New Members RAUS Posted June 11, 2012 at 06:50 PM New Members Report Share Posted June 11, 2012 at 06:50 PM Does anyone have experience with having books printed in China and shipped to New York in the US? I have been quoted a price for printing 500 of our text books that is only 10% of the quotes I have gotten in the US. However, this quote is FOB Shenzhen port. How do I get the books from Shenzhen port to New York? How much will this cost us? What about insurance and customs fees or charges? Is using a Chinese printer a viable option, or am I asking for trouble? Any insights or help will be greatly appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kdavid Posted June 12, 2012 at 01:41 AM Report Share Posted June 12, 2012 at 01:41 AM I can provide some insight from the printing side of things, as the textbooks for my school are all printed here. Essentially, I'd strongly recommend that you're here in person and check the quality of a sample before committing to a large order. When we had the first edition of our textbook printed, we had to go to three or four printers before we got one we were happy with. When we went back for our fourth edition, however, the quality was very different, and the colors did not match our original. In addition, it's not uncommon to open a book and find loose pages, or even pages which haven't been cut properly, meaning, for example, that pages 2 and 3 would literally still be "folded" together--no "cut" making them two separate pages. So, even though you may get a great sample, there's no assurance that all the books you print will match the sample. With that said, it's impractical to examine each book one-by-one if you're ordering a large quantity. As for shipping, if it's a large order, perhaps booking some space on a freight ship would be your best option. Other options may be very expensive. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Members RAUS Posted June 12, 2012 at 03:05 PM Author New Members Report Share Posted June 12, 2012 at 03:05 PM Thank you for your insight. It is not practical for us to go to China in person to explore the various printers. I was just dealing with the informatin and quote I received from the CTE Printing web site. While the problems you describe might also happen with a local printer, these difficulties, when added to the difficulties and expenses involved with shipping and importing the books, would seem to make this an unwise course of action for us to consider. We appreciate your help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imron Posted June 12, 2012 at 11:37 PM Report Share Posted June 12, 2012 at 11:37 PM Would it be possible to make part of the payment contingent on meeting agreed upon levels of quality? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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