What FOB actually means when you're buying towels from India
Almost every quotation for towels from India is priced FOB — Free On Board. Most buyers have seen the term before they place their first order and fewer have actually checked what it commits either side to. That gap is where most first-order confusion comes from, not from the product itself.
What FOB actually covers
FOB means the seller's responsibility ends once the goods are loaded onto the vessel at the named port — in most of our quotations, an Indian port such as Nhava Sheva or Mundra. Up to that point, we handle production, packing, inland transport to the port, export customs clearance and loading. From that point, the goods are the buyer's responsibility: ocean freight, marine insurance, import customs clearance and duty, and onward transport to the final destination.
That is the entire definition. It says nothing about who arranges the shipping line, who pays which taxes on either end, or who is liable if the goods are damaged in the warehouse rather than at sea — those questions come up often enough that they are worth answering directly.
What FOB does not cover
**It does not include ocean freight.** An FOB price is not the landed cost. A first-time buyer who compares an FOB quotation from India against a landed-cost quotation from a supplier closer to home is not comparing like with like — the Indian figure still needs freight, insurance, duty and destination handling added to it.
**It does not mean we choose your shipping line.** Under FOB, the buyer nominates the vessel and the forwarder, or asks us to recommend one — either is normal, but the choice and the freight contract are the buyer's.
**It does not cover import duty or destination taxes.** Whatever your country charges on imported cotton textiles applies regardless of the trade term, and it is worth confirming before you order rather than after the container has sailed.
Why buyers ask for FOB specifically
Two practical reasons come up repeatedly. First, an FOB price is directly comparable between different origin countries, since it strips out the variable of freight rates, which change independently of the product. Second, it lets an experienced buyer with an existing freight forwarder relationship use their own negotiated shipping rates rather than a mill's, which is often cheaper.
If you do not have a forwarder relationship yet, this is the one thing worth arranging before your first order — most freight forwarders will quote a rate to your destination once they have the container size and origin port, and we can share that with your forwarder directly.
Where the confusion usually happens
Most disputes we have seen between first-time buyers and any supplier trace back to one of two mix-ups: assuming FOB price was the full landed cost, or assuming responsibility for the goods transferred at a different point than the vessel — for instance, at the factory gate, or on arrival at the destination port. Both change who pays for a problem if one happens between those two points.
If either of those is unclear on a quotation you have received — from us or from anyone else — it is worth asking to have it stated in writing before you confirm the order, not after.
What we confirm on every quotation
Alongside the FOB price and the named port of loading, we confirm the estimated transit time, the documentation we prepare (commercial invoice, packing list, certificate of origin), and what we need from you for anything requiring specific labelling or clearance paperwork at your end.
Tell us your destination port and container size and our export team will confirm the FOB terms alongside the product quotation, within 24 hours.