer carton condition and the product inside matter.
- Keep damaged packaging. You may need it as evidence.
- Point back to the written packing requirements in your chat history. If the box clearly does not match what the factory agreed to, you have a documented basis for negotiation.
With a long-term supplier, partial compensation in the form of a discount on the next order is not unusual. With a new supplier, set lower expectations and treat the breakage rate as a known cost you priced in from the beginning.
Cargo insurance for high-value fragile shipments
If you are importing a shipment worth a significant amount (the threshold varies by shop, but many sellers start thinking about this above a few tens of millions of VND), cargo insurance is worth asking about. The premium is typically a small percentage of the declared shipment value (roughly 0.3 to 1 percent, depending on route and goods type, though rates vary widely so always check with your freight agent or insurer). For fragile goods, that cost is often less than the uncompensated breakage rate on an uninsured shipment.
One important step when buying coverage: read the policy terms to confirm it covers fragile goods or glass and ceramics specifically. Some standard policies exclude goods that are fragile by nature, even if the damage was caused by physical impact during transit.
Bottom line
Breakage on fragile goods is not a surprise risk. It is a predictable cost that can be partially controlled and fully priced in. Put your packing requirements in writing before confirming the order, measure actual loss rates shipment by shipment, and load that number into landed cost. Those three steps keep you from finishing a profitable-looking shipment and realizing it actually lost money once you counted the broken units.