You do not need to become a customs broker.
TrueUnit does one job: turn a factory quote into a unit cost you can price from. The math is ordinary. The mistakes are forgetting a line, or treating the factory invoice as the whole story.
The equation
landed / unit
= factory
+ tooling ÷ quantity
+ freight ÷ quantity
+ insurance ÷ quantity
+ duty
+ CBP fees ÷ quantity
+ broker & extras ÷ quantity
= factory
+ tooling ÷ quantity
+ freight ÷ quantity
+ insurance ÷ quantity
+ duty
+ CBP fees ÷ quantity
+ broker & extras ÷ quantity
That is the whole model. Everything on the worksheet is one of those lines. If a number moves, you can see which line did it.
What each line means
- Factory price
- What the factory charges per finished unit. Usually FOB: you own the goods at the loading port. This is the starting number, not the ending one.
- Tooling / NRE
- Molds, jigs, programming. Paid once. We spread it across the units on this order. First-run products look expensive because of this line, not because the factory is cheating you.
- Freight
- Your quote for this shipment, factory to warehouse. Enter the total. We divide. The quantity curve scales this linearly so you can see the shape — real ocean rates are lumpier. Get a new quote before you believe another volume.
- Duty
- A percentage on the customs value. You paste the stacked total — base plus extra layers. We never invent an HTS code.
- FOB vs CIF
- FOB (the usual factory quote): duty is on the invoice only. CIF: the invoice already includes freight and insurance, so those go into the duty base. If you are unsure, leave it on FOB and keep freight separate.
- MPF and HMF
- Two small CBP fees on formal US entries. Merchandise processing fee is 0.3464% of customs value, never below $31.67 or above $614.35 (2026). Harbor maintenance fee is 0.125% and only on ocean. Informal or de minimis entries can be different — that is why this is an estimate.
- Broker and other
- A person or firm files the entry. Often a flat $75–$200. “Other inbound” is drayage, warehouse in, ISF — whatever you actually pay after the boat docks.
- Margins
- We back price out of cost. DTC at 60% gross means retail = landed ÷ 0.40. Wholesale at 40% means wholesale = landed ÷ 0.60. If those prices are impossible, the factory number or the quantity is wrong — not the margin target.
How to get a duty rate
- Look the product up in whatever tariff book or simulator you already use.
- Add up the stacked rate they show (base + extra layers).
- Paste that percent into the worksheet.
Two similar bottles can sit in different headings. That is why every sheet is stamped as an estimate. If the number matters for an actual entry, a licensed broker classifies it.
What this will not do
- Guarantee what CBP will assess on a real entry.
- Book freight or file documents.
- Replace a costed engineering BOM with 400 line items.
- Tell you the “right” retail price — only the floor you are standing on.