For Amazon and Shopify brands that import their inventory from overseas factories
Catch freight quote swings before you book the container
Quotes come in as emails and PDFs from two or three forwarders, each with its own surcharges and validity dates. You are busy, the PO is ready, so you book the one you always use. Nobody checks whether that quote jumped while the market stayed flat.
What it can cost you
Example: 24 containers a year, and 1 in 3 gets booked at a quote $1,800 above the best one for the same lane = $14,400 a year, before extra charges that show up on the final bill.An illustration, not a promise. Your Opportunity Scan puts a real number on it.
What the public record shows
- Spot rates from the Far East to the US West Coast sat $4,103 per 40 ft container above long-term contract rates on the same lane.Source: Xeneta, reported by Hellenic Shipping News, rates as of 12 Aug 2026
- In one week on the Far East to US West Coast lane, shippers at the high end of the market (75th percentile) paid $2,414 per 40 ft container while shippers at the low end (25th percentile) paid $1,650, about 46% more. Xeneta noted that smaller shippers without the same negotiating power were paying the higher rate.Source: Xeneta weekly market update, 4 Sep 2025
- One Amazon seller published two sea freight quotes for the same 40-box, 520 kg shipment from China to Los Angeles: $448 from one forwarder and $571 from another, 27% more. The final invoice still carried fees the seller had not expected.Source: a seller's published account on Shopkeeper, date not shown
- Flexport's own help center shows a shared-container (LCL) quote of $288.82 for 2.252 cubic meters becoming a $419.25 invoice once the cargo measured 3.269 cubic meters.Source: Flexport Help Center, viewed Oct 2026
What the system checks overnight
- Reads each forwarder quote email and attachment and pulls out lane, container size, all-in rate, surcharges, and validity date.
- Compares the new quote to what you last paid on the same lane with the same forwarder.
- Lines up quotes from different forwarders for the same ready date so you see them side by side.
- Flags surcharges that were not on prior quotes, such as peak season, chassis, or port congestion fees.
- Warns when a quote you plan to use expires before the cargo ready date.
- Matches the final freight bill in your books against the quote you accepted.
Where it reads from
- Gmail or Outlook (forwarder quote emails)
- Google Sheets (freight log)
- QuickBooks Online or Xero (freight bills)
Public ocean freight rate indexes such as the Freightos Baltic Index or Drewry World Container Index, to show whether a quote moved with the market or on its own.
What happens when it fires
You decide whether to push back, rebid, or book anyway. The system drafts the rebid request to your other forwarders and a short note to your usual forwarder asking them to explain the jump.
Autonomy level: Draft for approval. The system prepares the message or task, and you approve it before anything goes out.
What we guarantee
Every forwarder quote that lands in your inbox is logged and compared to lane history by the next morning's brief. We agree on the metric before the Sprint starts and measure it over the first 20 business days after go-live. If we miss it, you get half your Sprint fee back. Dollar savings are tracked in your monthly saves log, reported rather than promised.
Questions
We use one forwarder we trust. Why compare at all?
Trust is fine, but rates move and quotes pick up new fees. Comparing against your own lane history tells you when your forwarder drifted, even if you never rebid.
Can it read quotes that come as PDFs or spreadsheets?
Yes. It reads the email body and common attachments like PDF and Excel. When a line is unclear, it asks you instead of guessing.
Do I need new software for this?
No. The system reads from the tools you already use, with read-only access by default. A guardrail layer controls exactly which data the AI can see.
What does it cost?
A 3-week Sprint is $6,000 fixed and includes the morning brief plus one automation tied to an agreed metric. Ongoing support is $1,500 a month, or $500 a month to keep it running without new automations. If the agreed metric is missed over the first 20 business days after go-live, half the Sprint fee is refunded.
How is this different from a dashboard app or a free AI kit?
A dashboard app shows numbers when you go look. A free AI kit gives you the parts, and you do the setup, the upkeep, and the checking. Here the alarms are built for your kind of business, they watch outside data like market rates and rule changes alongside yours, and on Run or Keep-Running, the person who built them keeps them working and logs what they caught.
More alarms for E-commerce importers
Seven more things worth watching.
- Stockout before the reorder landsKnow which SKUs will run out before the next PO arrives, using real sell-through on Amazon and Shopify plus your factory lead time and transit.
- Buy Box loss or listing suppressionGet flagged when an ASIN loses the Buy Box, gets suppressed, picks up a new seller, or has stranded inventory, before days of sales slip away.
- Ad spend efficiency driftSpot campaigns, search terms, and bid rules that are quietly raising ACOS and TACOS, so ad spend goes back to what actually sells.
- Landed cost creepRebuild landed cost per unit on every PO from factory price, freight, duty, and fees, and flag when it drifts past what your pricing assumes.
- 3PL receiving delays and count gapsMatch every inbound shipment to its packing list at your 3PL and FBA, and flag slow receiving or short counts while you can still file a claim.
- Return rate spikes by SKUFlag SKUs and variants whose return rate jumps, group the return reasons, and tie the spike to a factory batch so you can act fast.
- Cash tied up in slow inventoryFind the SKUs holding your cash with weeks of supply, aged storage fees, and next PO payments in view, so you can clear them on purpose.