The CIF Dilemma: Are You Really Being Forced into FOB?

February 5, 2025

The temptation to ship your less-than-container load (LCL) or just a few cubic meters of goods to the Netherlands on a Cost Insurance Freight (CIF) basis is almost irresistible. After all, it's the easiest option. You don’t need to negotiate sea freight rates with a forwarder. You simply wait for the ship to arrive in port. It sounds almost too good to be true — and it is.

Costs

On the commercial invoice from your supplier, you’ll see the Incoterm CIF listed. This means the supplier is responsible for transporting the goods all the way to the Port of Rotterdam. The costs are usually listed clearly on the invoice, and indeed — they seem quite reasonable.

Convenience

A few weeks after your container is unloaded in Rotterdam, you’ll receive a message from a Dutch company handling the rest of the process. They’ll send you a clear cost overview:

• For devanning your goods from the shared container

• Handling fees

• Local delivery costs to your address

Even the customs clearance is handled smoothly — one point of contact, one invoice. Convenient, right?

The Price Tag

The bill you receive makes it painfully clear that convenience comes at a cost. How can charges in the Netherlands be so much higher?
You already paid your supplier for the transport — right?
You’ve been tricked.

FOB Instead

You were misled into not choosing Free On Board (FOB).
Had you booked FOB, you would’ve saved significantly — and The Freight Hero© booking platform proves it.

Your supplier lured you with cheap CIF rates, booked the shipment in their country via a local freight forwarder (Freight Prepaid), and received a bonus from that forwarder.
They then billed you again for shipping costs — only a small amount, just enough to keep things believable.

In the Netherlands, however, you’ll end up paying huge local fees to a Dutch handler — because the profit is shared with the original forwarder in the country of origin.