Q. How do I determine, ahead of time, the total import cost to arrive at my door? How do I find out what all the costs will be? From insurance, to port duties and shipping etc....
Hi!
I know the product I want to ship and I can find out the weight. I know my HTS # per a customs specialist. I'm looking to find out a way to calculate ahead of time all the associated costs. Duty cost, insurance (where can I find this?), any special tax implications with the IRS (I heard sports equipment has such a special tax) and anything else I'm not mentioning but that I should know about?
THanks!
JOhn
Area of Expertise: International
Industry: Export/Import
4 answers | Asked on 02/25/10 by:
John Treboutat
Houston, TX, United States
Answers
Jonathan Solomon
San Francisco, CA, United States
John,
A freight forwarder should be able to provide you all of this information except the IRS. If you ask them to provide you DDP (delivered and duty paid) price, they should give you everything you need. Ask them to break down the price for you.
I hope that helps.
Best,
Jonathan
Posted on 02/26/10
Peter Adams
Boulder, CO, United States
Hi John,
The best way to deal with this is to shift the burden to your supplier. I ask my international suppliers to quote me a fixed price FOB my location. That way there are no surprises and I can build that cost into my quotations to my clients.
So far this method has been successful and has worked for both my suppliers and for me.
You're right to be looking for hidden costs so you don't end up with a loss on your business, but I have not heard about special taxes for sports equipment....
Peter
Posted on 03/02/10
sharon lu
San Francisco, CA, United States
What I would recommend is to get a quote from your shipper for FOB your location cost; and also get a forwarder/broker that can give you the quote (including clearance, bond, insurance, duty, and trucking delivery, etc)
Once you have a comparison, you can determine your total landed cost.
Usually the shipper just choose whichever shipping company they have, but a good forwarder will help you on your end to save costs.
I have a forwarder that i use which their company covers quite a lot route, especially in Asia if you are interested please contact me too. Good luck!
sharon
Posted on 09/15/10
Purathatil Krishnan
Omaha, NE, United States
John..if you are still looking for an answer, please contact me.
Posted on 10/25/10
