Welcome. Here is what this channel is.
My name is Farid Awad. I have spent more than thirty years in international trade, moving goods between Asia, the Gulf and the rest of the world, and I built Tradeva around what that taught me.
Tradeva is a trade company licensed in Ajman Free Zone. We help importers and exporters source, ship, clear and finance their goods. That is the business.
This channel is not the business. It is the room I wanted when I was starting out and had nobody to ask.
What you will find here:
💬 A live community of traders. Real importers and exporters who ship every week, not an audience.
🎥 Live sessions. Open sessions where you bring your own shipment and we work through it together.
📘 Knowledge, guides and tips. What three decades in this business teaches, written so you can use it on your next order.
🧮 Advanced tools, free for members. We build tools for our own work. Everyone in this channel gets them at no cost.
One thing I ask of you. Do not read quietly. The value in a room like this comes from the questions people are willing to ask out loud, and from the traders who answer them.
Welcome. Tell us what you import and where you ship from, and we will know who is in the room.
My name is Farid Awad. I have spent more than thirty years in international trade, moving goods between Asia, the Gulf and the rest of the world, and I built Tradeva around what that taught me.
Tradeva is a trade company licensed in Ajman Free Zone. We help importers and exporters source, ship, clear and finance their goods. That is the business.
This channel is not the business. It is the room I wanted when I was starting out and had nobody to ask.
What you will find here:
💬 A live community of traders. Real importers and exporters who ship every week, not an audience.
🎥 Live sessions. Open sessions where you bring your own shipment and we work through it together.
📘 Knowledge, guides and tips. What three decades in this business teaches, written so you can use it on your next order.
🧮 Advanced tools, free for members. We build tools for our own work. Everyone in this channel gets them at no cost.
One thing I ask of you. Do not read quietly. The value in a room like this comes from the questions people are willing to ask out loud, and from the traders who answer them.
Welcome. Tell us what you import and where you ship from, and we will know who is in the room.
The tariff code
Tradeva · Global Trade
The four digits that decide what you pay:
The four digits that decide what you pay
I have watched traders lose more money to a wrong tariff code than to a bad price negotiation.
Every product has a code. The first six digits are the same everywhere in the world. The digits after that are decided by the destination country, and that is where the money is.
The same fabric, classified one way, can clear at zero. Classified another way, it carries duty. A machine declared as a part, or a part declared as a machine, gets corrected at the port, and the correction costs storage and time on top of the duty.
What I do before every order:
1. Get the code from the supplier in writing
2. Check it against the destination country's own tariff schedule, not the supplier's word
3. If there is any doubt, ask the broker before the goods move, not after
The supplier gives you the code that is convenient for him. You are the one who pays for it.
If you are unsure about a code you are working with right now, post it here and we will look at it together.
Tradeva · Global Trade
The four digits that decide what you pay:
The four digits that decide what you pay
I have watched traders lose more money to a wrong tariff code than to a bad price negotiation.
Every product has a code. The first six digits are the same everywhere in the world. The digits after that are decided by the destination country, and that is where the money is.
The same fabric, classified one way, can clear at zero. Classified another way, it carries duty. A machine declared as a part, or a part declared as a machine, gets corrected at the port, and the correction costs storage and time on top of the duty.
What I do before every order:
1. Get the code from the supplier in writing
2. Check it against the destination country's own tariff schedule, not the supplier's word
3. If there is any doubt, ask the broker before the goods move, not after
The supplier gives you the code that is convenient for him. You are the one who pays for it.
If you are unsure about a code you are working with right now, post it here and we will look at it together.
Before the first payment
What I check before I pay a new supplier
Everybody asks how to find a good supplier. The more useful question is how to survive a bad one.
Before a deposit goes to a factory I have not worked with:
🔹 The business licence, with the name on it matching the bank account
🔹 Photos of the production line, not of the product, taken the same week
🔹 Two references, and I actually call them
🔹 A deposit against a proforma, the balance against shipping documents. Never the full amount up front
🔹 Payment to a company account, never to a personal one
None of this is complicated. All of it gets skipped when the price is attractive and the deadline is close. That is exactly when it matters.
If you are about to pay a new supplier this week, tell me what you have checked so far and I will tell you what I would add.
What I check before I pay a new supplier
Everybody asks how to find a good supplier. The more useful question is how to survive a bad one.
Before a deposit goes to a factory I have not worked with:
🔹 The business licence, with the name on it matching the bank account
🔹 Photos of the production line, not of the product, taken the same week
🔹 Two references, and I actually call them
🔹 A deposit against a proforma, the balance against shipping documents. Never the full amount up front
🔹 Payment to a company account, never to a personal one
None of this is complicated. All of it gets skipped when the price is attractive and the deadline is close. That is exactly when it matters.
If you are about to pay a new supplier this week, tell me what you have checked so far and I will tell you what I would add.
The real cost, and our tool
The price you agree is not the price you pay
Let me be concrete.
A trader agrees on 10,000 dollars with a factory. In his head, the shipment costs 10,000 dollars. By the time it reaches his warehouse he has also paid freight, insurance, customs duty calculated on goods plus freight plus insurance rather than on the price he agreed, VAT at destination calculated on all of that, and clearance.
The only number that matters is the last one, and most traders see it for the first time at the end.
We built a calculator that does the whole thing in under a minute, for any product and any route. It is free, and it is one of the tools I said this community gets without paying.
Here it is, open to everyone in this channel:
https://lp.tradeva.io/calculate?utm_source=telegram
Run your next shipment through it before you order, not after. If the final number surprises you, that is the point.
Post your result here if you want a second opinion on it.
The price you agree is not the price you pay
Let me be concrete.
A trader agrees on 10,000 dollars with a factory. In his head, the shipment costs 10,000 dollars. By the time it reaches his warehouse he has also paid freight, insurance, customs duty calculated on goods plus freight plus insurance rather than on the price he agreed, VAT at destination calculated on all of that, and clearance.
The only number that matters is the last one, and most traders see it for the first time at the end.
We built a calculator that does the whole thing in under a minute, for any product and any route. It is free, and it is one of the tools I said this community gets without paying.
Here it is, open to everyone in this channel:
https://lp.tradeva.io/calculate?utm_source=telegram
Run your next shipment through it before you order, not after. If the final number surprises you, that is the point.
Post your result here if you want a second opinion on it.
Incoterms
The three letters that decide who pays
Most disputes I have seen between a buyer and a supplier were not about the product. They were about who was responsible at the moment something went wrong. That is decided by three letters in your contract.
🔹 EXW, you collect from his door. Everything after that is yours.
🔹 FOB, he delivers on board the vessel. From that moment the shipment is yours, freight included.
🔹 CIF, he pays freight and insurance to your port. Read this part carefully: the risk passes to you when the goods are loaded at his port, not when they arrive at yours.
That last one costs traders money every year. They believe CIF means the supplier carries the shipment all the way. He carries the cost. You carry the risk.
Decide which one you want before you discuss price, because the price moves with it.
If you are not sure which fits your next shipment, describe it here and we will work it out.
The three letters that decide who pays
Most disputes I have seen between a buyer and a supplier were not about the product. They were about who was responsible at the moment something went wrong. That is decided by three letters in your contract.
🔹 EXW, you collect from his door. Everything after that is yours.
🔹 FOB, he delivers on board the vessel. From that moment the shipment is yours, freight included.
🔹 CIF, he pays freight and insurance to your port. Read this part carefully: the risk passes to you when the goods are loaded at his port, not when they arrive at yours.
That last one costs traders money every year. They believe CIF means the supplier carries the shipment all the way. He carries the cost. You carry the risk.
Decide which one you want before you discuss price, because the price moves with it.
If you are not sure which fits your next shipment, describe it here and we will work it out.
Demurrage and detention
The clock that starts when the ship arrives
There is a cost almost nobody prices into the deal, and it is the one that grows while you sleep.
When your container arrives you get a number of free days. After that, two separate clocks start.
🔹 Demurrage, the container is still inside the terminal and you pay for every day it stays
🔹 Detention, you took the container out and have not returned it empty, and you pay for every day it is with you
Both run daily, and both are usually larger than anything you managed to negotiate on freight.
What keeps you out of it:
1. Know how many free days your carrier actually gives you, in writing
2. Have the clearance documents ready before the vessel arrives, not after
3. Make sure whoever unloads knows the empty container has to go straight back
Most of the demurrage bills I have seen were not caused by customs. They were caused by a document that arrived two days late.
If this has happened to you, tell us what went wrong. Someone here will avoid it because you did.
The clock that starts when the ship arrives
There is a cost almost nobody prices into the deal, and it is the one that grows while you sleep.
When your container arrives you get a number of free days. After that, two separate clocks start.
🔹 Demurrage, the container is still inside the terminal and you pay for every day it stays
🔹 Detention, you took the container out and have not returned it empty, and you pay for every day it is with you
Both run daily, and both are usually larger than anything you managed to negotiate on freight.
What keeps you out of it:
1. Know how many free days your carrier actually gives you, in writing
2. Have the clearance documents ready before the vessel arrives, not after
3. Make sure whoever unloads knows the empty container has to go straight back
Most of the demurrage bills I have seen were not caused by customs. They were caused by a document that arrived two days late.
If this has happened to you, tell us what went wrong. Someone here will avoid it because you did.
1. BILL OF LADING
The document that can stop your entire shipment
Your container can arrive on time.
Your customer can be ready.
Your documents can look perfect.
And one wrong detail on the Bill of Lading can still stop everything.
🔹 Wrong consignee name
🔹 Incorrect notify party
🔹 Wrong number of packages
🔹 Incorrect weight
🔹 Wrong port information
🔹 Missing or incorrect release instructions
Once the vessel sails and the manifest is filed, correcting these details may become expensive — and sometimes extremely difficult.
Before approving the BL draft, don't just check the spelling.
Check it as if your money is already sitting at the port.
Because it is.
Have a BL you are not sure about? Share the details here and let's discuss what should be checked before approval.
The document that can stop your entire shipment
Your container can arrive on time.
Your customer can be ready.
Your documents can look perfect.
And one wrong detail on the Bill of Lading can still stop everything.
🔹 Wrong consignee name
🔹 Incorrect notify party
🔹 Wrong number of packages
🔹 Incorrect weight
🔹 Wrong port information
🔹 Missing or incorrect release instructions
Once the vessel sails and the manifest is filed, correcting these details may become expensive — and sometimes extremely difficult.
Before approving the BL draft, don't just check the spelling.
Check it as if your money is already sitting at the port.
Because it is.
Have a BL you are not sure about? Share the details here and let's discuss what should be checked before approval.
COMMERCIAL INVOICE
Your invoice is not just a request for payment
In international trade, your commercial invoice becomes part of the customs story.
Customs may use it to understand:
🔹 What was sold
🔹 Who sold it
🔹 Who bought it
🔹 Quantity
🔹 Unit price
🔹 Total value
🔹 Currency
🔹 Incoterm
🔹 Country of origin
🔹 Product description
Descriptions such as:
"Goods"
"Materials"
"Spare parts"
may create unnecessary questions.
Be specific.
A good commercial invoice should help customs understand the transaction — not force them to investigate it.
Your invoice is not just a request for payment
In international trade, your commercial invoice becomes part of the customs story.
Customs may use it to understand:
🔹 What was sold
🔹 Who sold it
🔹 Who bought it
🔹 Quantity
🔹 Unit price
🔹 Total value
🔹 Currency
🔹 Incoterm
🔹 Country of origin
🔹 Product description
Descriptions such as:
"Goods"
"Materials"
"Spare parts"
may create unnecessary questions.
Be specific.
A good commercial invoice should help customs understand the transaction — not force them to investigate it.
❤1
LANDED COST
Your supplier quoted $20,000. That is NOT the cost of your shipment.
The purchase price is only the beginning.
Your real cost may include:
Product
Origin transport
Export charges
Freight
Insurance
Destination charges
Customs duty
Taxes
Clearance
Inspection
Port charges
Inland delivery
= LANDED COST
And this is the number that should determine whether the deal makes sense.
Many traders negotiate $300 off the supplier's price and then lose $2,000 because they forgot one destination charge.
Before asking:
"How much does the product cost?"
Ask:
"How much will it cost me when it reaches my warehouse?"
Your supplier quoted $20,000. That is NOT the cost of your shipment.
The purchase price is only the beginning.
Your real cost may include:
Product
Origin transport
Export charges
Freight
Insurance
Destination charges
Customs duty
Taxes
Clearance
Inspection
Port charges
Inland delivery
= LANDED COST
And this is the number that should determine whether the deal makes sense.
Many traders negotiate $300 off the supplier's price and then lose $2,000 because they forgot one destination charge.
Before asking:
"How much does the product cost?"
Ask:
"How much will it cost me when it reaches my warehouse?"
VGM
Your container is packed. The vessel is leaving. But your container may stay behind.
One small document can cause it.
VGM — Verified Gross Mass.
Before a packed container can be loaded onto a vessel, its verified gross mass must generally be provided according to SOLAS requirements.
It includes:
Cargo
Packaging
Pallets
Securing materials
Container tare weight
Incorrect or missing VGM can create delays or prevent loading.
Your cargo being inside the container does not mean your container is ready to sail.
Packed is not the same as cleared for loading.
Your container is packed. The vessel is leaving. But your container may stay behind.
One small document can cause it.
VGM — Verified Gross Mass.
Before a packed container can be loaded onto a vessel, its verified gross mass must generally be provided according to SOLAS requirements.
It includes:
Cargo
Packaging
Pallets
Securing materials
Container tare weight
Incorrect or missing VGM can create delays or prevent loading.
Your cargo being inside the container does not mean your container is ready to sail.
Packed is not the same as cleared for loading.
SHIPPING SCHEDULES
ETD is not a promise. ETA is not a guarantee.
ETD: Estimated Time of Departure.
ETA: Estimated Time of Arrival.
The important word is:
Estimated.
Vessel schedules can change because of:
🔹 Weather
🔹 Port congestion
🔹 Operational delays
🔹 Missed connections
🔹 Blank sailings
🔹 Route changes
If your business depends on a specific arrival date, don't build your entire commercial promise around the published ETA.
Give yourself a buffer.
A shipping schedule is a plan — not a guarantee.
ETD is not a promise. ETA is not a guarantee.
ETD: Estimated Time of Departure.
ETA: Estimated Time of Arrival.
The important word is:
Estimated.
Vessel schedules can change because of:
🔹 Weather
🔹 Port congestion
🔹 Operational delays
🔹 Missed connections
🔹 Blank sailings
🔹 Route changes
If your business depends on a specific arrival date, don't build your entire commercial promise around the published ETA.
Give yourself a buffer.
A shipping schedule is a plan — not a guarantee.
CONTAINER CONDITION
Never accept an empty container without looking inside
The truck arrives.
The driver is waiting.
Everyone wants to load quickly.
Stop for five minutes.
Before loading, check:
🔹 Holes or light penetration
🔹 Water or moisture
🔹 Strong odors
🔹 Floor damage
🔹 Door condition
🔹 Rust or contamination
🔹 Previous cargo residue
Take photos before loading.
Why?
Because after your goods are damaged, everyone may start asking:
"Was the container already damaged when you received it?"
Five minutes of inspection can save months of arguments.
Never accept an empty container without looking inside
The truck arrives.
The driver is waiting.
Everyone wants to load quickly.
Stop for five minutes.
Before loading, check:
🔹 Holes or light penetration
🔹 Water or moisture
🔹 Strong odors
🔹 Floor damage
🔹 Door condition
🔹 Rust or contamination
🔹 Previous cargo residue
Take photos before loading.
Why?
Because after your goods are damaged, everyone may start asking:
"Was the container already damaged when you received it?"
Five minutes of inspection can save months of arguments.
FCL vs LCL
You don't need a full container. But sharing one can cost you more.
Your supplier has only 8 CBM ready.
Why pay for a full 20-foot container?
LCL sounds like the obvious answer.
Not always.
With LCL, your cargo shares container space with other shipments. That may mean:
🔹 More handling
🔹 Consolidation charges
🔹 Deconsolidation charges
🔹 Longer transit time
🔹 Higher destination fees
🔹 Greater exposure to damage or delay
With FCL, you pay for the whole container — but you usually have more control.
The question is not:
"Which freight rate is cheaper?"
The question is:
"Which option gives me the lowest total landed cost with acceptable risk?"
You don't need a full container. But sharing one can cost you more.
Your supplier has only 8 CBM ready.
Why pay for a full 20-foot container?
LCL sounds like the obvious answer.
Not always.
With LCL, your cargo shares container space with other shipments. That may mean:
🔹 More handling
🔹 Consolidation charges
🔹 Deconsolidation charges
🔹 Longer transit time
🔹 Higher destination fees
🔹 Greater exposure to damage or delay
With FCL, you pay for the whole container — but you usually have more control.
The question is not:
"Which freight rate is cheaper?"
The question is:
"Which option gives me the lowest total landed cost with acceptable risk?"
CHEAPEST SUPPLIER
You saved $2,000 on the purchase price. Then lost $15,000 on the shipment.
The lowest product price does not always create the highest profit.
Supplier evaluation should also consider:
🔹 Product consistency
🔹 Production capacity
🔹 Export experience
🔹 Documentation accuracy
🔹 Packaging quality
🔹 Delivery reliability
🔹 Communication
🔹 Claims history
A supplier who is $50 cheaper per ton but ships late, makes documentation errors, or sends inconsistent quality may be the most expensive supplier you have.
In international trade:
Purchase price is visible. Risk is hidden.
Professional traders calculate both.
You saved $2,000 on the purchase price. Then lost $15,000 on the shipment.
The lowest product price does not always create the highest profit.
Supplier evaluation should also consider:
🔹 Product consistency
🔹 Production capacity
🔹 Export experience
🔹 Documentation accuracy
🔹 Packaging quality
🔹 Delivery reliability
🔹 Communication
🔹 Claims history
A supplier who is $50 cheaper per ton but ships late, makes documentation errors, or sends inconsistent quality may be the most expensive supplier you have.
In international trade:
Purchase price is visible. Risk is hidden.
Professional traders calculate both.
👍1
💸 TRADE MISTAKES THAT COST MONEY #1
The $300 mistake that became a $6,000 problem
The container arrived on Monday.
The importer thought everything was ready.
Then the customs broker called:
“There is a problem with the documents.”
The quantity on the Commercial Invoice did not match the Packing List.
Correction took several days.
Meanwhile:
🚢 Container stayed at the port
💰 Free days expired
📄 Documents had to be corrected
🚚 Delivery was postponed
😡 Customer started calling
The original mistake?
Probably five minutes of checking.
The final cost?
Potentially thousands of dollars.
The lesson:
Before the vessel sails, put these documents next to each other:
🔹 Commercial Invoice
🔹 Packing List
🔹 Bill of Lading
🔹 Certificate of Origin
🔹 Insurance / other required certificates
Check:
Names. Quantities. Weights. Values. Product description. HS Code. Ports.
International trade is sometimes strange:
A container worth $100,000 can be stopped by one wrong number.
💬 Has a document mistake ever delayed one of your shipments? What happened?
The $300 mistake that became a $6,000 problem
The container arrived on Monday.
The importer thought everything was ready.
Then the customs broker called:
“There is a problem with the documents.”
The quantity on the Commercial Invoice did not match the Packing List.
Correction took several days.
Meanwhile:
🚢 Container stayed at the port
💰 Free days expired
📄 Documents had to be corrected
🚚 Delivery was postponed
😡 Customer started calling
The original mistake?
Probably five minutes of checking.
The final cost?
Potentially thousands of dollars.
The lesson:
Before the vessel sails, put these documents next to each other:
🔹 Commercial Invoice
🔹 Packing List
🔹 Bill of Lading
🔹 Certificate of Origin
🔹 Insurance / other required certificates
Check:
Names. Quantities. Weights. Values. Product description. HS Code. Ports.
International trade is sometimes strange:
A container worth $100,000 can be stopped by one wrong number.
💬 Has a document mistake ever delayed one of your shipments? What happened?
💸 TRADE MISTAKES THAT COST MONEY #2
“CIF means the supplier is responsible until my port.”
❌ Not exactly.
This misunderstanding has cost many traders money.
Imagine:
You purchase cargo CIF.
The supplier pays the ocean freight and arranges the required insurance.
During the voyage, something happens to the cargo.
You call the supplier:
“Your shipment was damaged.”
And then you discover something important:
Under CIF, the seller pays freight to the named destination port — but risk normally transfers when the goods are loaded on board at the port of shipment.
Cost travels one way.
Risk can transfer much earlier.
And CIF insurance may not necessarily provide the level of protection you assumed.
The lesson:
Never ask only:
“Who pays the freight?”
Also ask:
“At exactly what point does the risk become mine — and what insurance protects me after that?”
Those are two different questions.
💬 When you buy CIF, do you normally check the actual insurance policy — or only the freight price?
“CIF means the supplier is responsible until my port.”
❌ Not exactly.
This misunderstanding has cost many traders money.
Imagine:
You purchase cargo CIF.
The supplier pays the ocean freight and arranges the required insurance.
During the voyage, something happens to the cargo.
You call the supplier:
“Your shipment was damaged.”
And then you discover something important:
Under CIF, the seller pays freight to the named destination port — but risk normally transfers when the goods are loaded on board at the port of shipment.
Cost travels one way.
Risk can transfer much earlier.
And CIF insurance may not necessarily provide the level of protection you assumed.
The lesson:
Never ask only:
“Who pays the freight?”
Also ask:
“At exactly what point does the risk become mine — and what insurance protects me after that?”
Those are two different questions.
💬 When you buy CIF, do you normally check the actual insurance policy — or only the freight price?