Short answer: Landed cost is the total cost of a shipment from the point of origin to the buyer's final receiving location. Add the goods, freight, insurance, import duty and taxes, broker fees, handling and delivery, then divide by the number of units. The per-unit result is the cost to price from, not the supplier's invoice price.
Not legal, customs or tax advice. General information from public pages read on 2026-11-13; confirm with the authority, your customs broker or a lawyer.
Components named in the sources
| Component | What the source says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Product cost | The invoice value of the goods | [2] |
| International freight and insurance | Shipping charges and insurance are part of landed cost | [1], [2] |
| Import duty and taxes | Import tariffs, plus import taxes and fees | [1], [2] |
| Broker, handling, delivery | Customs broker fees, destination handling and last-mile delivery | [2] |
| Currency conversion loss | Listed as a component | [2] |
| Duty value | GoFreight says the CIF value is the customs value used by U.S. Customs and Border Protection for ad valorem duty; the same article applies duty rates to invoice value in its own examples, so confirm the basis with your broker | [2] |
Six steps
- List every cost. Write down goods, international freight, cargo insurance, import duty, import taxes, customs broker fees, destination handling and last-mile delivery.
- Ask each party for its figure. Get the goods value from the quote, freight and insurance from the forwarder, and duty and broker fees from your customs broker.
- Fix the customs value basis. Ask the broker which value the duty is charged on in your country, because the basis depends on the Incoterm and local rules.
- Add the layers. Add the layers together; GoFreight says each layer is added to the previous one, not multiplied by it.
- Divide by units. Divide the total by the number of pieces shipped to get the landed cost per piece.
- Price from the landed cost. Set your selling price from the landed cost per piece, after choosing whether your target is a margin or a markup.
Worked example with invented figures
Example only, not ArtzFolio's price or terms. Currency units are generic. Duty is shown as 10 percent of the customs value for arithmetic only; it is not a rate for any product.
| Line | Amount | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Goods, 100 pieces | 1000.00 | From the quote |
| International freight | 150.00 | From the forwarder |
| Cargo insurance | 10.00 | From the forwarder |
| Customs value (sum of the three) | 1160.00 | Basis to be confirmed with the broker |
| Import duty at 10 percent | 116.00 | Rate is a placeholder |
| Customs broker fees | 40.00 | Placeholder |
| Destination handling | 60.00 | Placeholder |
| Delivery to your warehouse | 50.00 | Placeholder |
| Total landed cost | 1426.00 | Sum of all lines above except the customs-value subtotal |
| Landed cost per piece | 14.26 | Total divided by 100 |
To reach a 40 percent margin on that landed cost, price equals cost divided by 0.60, which gives 23.77 per piece; a 40 percent markup instead gives 19.96 [3]. The two use different bases, so state which one your target uses.
Try your own figures in the private label margin calculator.
Questions answered
What is landed cost?
GoFreight defines it as the total cost of a shipment from the point of origin to the buyer's final receiving location.
How do I get a per-piece landed cost?
Add all components and divide the total by the number of units in the shipment; the GoFreight article implies this step rather than stating it.
Which value is import duty charged on?
GoFreight says CIF value is the customs value used by U.S. Customs for ad valorem duty; ask your own broker which basis applies in your country.
Sources
| No. | Source page | Publisher | Fetched |
|---|---|---|---|
| [1] | Landed cost | Wikipedia | 2026-11-13 |
| [2] | Landed Cost Calculation | GoFreight | 2026-11-13 |
| [3] | Markup vs. Margin: Difference, formulas and converter | Zoho Inventory | 2026-11-13 |
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As of 2026-11-13. General information, not legal, customs or tax advice. Wording is paraphrased from the pages linked above; your written quote and contract govern. Examples use invented numbers unless a source is named.