Search how to sell bags from China and you get factory blogs on finding a supplier, dropshipping apps listing margins, and arguments about what "PU leather" means. None of them tells a Shopify brand what its own product page is allowed to call the material, which chemical limits a handbag or backpack has to meet, or what a boxed handbag costs to ship compared with a tote folded flat.

The short answer: bags ship on the general goods products that parcel lines out of China run, so the line is the easy part. The work is in the words and the tests. In the US, the FTC's guides on leather name handbags, wallets and luggage, and anything that looks like leather but is not has to say so. California limits PFAS in fabric bags and backpacks, and the limit halves to 50 ppm on 1 January 2027. In the EU, leather parts that touch the skin face a chromium VI limit, and the product page has to show who is responsible for the bag.

This guide covers:

• What your listing can call the material: leather, PU, vegan, bonded
• The US rules, including California's PFAS step on 1 January 2027
• The EU chromium limit, fibre labels and what the page has to show
• Which line bags go on, and the ones that need a different one
• What a bag costs to ship by size, and how long it takes

What your listing can call the material

The FTC's Guides for Select Leather and Imitation Leather Products cover handbags, shoulder bags, purses, wallets, card cases, travel bags, camera bags and luggage by name. They are the FTC's reading of the law on deceptive claims, and they set out how each material should be described:

• Leather. The word on its own is for a bag made of leather in all its substantial parts. If the grain is embossed to look like another hide, name the real one, such as "top grain cowhide".
• PU, PVC and other look-alikes. Material that looks like leather but is not has to say so: "not leather", "imitation leather", "vinyl" or "plastic" are the FTC's own examples.
• Vegan leather. Not a term the guides define. Since the material has to be disclosed anyway, name it beside the word: "vegan leather (polyurethane)".
• Bonded leather. Ground or shredded leather glued back together should not be called leather. Disclose it, or give the mix, such as "bonded leather containing 60% leather fibers and 40% non-leather substances".
• Hidden backing. A leather face with a vinyl backing says so: "top grain cowhide backed with vinyl".

The disclosure goes on the bag or an attached tag or card, and in the listing where a buyer could otherwise be misled. Watch "PU leather" on a factory quote: factories use it both for fully synthetic material and for a split leather with a polyurethane coat, which are two different products under the guides. Ask which one it is, in writing, and check a sample. The guide to ordering product samples from China covers that step, and the guide to selling shoes from China covers the same guides for footwear.

The US rules for fabric bags, PFAS and children's backpacks

A canvas tote or nylon backpack does not need the fibre-content label that US clothing does: bags are not on the list of products the Textile Act applies to. What the page says about the fabric still has to be true, and the guide to shipping clothing from China covers the label rules for anything you wear.

The rule with a date on it is California's. Under AB 1817, a textile article sold in California, a definition that names handbags and backpacks, may not contain regulated PFAS:

• PFAS added on purpose to do a job, such as making the fabric shed water, is not allowed at any level.
• Total organic fluorine has to be under 100 ppm since 1 January 2025, and under 50 ppm from 1 January 2027.
• The manufacturer gives sellers a signed certificate of compliance, which can be electronic. A brand selling under its own name can count as the manufacturer, so ask the factory for a test report and the certificate before you list a bag in California.

Water-repellent coatings on nylon and polyester are often where PFAS comes from, so backpacks, gym bags and travel bags are the ones to check first. A bag tested to 100 ppm last year might not pass at 50.

Backpacks and bags made for children can count as children's products, with the lab test, lead limits and certificate in the guide to selling toys from China. This is a summary, not legal advice; a test lab can tell you which tests your range needs.

The EU chromium limit, fibre labels and the product page

The EU has a material label law for shoes, but no EU-wide one for bags. A misleading material claim is still caught by consumer law, so the same honest wording works in both markets. What the EU does set is a chemical limit and listing duties:

• Chromium VI. Under REACH, leather articles that come into contact with the skin, and articles with leather parts that do, may not contain chromium VI at 3 mg/kg or more of the leather's dry weight. A wallet, a leather handle or a shoulder strap counts. Chromium VI can form in chrome-tanned leather, so ask the factory for a chromium VI test on the leather you are buying.
• Fibre labels. The EU textile labelling rule lists travel goods, make-up cases and phone covers among the products that do not need a fibre label. A fabric handbag or tote is not on that list, so check whether yours needs one.
• The listing. Since 13 December 2024, every online offer in the EU has to show the manufacturer's name and contact details, an EU responsible person when the manufacturer is outside the EU, a picture of the product and its warnings.

This is a summary, not legal advice. A compliance service can tell you which rules your range falls under.

Which line bags go on

Parcel lines out of China run separate products by goods class, and a parcel goes on the one its contents allow. YunExpress, a frontier line, runs a general "Economy, Unrestricted" product beside its "Economy with Battery" product. SDH, a lowest-cost line to the US, runs general goods, battery and sensitive goods lines.

• Handbags, totes, backpacks and wallets, leather or fabric, ship as general goods.
• Backpacks with a built-in power bank carry a battery on its own, the strictest case in the guide to shipping products with batteries from China. A USB port with only a cable inside, no battery, usually ships as general goods.
• Bags with strong magnetic clasps can be treated as sensitive goods by some lines. Ask the line first.

Tell the line exactly what is in the parcel and let it pick the product. A power bank packed as general goods can be held or sent back.

What a bag costs to ship, by size

Bags are light for their size, and that is where the shipping cost hides. YunExpress's Standard Express product, as published on its product page in October 2026, bills the greater of the scale weight and the volumetric weight, which is length times width times height in centimetres divided by 8,000.

• A tote folded flat in a poly mailer, 35 x 25 x 3 cm, weighs about 0.35 kg. Its volumetric weight is 0.33 kg, so it bills at 0.35 kg.
• A crossbody bag with stuffing to hold its shape, in a mailer of 28 x 22 x 8 cm, weighs 0.45 kg but bills at 0.62 kg.
• A structured handbag in a box of 32 x 24 x 16 cm weighs 0.80 kg but bills at 1.54 kg, nearly twice its weight.

The figures are examples, and the rule depends on the line and the country: some lines only bill volumetric weight when it is at least twice the scale weight. A bag that keeps its shape when folded could ship flat; a structured bag might need its box to arrive undamaged, and that is a choice between the shipping cost and returns. The full rules are in the guide to custom packaging for products shipped from China.

How long bags take from China

Bag orders are too mixed a set to give them a figure of their own, so the times here are for the line products they travel on. On YunExpress to the US, parcels with a first carrier scan in August 2026, the per-store median on the general goods Economy product ran 8.9 to 18.7 days, and 9 in 10 parcels arrived within 12.1 to 21.6 days depending on the store. On SDH, a lowest-cost line, the general goods product ran 14.3 to 15.2 days. Power-bank backpacks on the YunExpress battery product ran 11.0 to 14.0 days.

Bags are a common gift, so for Q4 the date that matters is the last day an order can leave and still arrive in time, worked out by destination in the guide to Q4 shipping dates from China.

What to do

• Ask the factory what "PU leather" means on your quote, in writing: fully synthetic, or split leather with a coat
• Write the material on the page and the tag the way the FTC guides do: leather, imitation leather, vinyl, or bonded leather with its percentages
• Get a PFAS test report and a certificate of compliance for fabric bags and backpacks sold in California, to the 50 ppm limit that applies from 1 January 2027
• Ask for a chromium VI test on leather handles, straps and wallets sold in the EU
• Show the responsible person's name and contact details on your EU listings
• Sort your range by goods class: general, battery (power-bank backpacks), or check first (strong magnets)
• Work out the billed weight of each bag as packed, and ship flat where the bag allows

How we handle this at Commercive

Commercive is your all in one sourcing and fulfilment partner. We source from a product link or a photo across our vetted factories, or work with the supplier you already use, and we test products without holding you to the factory's minimum, which suits a bag store trying a few styles and colours before it commits.

Your stock is received on our floor in China, and every order ships on the line that fits the product and the destination: a general goods line for handbags, totes and wallets, a battery line for power-bank backpacks, and a check with the line before anything with strong magnets goes out. Each parcel's scans sit in our dashboard. We recommend frontier lines such as YunExpress to essentially everyone; a lower-cost line might suit low-price totes with patient customers. Our measured delivery times by line and country are on our shipping status page.

If you're currently running a brand, just give us the product and your daily order volume. We'll get you a quote within the next 24 hours to hold up against what you're paying today.

Where these numbers come from. The US rules are from 16 CFR 24.0 and 24.2 (the FTC's Guides for Select Leather and Imitation Leather Products) and 16 CFR 303.45 (the products the Textile Act applies to), read 31 October 2026, and California AB 1817 (Health and Safety Code 25357.80 onward) as summarised by Bureau Veritas. The EU rules are from REACH Annex XVII, entry 47, and Regulation (EU) 1007/2011, Annex V, read 31 October 2026. This is a summary, not legal advice. The billed weights are worked examples using YunExpress's Standard Express rule as published on its product page in October 2026. Line product names are the carriers' own. Delivery times are our own measurement: parcels to the US from stores we fulfil from China, first carrier scan 1 to 31 August 2026, test stores excluded, calendar days from the first scan to the first delivered scan, measured 31 October 2026, shown as the range of per-store medians and 90th percentiles for stores with at least 30 delivered parcels on that line product.

Can I call PU leather "vegan leather" on my product page?

You can, as long as the page also says what the material is. The FTC's leather guides ask that anything that looks like leather but is not be disclosed as such, with terms like "imitation leather", "vinyl" or "plastic". "Vegan leather (polyurethane)" names the material; "vegan leather" on its own does not.

Is PU leather real leather?

It depends on the factory. "PU leather" is used both for fully synthetic material with a polyurethane surface and for split leather with a polyurethane coat. The first is not leather at all; the second has to be described for what it is. Ask the factory which one you are buying, in writing.

What is the California PFAS limit for handbags and backpacks?

Under AB 1817, textile articles sold in California, including handbags and backpacks, may not contain PFAS added on purpose, and total organic fluorine has to be under 100 ppm since 1 January 2025 and under 50 ppm from 1 January 2027. The manufacturer gives sellers a signed certificate of compliance.

What is the chromium VI limit for leather bags in the EU?

Under REACH, leather articles that come into contact with the skin, and articles with leather parts that do, may not contain chromium VI at 3 mg/kg or more of the leather's dry weight. Handles, straps and wallets count, so ask the factory for a chromium VI test on the leather.

Do fabric bags need a fibre content label?

In the US, no: bags are not on the list of products the Textile Act applies to, though what you say about the fabric still has to be true. In the EU, travel goods and make-up cases are exempt from the fibre label, but handbags and totes are not named, so check whether yours needs one.

How long do bags take to ship from China to the US?

About as long as other general goods on the same line. On YunExpress in August 2026, the per-store median on the general goods product ran 8.9 to 18.7 days from the first carrier scan to delivery, and a lowest-cost line took 14.3 to 15.2 days.