Mattresses are the clearest example of a shipment where the purchase price and the freight cost tell different stories. A container full of foam weighs very little. It still takes up the same space as a container full of tiles, and ocean freight is sold by the space, not by the kilo.

Sunny Worldwide Logistics has moved cargo on the China–Philippines lane for more than 20 years. We deal with the volume problem first, because on bedding it is the whole quotation.

Why Bedding Fails on Freight Cost, Not on Freight Rate

Two shipments can pay the same rate per cubic metre and produce very different invoices. The difference is how much air is inside the cargo. A mattress that ships as a rigid slab is mostly air. Compressed, rolled and palletised, the same mattress occupies a fraction of the space and the invoice follows the space.

This is why a bedding importer should never compare per-kilogram air rates with per-cubic-metre sea rates. The units are not comparable, and the cheaper-looking number usually belongs to the mode that charges for a box the cargo does not fill.

What We Move, and How It Packs

Mattresses and mattress-in-a-box

Foam and hybrid mattresses compress well and survive the voyage better when they do. We confirm with the factory whether compression is done at source or at our warehouse, and we check the carton board can take the stack height before the container is loaded.

Bedding sets, pillows and protectors

Textiles are dense enough to fill a carton properly. The risk here is moisture, not volume. Cartons get lined, pallets get wrapped, and the container gets checked for signs of condensation before the doors close.

Bed frames and headboards

These behave like furniture, not like bedding: rigid, heavy, and easy to scratch. They are crated or edge-protected and loaded at the base of the stack, never on top of compressed foam.

What we advise against

Shipping a mattress loose, without a carton or bag, and expecting the container to protect it. A compressed mattress that expands against a neighbour's cargo in transit is a claim waiting to be filed.

Documents and the Declaration

You provide the commercial invoice with an accurate description and value, the packing list with carton counts, dimensions and gross weights, the HS code where you have one, and any textile or labelling certification your buyer requires.

Declare the goods as they are. Describing a mattress as "furniture parts" to lower a duty band creates a problem that outlives the shipment, and we will not file it that way. Where the consignment is small enough, the de minimis rules may remove the duty question entirely — our guide to the Philippines BOC de minimis rules explains the thresholds.

How the Shipment Moves

Collection and consolidation

We collect from your suppliers with our own trucking fleet at the Shenzhen and Guangzhou ports and consolidate at our warehouse. Bedding from three factories becomes one booking rather than three freight charges. The sequence is on our service flow page.

Measuring the load before it moves

We measure the actual stack rather than trusting the factory's stated carton size. On low-density cargo a ten-centimetre error in stack height changes the cubic metres, and the cubic metres are the invoice.

Export and the ocean leg

Export declaration is filed against the invoice and packing list, and the container is booked to Manila, Cebu or Davao. Sea freight runs about 15 days door to door to Manila and about 25 days to Cebu or Davao.

Clearance and delivery

On arrival we clear the shipment, pay the assessed duties and taxes, and deliver, with clearance typically running 1 to 2 days ahead of the industry average. Delivery is free within 30km of the Metro or downtown area.

Why Shippers Choose Sunny Worldwide Logistics

We own the first mile. Our own trucking fleet operates at the Shenzhen and Guangzhou ports, so collection from a foam factory stays in our hands rather than being subcontracted.

More than 20 years on this lane, through every change in Philippine import rules. NVOCC and FMC registered, and members of the Worldwide Cargo Alliance, CIFA, JCTRANS, WIFFA, FUDA, SZSSA and OLO.

Every inquiry gets at least three routing or consolidation options, designed to save clients at least 5% against their current arrangement. Optional cargo insurance is available, and our Manila DDP shipping service is quoted on the same terms.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it cheaper to ship mattresses by sea or by air?

Sea, almost always. Mattresses are bulky and light, so air freight charges for volume you are not using. Air only makes sense for a sample or a retail replenishment that cannot wait for a sailing.

Can you compress mattresses in China before shipping?

Where the factory offers it, compression at source is the better option. Where it does not, we will tell you what the rolled and palletised volume actually is before you commit to the booking.

How do you calculate the freight on bulky bedding?

On the measured cubic metres of the loaded pallets, not on the declared carton size. That is why we measure the stack before the container is sealed rather than after the invoice is issued.

Send us the product list, the carton dimensions and the delivery address, and you will get a DDP figure based on measured volume. Contact Sunny Worldwide Logistics — we take care of the cargo more than the owner does.