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LandedCost
Import glossary

Landed cost

Quick answer

Landed cost is the total per-unit cost of a product once it reaches your door — goods, freight, insurance, duty, import VAT and fees combined.

Last reviewed 16 July 2026.

Landed cost is the true, all-in cost of getting a product from your supplier's factory to your own warehouse or shelf. It goes well beyond the price on the commercial invoice: it adds freight and insurance, import duty, import VAT (where it is a real cost), customs clearance charges, and any port, handling or currency-conversion fees along the way.

Importers who price off the supplier's unit price alone routinely underprice their goods, because the extra costs — often 15–40% on top of the FOB price — land after the purchase order is signed. Calculating landed cost per SKU, in the currency you actually sell in, is the only reliable way to know your real margin before you commit to an order.

The building blocks are usually: goods value (per your Incoterm), international freight and insurance, import duty (a percentage of the customs value), import VAT, broker and clearance fees, and inland delivery. Some of these — like import VAT for a VAT-registered UK business — are recoverable and should be modelled as cash-flow items rather than permanent costs.

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How it affects your landed cost

Landed cost is the number that decides whether a product is profitable — and it is exactly what our calculator exists to compute. Enter your goods value, quantity, freight and origin, and it layers on UK duty and import VAT to give you a landed cost per unit you can price against, instead of guessing from the supplier's quote.

Calculate your landed cost

Landed cost — FAQ

What is included in landed cost?
Landed cost includes the goods value, international freight and insurance, import duty, import VAT (where it is a real cost), customs clearance and broker fees, plus any port handling, currency-conversion and inland delivery charges — everything needed to get the product to your door.
How is landed cost per unit calculated?
Add every import cost — goods, freight, insurance, duty, VAT and fees — then divide by the number of units in the shipment. Modelling it per SKU shows your real cost base before you set a selling price.

Related terms

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Landed cost

Know your real cost per unit before you order.

Duty, VAT, freight, FX and fees — calculated per SKU in seconds. Free for your first shipments, no card required.