How landed cost works

Updated 14 September 2026 · 4 min read · Written in Guangzhou

The price on a supplier listing is almost never what a unit costs you once it is in your warehouse. Our estimate adds the pieces first-time importers tend to forget. Estimates on the site are for imports into the United States or Canada; pick the country on any product page. If you are in the UK, Europe, Australia or India, the quote we prepare for you uses your country’s duty rates and freight instead.

The formula

landed = FOB goods
       + ocean freight + origin & destination handling
       + US general duty (by HTS code)
       + Section 301 tariff (China-origin)
       + MPF and HMF customs fees
÷ quantity

What each line means

FOB goods. The supplier’s price with goods delivered on board at a Chinese port. We use the midpoint of the listed range; quotes replace it with a real number.
Freight. We estimate volume from a category-average CBM per unit and apply a current LCL rate plus fixed handling at both ends. Real carton dimensions from a quote make this exact, which is why our supplier guide keeps telling you to ask for the carton.
Duty. The general HTS rate for the category. Classification matters: a “lamp” and a “lamp part” can carry different rates.
Section 301. Extra tariffs on most China-origin goods, currently 7.5% or 25% depending on the list. This changes; every estimate shows its as-of date.
MPF and HMF. Merchandise Processing Fee (0.3464%, with a floor and cap) and Harbor Maintenance Fee (0.125%) on ocean imports.

Canada

For Canada we swap the US duty for the MFN rate in the Canadian Customs Tariff for the category. There is no Section 301 equivalent and no MPF or HMF. Instead, 5% GST is charged at import on the value plus duty; most GST-registered businesses recover it as an input tax credit. Provincial sales tax is not included. Freight is estimated to Vancouver or Toronto at the same rate as the US lanes, and the figure is still shown in US dollars so you can compare like with like.

What is not included

Customs broker fees, inland trucking, insurance, samples, and any anti-dumping or countervailing duties that apply to specific products (some solar and steel goods, for example). Your agent flags these on the quote when relevant.

Why show an estimate at all

Because $2.40 FOB and $4.10 landed lead to different decisions, and it is better to make that decision before you spend a week emailing factories.