Landed cost & duty calculator

Landed cost FAQ

What is landed cost?

Landed cost is the total a buyer pays to get a product to their door across a border — the item value plus import duty, VAT/GST or sales tax, and any brokerage or handling fees the carrier adds at customs. Quoting only the product price hides the duty and tax that land at delivery, which is the number-one cause of refused parcels. This calculator estimates the extra duty and tax on top of declared value so you can build the full landed cost into your pricing.

How is import duty calculated?

Import duty is a percentage of the declared customs value, and that percentage is set by the destination country based on the product’s HS (Harmonized System) code. A phone case and a lithium battery classify under different HS codes and carry different duty rates, even in the same shipment. On top of duty, most countries charge VAT or GST on the value plus the duty. This tool uses a representative duty rate per destination plus your entered VAT/GST rate to estimate the combined charge — treat it as a planning figure, not an official tariff ruling.

What’s the difference between DDP and DDU/DAP shipping?

With DDU/DAP (delivered duty unpaid), the customer is invoiced for duty and tax by the carrier before they can receive the parcel — a surprise bill that drives chargebacks and refusals. With DDP (delivered duty paid), you collect the estimated duty and tax at checkout and pay it on the buyer’s behalf, so nothing extra is owed at the door. Estimating landed cost up front is what makes DDP pricing possible: you quote the all-in number and there are no border surprises.

What is a de minimis threshold and who pays customs?

A de minimis threshold is the value below which a country waives duty (and sometimes tax) on imports — for example, low-value shipments may clear duty-free under a country’s limit, while higher-value parcels owe the full charge. The thresholds vary widely by destination and change over time, so always confirm the current figure for the country you’re shipping to. As for who pays: under DDU/DAP the recipient pays customs at delivery; under DDP the seller pays. Either way the charge is real, so it belongs in your landed-cost math before you set a price.