Landed Cost Calculator
Every profit calculator on this site asks for your unit cost as if it were a fact. It is not — it is a calculation, and importing sellers routinely understate it by 30% or more. Here is the real number, and the price you need when duty goes up.
| Landed cost build-up | Per unit | Whole order |
|---|---|---|
| Goods from supplier | — | — |
| Freight | — | — |
| Cargo insurance | — | — |
| Import duty | — | — |
| Brokerage & clearance | — | — |
| Inland / last mile | — | — |
| Landed cost | — | — |
| Margin at your current price | Value |
|---|---|
| Cost markup over supplier price | — |
| Payment / channel fee | — |
| Profit per unit | — |
| Net margin | — |
| Landed cost as share of price | — |
| If duty moves to 37% | Value |
|---|---|
| Extra duty on this order | — |
| New landed cost per unit | — |
| Price needed to hold your margin | — |
| Price increase required | — |
| Cost increase multiplied by | — |
| Landed cost per unit by order size | Per unit |
|---|
Your unit cost is a calculation, not a fact
On a 500-unit order at $8.00 per unit, the supplier invoice says $4,000. That is not your cost. This is:
| Item | Per unit | Order |
|---|---|---|
| Goods | $8.00 | $4,000.00 |
| Freight | $2.40 | $1,200.00 |
| Insurance (1%) | $0.08 | $40.00 |
| Duty (12%, FOB basis) | $0.96 | $480.00 |
| Brokerage | $0.30 | $150.00 |
| Last mile | $0.60 | $300.00 |
| Landed cost | $12.34 | $6,170.00 |
The real cost is 54% higher than the supplier price. A seller who prices off the $8.00 figure thinks they have a 69% margin at $29.99. They actually have 55%. That gap is where "profitable on paper, broke at year end" comes from.
Freight is dutiable in Europe and not in America
The same shipment, same duty rate, two different answers:
| Valuation basis | Duty base | Duty paid | Landed / unit |
|---|---|---|---|
| FOB — goods only (US) | $4,000.00 | $480.00 | $12.34 |
| CIF — goods + freight + insurance (EU/UK) | $5,240.00 | $628.80 | $12.64 |
The difference is $148.80 on one order, purely from whether freight sits inside the duty base. The United States generally assesses duty on the FOB goods value; the EU and UK use CIF. Sellers who use one spreadsheet template across both markets understate European duty every time.
Note what this implies: on CIF terms, cheaper freight also lowers your duty. A $300 freight saving reduces the duty base by $300 and the duty by the applicable rate. Two savings for one decision.
The multiplier nobody warns you about
Move duty from 12% to 37% — a realistic swing for imported consumer goods in the current climate — and cost rises $2.00 per unit. Pricing instinct says raise the retail price by $2.00. That instinct destroys the margin.
To hold a 55% net margin, the price must go from $29.99 to $34.74 — a $4.75 increase, or +15.8%, for a $2.00 cost increase. The cost increase gets multiplied by 2.37×.
The reason is that only part of each extra revenue dollar reaches your pocket. At a 2.9% payment fee and a 55% margin target, just 42 cents of every additional dollar is available to cover the higher cost. The general formula:
Price increase = cost increase ÷ (1 − fee rate − target margin)
With a 40% margin target the multiplier drops to about 1.75×; with a 60% target it rises to about 2.7×. The fatter your margin, the more each cost increase hurts — which is the opposite of what most sellers assume.
Order size is a margin lever you control
Freight, brokerage and last-mile are usually charged per shipment, not per unit. So they spread:
| Order size | Landed cost per unit |
|---|---|
| 250 units | $15.64 |
| 500 units | $12.34 |
| 1,000 units | $10.69 |
| 2,000 units | $9.87 |
Doubling from 500 to 1,000 units cuts landed cost by 13% without negotiating anything with the supplier. That is often a bigger win than a 5% discount on goods — and it is the honest argument for larger orders, provided the inventory genuinely sells. The same table is the argument against small reorders: at 250 units you are paying $3.30 more per unit than at 500.
Frequently asked questions
Should I include the cost of my own time or warehouse in landed cost?
No. Landed cost covers getting the unit into your hands, so it is comparable across products and suppliers. Storage, pick-and-pack and your own labour are operating costs that belong in a separate margin check — including them here makes products look unprofitable at low volume and hides which ones actually have healthy gross margins.
What about currency conversion and bank fees?
Include them. If you pay a supplier in a foreign currency, the effective rate you get is usually 1–3% worse than the mid-market rate once you count conversion spread and transfer fees. Add that percentage to the goods cost before entering it, or you will treat a real 2% cost as invisible.
Are there duties beyond the headline rate?
Often. Antidumping duties, countervailing duties and product-specific additional tariffs can apply on top of the standard rate, and they are frequently much larger. Always check the actual tariff classification of your product rather than assuming the general rate applies. A customs broker can confirm the classification and any additional measures.
How do I decide between air and sea freight?
Compare landed cost per unit, not freight cost per kilogram. Sea freight is cheaper per unit but ties up cash in inventory for weeks longer and requires larger order quantities to fill a container. If sea freight forces a 2,000-unit order, the inventory carrying cost and the risk of unsold stock belong in the comparison — the freight invoice does not.
Does this calculator handle multiple SKUs in one shipment?
Not directly. For mixed shipments, allocate freight, brokerage and last-mile by weight or volume rather than by unit count, since a heavy item costs more to move than a light one. Run the calculator per SKU using its allocated share of shipment costs, and keep the duty rate specific to each product's classification.
Last reviewed: October 2026. Duty rates and valuation rules vary by country and product classification — this tool models the arithmetic, not the legal classification. Confirm rates and any additional duties with a customs broker. Excludes VAT/GST, which is usually recoverable and should not sit in unit cost.