The situation
A hypothetical marketplace seller budgets for a $20,000 factory invoice, or $20 per unit. The warehouse estimate is incomplete until it includes the other costs the buyer must pay.
Steps in the example
- Assume 1,000 sellable units and a $20,000 goods invoice.
- For this example, add $2,000 for freight, $100 for insurance, $1,000 in estimated duty, $400 for handling and delivery, and $100 in payment costs. These are invented planning inputs.
- That gives a total of $23,600, or $23.60 per unit. Keep the customs-value and duty assumptions separate for the broker to review.
- After arrival, compare the estimate with the actual invoices. Check that freight or handling already bundled into a quote has not been counted again.
What to check on your shipment
- Define the destination and included costs before judging the unit margin.
- An assumed duty amount belongs in the budget; it does not establish the product’s classification.
- Use sellable units to calculate the final cost per unit. The ordered quantity alone may not be the right denominator.
Assumptions used in this example
An illustrative example for explaining the calculation. No customer, shipment, savings, tariff rate, or business outcome is presented as real.