Importers should conduct a landing cost analysis for all their shipments. It helps you make better decisions by giving you a complete picture of your costs. The landed cost calculation provides you with a template for pricing your products.
Pricing products and services correctly are the first step to making your business profitable. Shipping products is a complex process that involves more than just transportation. It is especially true when you import products from different countries. This is why businesses must know how to calculate the landed cost properly. But if you need a good idea about calculating landed costs, then you are at the right place. Let’s find out why you need to calculate the landed cost and how to calculate it.
Landed cost definition
Landing costs are the total costs associated with fulfilling an order. In international eCommerce, landed cost refers to the sum cost of the product to reach the customer’s doorstep. A product’s landed cost may vary according to the nature of its taxes and customs duties.
Landed price or total landed cost is important for companies that ship physical products. Landed costs include shipping fees, customs duties, taxes, and more. These are the costs of purchasing a product and delivering it to our doorstep.
For example, if the goods cost 10$, but shipping costs 2$, the total cost is 12$. Here, the shipping cost is the landed cost.
What is included in landing costs?
All expenses in delivering a product to its final destination, by air, sea, or rail, are included in the landed cost. The cost of a product per unit plus freight, taxes, import and export levies, insurance, processing and handling fees for payments, exchange rates, and storage costs is called the “landed cost.” Businesses can calculate costs if they know how to calculate landed costs in excel.
There will be differences in these prices between nations, depending on the season, the volume being transported, and other factors.
Domestic trade expenses include shipping costs, handling costs, and non-deductible VAT. But when it comes to international trade, there are a few things you have to consider to calculate the total landed cost.
Products cost
There is a cost associated with the manufacturing of the product or the obtaining of the product from manufacturers or suppliers. In addition to raw materials, it also accounts for many other manufacturing components. To reduce the cost of your product, a business may streamline its manufacturing processes and source cheap raw materials. Product costs are the cost you must pay to the seller or manufacturer. The cost of the product has a great deal of influence on the landing costs. There will be a difference in the cost of the product depending on where you are ordering the product from.
Insurance and compliance costs
Protecting your merchandise is to protect you if your goods are stolen, damaged, or lost on the way to their destination. It is important to know that insurance costs vary according to the type and value of the goods shipped.
Customs and import costs
Customs fees, taxes, regulations, and possible licensing requirements for importing goods vary from country to country, depending on the country’s customs laws. Additional fees such as value-added tax (VAT) may be included depending on the product or service you purchase.
Shipping costs
In addition to the costs associated with transporting goods from suppliers to your fulfillment centers, you will also need to consider the cost of mailing packages on time to your customers. You need to consider handling fees, freight, and transportation costs to calculate your shipping expenses.
Depending on how your products are imported and exported you may have varying shipping fees for inland, air, or ocean freight based on how your products are imported and exported.
As a business owner, you should consider the following factors when determining the cost of shipping items to your customers, the shipping zone, delivery speed, and package weight. You can negotiate better carrier rates or partner with a 3PL company with multiple facilities so that your inventory is stored nearby your client. You can reduce shipping costs by partnering with a 3PL company. As a result, shipping costs will be reduced, and carrier transit times will be shortened. It will help you to lower your landing costs.
Port charges
The port charges cover the use of the facilities at a port. The arrival and cancellation of a shipment can significantly impact its charges, including harbor fees.
Demurrage fees
If a full container sits inside a port or terminal for more than the allowed amount of time, shipping lines charge a penalty, or demurrage, fee for the extra time. It will increase the total landing cost.
Handling and payment processing fees
In some cases, special handling surcharges are applied to orders to cover the costs associated with packing, storing, processing credit card and debit card payments, and processing special handling charges.
When planning long-range product pricing, it is important to monitor the currency rates (currency conversion rate). The currency conversion rate can vary from country to country. You also need to take into account other costs that may be associated with your product shipping.
Why total landed cost analysis is essential for businesses?
It helps you optimally price products.
Business owners should make sure to account for landed costs when setting the prices of their products. Otherwise, they might only be able to cover some of their shipping costs. You must add all the associated costs when dicing the product’s price.
Your complete guide to inventory forecasting
With accurate forecasting, businesses can fulfill client demand. Calculating the landed cost of a product will allow you to accurately predict future product prices.
Calculating the landed cost of a product properly will give you a clear view of your supply chain costs. Additionally, it will assist you in understanding potential saving opportunities, allowing you to identify areas that can be cut back on and that makes it easier for you to figure out the most profitable place to buy goods from, so you can make the best purchase decisions.
It helps you make purchasing decisions.
Considering landed costs is important from a buyer’s perspective when comparing competitive offerings. Sometimes, it is best to deal to buy a product overseas than in the domestic market. Other costs to consider when ordering goods from overseas include international freight charges, customs fees, cross-border taxes, and insurance. A business’s budget can be impacted significantly by such costs.
It helps you make shipping decisions.
Determine the lowest landing cost for your product by comparing vendors, shipping routes, countries, and logistics companies. It will help you to make better shipping decisions. The accuracy of financial reporting is one of the most important reasons for calculating landing costs. You can estimate asset values and profits each month with it.
Landed cost calculation template: Landed cost formula
A landed cost is calculated when the price of a product is added to the cost of shipping, customs, risk, and overhead expenses. Landed cost is the total of all the costs associated with the shipment. Find out how to calculate the landed cost of a product
Landing cost formula or Total landed cost formula = product price + shipping price + customs costs (including vat) + risk + overhead.
The process of manually calculating landed costs takes time, and there is a risk that the accounting results will be inaccurate. This can take up valuable time. You can use several software applications to automate the process of factoring in freight rates, insurance, and other expenses to ensure quick, accurate accounting when fulfilling orders by incorporating these into the software program. You cannot ignore the landed cost important while importing goods.
Landed cost example: Simple way to calculate landed cost
Here is an example of how the landing cost formula can be incorporated into your shipment. We will show a simple example to help you understand how the total landed cost formula works. For example, you are ordering a product that costs $4 per unit and 500 in total. Now let’s assume
Shipment cost: $500, or $1/unit
Customs: 2%, or $0.04/unit
Risk: $5/unit
Overhead: $1.50/unit
Landed cost = $4 + $1 + $.04 + $5 + $1.50 = $11.54
Therefore, if you want to make a profit with this product, you’ll need to mark them up against $11.54 or higher to make a profit. If you overlook just one factor, it can significantly impact your business.
Landed cost calculator
Several online websites and apps are available that work as landed cost calculators. You can put the values and get the total landed costs. The calculator software is easy to use and helps you to boost your business. There is free and paid software that you can use as a landed cost calculator. When delivering any product to your customers, there are both obvious and hidden costs. A landed cost calculator is also known as an import cost calculator.
Conclusion
It is important to remember that the landed cost is one component of the supply chain’s financial management. It also provides a gross margin estimate for each unit of stock. You can generate more accurate reports by incorporating landed costs into your financial calculations. This way, you can guide your decision-making to improve your business’s profit margins.
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