A factory quote of $4.00 per unit is not what the unit costs you. By the time it sits in an Amazon warehouse it has picked up freight, insurance, duty, one or two layers of additional tariffs, three customs fees, a broker’s invoice and a truck. The sum is the landed cost, and it — not the factory price — is what belongs in the pricing formula. This guide lists every line, works through a container-share example, and points out where estimates most often go wrong. The tool that does the arithmetic is the landed cost calculator. Fee rules are as published by US Customs and Border Protection and the US International Trade Commission on 2026-09-20; duty and tariff rates change by executive action, so confirm the current stack for your product and origin before paying a deposit.
The lines
| Line | Basis | Typical range |
|---|---|---|
| Goods (FOB) | Unit price × units | The factory quote |
| International freight | Per shipment; ocean by volume, air by weight | $150–300 per cubic metre LCL; $4–8 per kg air |
| Cargo insurance | ~0.3–0.5% of insured value | $10–50 for a small order |
| Customs duty | HTS ‘General’ rate × customs value (FOB) | 0–20%; many consumer goods 0–7% |
| Additional tariffs | Section 301 (many goods from China), Section 232 (steel, aluminium and derivatives), country-based tariffs introduced in 2025 | Stacked on the HTS rate; can exceed the base duty |
| Merchandise processing fee (MPF) | 0.3464% of customs value, per entry, with a minimum and maximum adjusted each fiscal year | About $33–650 per entry |
| Harbor maintenance fee (HMF) | 0.125% of customs value, ocean only | Small |
| Brokerage, ISF filing, bond | Per entry | $100–250 |
| Inland delivery | Port to your warehouse or the FBA receiving centre | $100–400 for a pallet |
Two things surprise first-time importers. Customs value is FOB, so freight does not attract duty in the US (it does in the EU and most other places). And additional tariffs stack: a 6.5% HTS rate on goods from a country with a 10% additional tariff means 16.5% on the goods value, and with a Section 301 line on top it can be much more. Those tariffs have changed several times since 2018 and again in 2025; the HTS Chapter 99 notes and your broker are the source of truth.
Worked example: 500 units of a $4.00 item
Ocean LCL from Asia to the US west coast, delivered to a fulfilment centre.
| Line | Total | Per unit |
|---|---|---|
| Goods, 500 × $4.00 | $2,000.00 | $4.00 |
| Ocean freight (1.2 m³) | $600.00 | $1.20 |
| Insurance | $20.00 | $0.04 |
| Duty 6.5% of $2,000 | $130.00 | $0.26 |
| Additional tariff 10% of $2,000 | $200.00 | $0.40 |
| MPF 0.3464% of $2,000 = $6.93 → minimum applies | $32.71 | $0.07 |
| HMF 0.125% of $2,000 | $2.50 | $0.01 |
| Broker, ISF, bond | $150.00 | $0.30 |
| Inland delivery | $120.00 | $0.24 |
| Landed cost | $3,255.21 | $6.51 |
The unit costs 63% more than the factory quote. Freight is the largest addition on a small order (18% of the landed total); duty and tariffs together are 10%. Double the order to 1,000 units and freight roughly doubles with volume, but MPF, brokerage and trucking barely move, so the landed cost drops to about $6.25 — the fixed charges are why the first, small shipment is always the most expensive per unit.
Where estimates go wrong
- Quoting EXW as FOB. An EXW price excludes getting the goods to the port of departure and export clearance — often $100–300 per shipment in Asia. Ask for FOB or add it.
- Forgetting the tariff stack. Checking only the HTS ‘General’ column misses Chapter 99 additional tariffs. Search the HTS by your 10-digit code and read the notes, or ask the broker for a landed estimate before ordering.
- Using the MPF minimum on large entries. Above about $9,500 of goods the MPF becomes proportional (0.3464%) until it hits the per-entry maximum; on a $50,000 entry it is $173, not $33.
- Leaving out the last mile. Freight forwarders quote to the port or their warehouse; getting a pallet to an Amazon receiving centre, with an appointment, is a separate charge.
- Dimensional weight on air. Air freight is charged on the greater of actual and volumetric weight (length × width × height in cm ÷ 6,000 kg for most carriers). Bulky, light products pay for volume.
- Currency and payment fees. Wire fees, FX spread on a supplier payment in USD from a non-USD account, and a 30/70 deposit schedule that ties up cash months before the goods sell — see the cash-flow calculator.
From landed cost to a selling price
Landed cost is the “product cost” input for every other calculator on this site. With the example’s $6.51 landed cost, a $3.91 FBA fee and a 15% referral fee, a 25% margin before advertising needs a price of ($6.51 + $3.91) ÷ (1 − 0.15 − 0.25) = $17.37; with 10% for PPC, $20.84. The landed cost calculator shows this at the bottom of its results, and the Amazon FBA calculator takes the landed figure as its product cost.