LCL means less than container load. Your goods share a container with other buyers. It is the right answer for small first orders, sample shipments, and any case where you cannot fill a 20 or 40 foot container on your own.
The cost is higher per unit. LCL charges are calculated per cubic metre, and they include the consolidator's fees on top of the freight. Expect to pay 30 to 60 percent more per unit than FCL for the same goods. For a $50,000 FCL shipment, the LCL equivalent might run $65,000 to $80,000.
The risk is also higher. LCL cargo gets handled more times: loaded off the truck into a warehouse, reloaded into the container, unloaded again at destination. Damage rates are higher. For fragile goods like glass-fronted inverters, that matters. For batteries in cardboard, less so.
When to use LCL: your order is under about 15 cubic metres, you are testing a new product, or you cannot wait to accumulate a full container. When to use FCL: anything bigger. The break-even usually lands around 18 to 20 cubic metres.
One tip: if you are close to FCL volume, top up with a complementary product rather than paying LCL. We have buyers who add a small inverter order to a battery shipment just to fill the container. The unit cost on the battery drops enough to pay for the inverter they did not need yet.