Landed cost for US buyers: FOB, DDP, and the tariff math

Your landed cost is FOB price + freight + duty/tariff + broker fees — typically 20–28% above the factory quote for US air shipments. A 300-piece order at $8.50 FOB doesn't cost $2,550; it costs about $3,500 delivered, or $11.66 per piece. Budget on that number, not the quote, and every downstream decision (retail price, margin, reorder point) gets easier.

Worked example: 300 sunglasses to Los Angeles

Line	Amount
Frames: 300 × $8.50 FOB Ningbo	$2,550
Air freight (~40kg with cases)	$480
Duty + tariff (est. 12.5% of goods value)	$319
Customs broker + entry fees	$150
Landed total	≈ $3,499 → $11.66/pc

Tariff rates on Chinese-made eyewear have moved repeatedly since 2018 and remain a moving target — treat any percentage as an estimate until your broker confirms the current rate for your HTS code (sunglasses typically 9004.10, optical frames 9003.11).

FOB vs DDP: who owns the mess

1. FOB: you arrange freight and customs. Cheapest on paper; you need a broker and a few hours of admin per shipment.
2. DDP: one all-in price, delivered to your door, duties paid. Ours typically runs ~5% above the FOB landed math — for many first-time buyers, that's cheap insurance against customs surprises.

Three mistakes to avoid

1. Comparing factory quotes without normalizing to landed cost — a cheaper FOB from a factory that can't do export docs properly costs more at the port.
2. Sea freight for a first small order — the $200 saved isn't worth 30 extra days of cash-flow lock-up.
3. Forgetting the sample round trip — budget ~$60 for DHL each way when planning your timeline.

Try your own numbers in the interactive landed-cost calculator on our pricing page.