← Buyer GuidesFOB vs EXW vs CIF for Water Purifiers: Plain English
Incoterms decide who pays for what — and, more importantly, who bears the risk at each handoff. For first-time importers, the wrong term is how goods get stuck at ports.
Key points
- EXW (Ex Works): you handle everything from the factory gate — export clearance, freight, insurance. Cheapest quote, most work and risk for you.
- FOB (Free On Board): the seller delivers the goods on board the vessel at the port of shipment and clears export. The standard choice for most small-B importers.
- CIF (Cost, Insurance, Freight): the seller also pays freight and minimum insurance to your destination port. Risk still transfers at shipment — CIF is not door-to-door.
- For first orders, FOB with your own forwarder usually beats CIF: you control the freight forwarder and see the real costs.
- Whatever term you pick, name the port explicitly (e.g., FOB Ningbo) — 'FOB China' is not a term.
Action checklist
- Choose the term before signing — changing it later re-prices everything.
- For FOB: appoint your freight forwarder early and share their contact with the factory.
- For CIF: ask which forwarder and which insurance coverage (minimum cover is minimal).
- Confirm who handles export customs paperwork under your chosen term.
- Get the term and named port printed on the commercial invoice.
- Never assume 'freight included' means door delivery — ask what the last included handoff is.
Common questions
The factory's CIF price looks cheaper than my forwarder's FOB quote. Why?
Often because the CIF freight uses a consolidator with longer transit, port congestion risk, and destination charges you pay later. Compare total landed cost — including destination port fees — not the headline freight number.
Who pays if goods are damaged in transit under FOB?
Risk transfers when goods pass the ship's rail at the port of shipment. After that, it's the buyer's risk (and the buyer's insurance, if any). This is why marine insurance on your own terms matters.
Related reading
A note on honesty. CWS provides sourcing and QC services for water purification products. This guide is general information for overseas buyers — not a guarantee of any outcome. We don't promise the lowest price in China, and we don't promise zero defects. What we do promise: written inspection criteria, lot traceability, and telling you when something is outside what we can verify.