The price on the invoice is not what the item cost you. Landed cost is that price plus everything else you paid to have it in your hands — and it is the number your margin should be built on.
landed cost per unit = unit price + (shipping + fees + duties + insurance) ÷ units in the shipment
An order of 60 units at $9.40 each, with $145 shipping and $60 of fees:
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Goods (60 × $9.40) | $564.00 |
| Shipping | $145.00 |
| Fees | $60.00 |
| Total | $769.00 |
| Landed cost per unit | $12.82 |
The sticker said $9.40. The real number is $12.82 — 36% higher. Price against $9.40 and you have quietly given away most of the margin.
If the shipment holds a $9 item and a $27 item, giving both the same overhead share overstates the cheap one's cost and understates the expensive one's. Split by value, or by weight if the shipping is weight-driven — but split it the same way every time, or the comparison between two orders means nothing.
One "cost" field per product means restocking at a new price silently revalues the stock you already hold, including stock you have already sold. Last month's profit changes because of something you bought this month. Each purchase has to keep its own landed cost.
Costs that are not about getting this shipment to you — a lab fee you paid a third party, your own labour, software. Those are operating expenses. Folding them into landed cost makes an honest supplier look expensive and corrupts any comparison between suppliers.
In the app
Every figure on this page is something PepStock keeps without being asked — landed cost per batch, each purchase's own cost, what every reseller is holding, and the per-mg ranking at one kit and at ten.
