What comes back
A landed cost range per unit for your destination and quantity, broken down into where the money goes — ex-works, export packing, freight, duty, import tax, last mile. Plus how the number moves at different quantities.
What it will not give you, and why
It is an estimate, not a quotation. It is built from published wholesale listings plus a standard cost model — not from a supplier who has seen your specification. Use it to decide whether a product is worth pursuing. For a number you can build a margin on, send us the spec.
- No supplier names. Once you engage us, the shortlist and audit findings are yours.
- No certification or compliance assessment — that needs your actual specification.
- Volume and weight are assumed, because listings rarely publish them. They move freight cost a lot.
The cost model, in full
These are the actual rates the calculator applies. They are read live from the same settings the engine uses, so this table cannot drift from the numbers you get back. Rates for China to the United States, ordinary commercial cargo, reviewed quarterly.
| Cost line | Rate | Applied to |
|---|---|---|
| CNY to USD | 0.1487 | Wholesale listings are priced in CNY. |
| Sourcing agent fee | 5% | Our commission, applied to goods value. |
| Export packing | 1.5% | Cartons and pallets fit for sea freight, on goods value. |
| Inland to port, China | 2% | Factory to loading port, on goods value. |
| Export clearance and documents | $120 | Per shipment, not per unit. |
| Ocean freight, LCL | $130 / CBM | This is the number that decides bulky categories. |
| Air freight | $6.6 / kg | Chargeable weight, whichever is greater of actual and volumetric. |
| Cargo insurance | 0.4% | On CFR value, to avoid a circular calculation. |
| Import customs broker | $175 | Per shipment, amortised across the units. |
| Last mile in destination | 2% | Port to your door, on CIF value. |
| US Merchandise Processing Fee | 0.3464% | |
| US Harbor Maintenance Fee | 0.125% | Ocean shipments only. Air is exempt. |
| Range width | 20% | We publish a band, not a single figure. |
| US MPF floor and cap | $33.58 – $651.50 | Per shipment. On a small order the floor, not the percentage, is what you pay. |
Why there is no default duty rate
Duty is set by HS code, and the same product in a different material can classify several rates apart. A calculator that quietly applies "the average duty for your country" is inventing a number. We leave duty out unless you supply the rate, and we say so on the result: you get a landed cost before duty, plus how much each percentage point of duty adds.
If you do not know your HS code yet, start here: how import duty classification works.
How wrong can it be
We publish a band of plus or minus 20% rather than a single figure, because two inputs are genuinely unknown at this stage: the carton volume the factory will actually use, and what the price becomes once your specification differs from the listing. In bulky, light categories the freight line moves the total more than the goods price does. In dense, heavy categories the opposite is true.
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