Trade & shipping · Importing

Landed cost per unit calculator.

Enter the units in the container, the factory price and every charge from factory to warehouse. Get the true cost of one unit, split into goods, freight, duty, tax and handling.

Landed cost per unit is (goods + freight + insurance + duty + non-recoverable tax + port, broker and delivery charges) ÷ units. Import VAT or GST you can reclaim is left out of the cost, but it still has to be paid before you reclaim it.

Planning estimateDuty rate is your inputUpdated October 18, 2026

Your container

Optional: how many units fit?

Container usable volume (m³)

Take it from your carrier or forwarder.

Fill efficiency (%)

Allows for gaps and stowage.

Carton length (cm)

Carton width (cm)

Carton height (cm)

Units per carton

Units in the container

Whole number.

Factory price per unit

Container freight

Cargo insurance

Origin charges (pickup, export clearance, terminal)

Destination charges (terminal, broker, customs entry)

Inland delivery to your warehouse

Other costs (inspection, storage, bank fees)

Customs duty rate (%)

Find it in your country’s tariff for your goods and origin.

Duty is charged on goods plus freight and insurance (CIF basis, for example the UK and EU). Leave off for FOB basis (US, Canada, Australia).

Import VAT / GST / sales tax rate (%)

Charged on goods, freight, insurance and duty.

This import tax is recoverable (for example a VAT-registered business)

Your estimate

How the calculation works

Duty is your rate times the duty value: goods only on an FOB basis, or goods plus freight and insurance on a CIF basis.
Import tax is your rate times goods, freight, insurance and duty. It enters landed cost only when it is not recoverable.
Per-unit figures are rounded to the cent, so the components can differ from the total by a cent.
The carton helper uses whole cartons by volume only. Pallets, weight limits and stowage can reduce the real count.
Currency conversion, demurrage, anti-dumping and additional tariffs are not modelled.

Where to find the inputs: duty rates in the USITC HTS, the UK Trade Tariff or the EU TARIC database; customs value rules in the FOB vs CIF calculator.

Frequently asked questions

What is landed cost per unit?

The full cost of getting one unit to your door: its factory price plus its share of freight, insurance, duty, non-recoverable tax, port and broker charges and delivery.

Should I include VAT in landed cost?

Not if you can reclaim it. Recoverable VAT or GST is a cash-flow item, not a cost. Tick the recoverable box to leave it out.

Is duty charged on freight?

In the UK and EU the customs value includes freight and insurance to the border. In the US, Canada and Australia duty is charged on the value without international freight and insurance.

How many units fit in a 40-foot container?

It depends on the carton and pallet size. Enter your container volume and carton dimensions in the helper to get a whole-carton estimate, and confirm with your forwarder.

Estimate only

This page is a planning guide, not customs, tax or legal advice. Rules, thresholds and fees change; confirm with the official source linked above, a customs broker or an accountant. It does not look up or verify anything in a government register, and calculations run in your browser; nothing is sent anywhere.