The factory emails “cargo ready.” You have not booked the truck, the L/C is slow, or you asked them to wait for a later vessel. Two weeks later they send a storage invoice — or they move your cartons into an uninsured corner and tell you a carton went missing. The PI said FOB and a ship date. It did not say what happens when the goods exist and have not left the yard.
This piece is the ready-but-not-shipped gap.
1. “Cargo ready” is not a legal event unless you define it
Write what ready means: packed, marked, available for pickup at a named address, and — if you inspect — covered by a passed report. A photo of cartons in a hallway is not ready. Neither is “almost finished, you can book.”
Name how they notify you (email to a named address) and how many days you have to book pickup or give a sailing instruction after that notice.
2. Free time, then storage
A short free period after the ready notice is normal — enough to book a truck or a forwarder, not enough to use their floor as your warehouse. Then state:
- a daily or weekly storage rate, or “at cost plus X”
- where the goods will sit (their workshop vs. a named warehouse)
- a cap, or a right for them to ship to a bonded yard at your cost if you stay silent past Y days
If you write nothing, they will invent a rate after the fact, or they will ship when it suits their space.
3. Risk and insurance in that gap
FOB and EXW put risk on you at different doors, but only once the goods are handed over as the term requires. Cartons sitting in their finished-goods area after “ready” are in a gray band. Say who bears loss from fire, leak, or mix-up during storage, and whether they must keep the goods covered. If you want them insured under your policy, say they are bailees holding your stock — and get a location you can name to an insurer.
Do not assume their workshop policy covers your branded finished goods for an extra month.
4. The balance should not float just because the box has not moved
If the deal was balance against B/L, and you are the reason there is no B/L, they will want the balance against the ready notice plus packing list. If you withhold because you have not inspected, say inspection must happen within the free-storage window. Otherwise you are using their cash and their floor at the same time.
The bottom line
Goods that are finished and still on the factory floor need a ready definition, a free-storage clock, a rate, and a risk line. “Cargo ready — waiting for your booking” without those dates is how storage fees and missing cartons appear with no clause to point to.
If you need ready-notice and storage wording written into the PI in English and Chinese, I can prepare the clause and issue a stamped set under our bilingual translation company seal when you need one. See what this covers.
Risk during storage depends on the Incoterm and the facts. This article is general sourcing guidance, not legal or insurance advice.