About this calculator
A shipment rarely carries a single product. An import container may hold shoes, bags and accessories with very different values, weights and volumes, while the forwarder's invoice arrives as one figure. If that cost is split evenly per unit, cheap bulky products look more profitable than they are and small expensive items carry cost that is not theirs. A correct logistics cost per unit drives your selling price, your margin per SKU and the decision which products are worth shipping by which mode.
This calculator adds up every cost of the shipment: ocean or air freight, origin and destination charges (terminal handling, documents, CFS), duties and taxes that cannot be credited, trucking, insurance, warehousing and anything else. You then enter SKU lines with quantity, total weight, total volume and goods value. Choose the allocation basis: value (common for duties and insurance), weight (good for dense cargo or per-kg rates), volume (good for sea freight charged per m³) or number of units.
The result shows the average cost per unit, per kg, per m³ and as a share of goods value, plus the allocated cost, cost per unit and percentage for each SKU. Compare several bases to see how sensitive your margins are to the allocation method. For inventory accounting, use a method that is consistent and matches your company policy.
Worked example
Shipment costs: freight 2,500, local charges 400, trucking 600 = 3,500 (USD). Two SKUs:
- A: 6,000 units, 3,000 kg, 10 m³, value 30,000
- B: 4,000 units, 1,000 kg, 20 m³, value 20,000
Average: 3,500 ÷ 10,000 units = 0.35 per unit, or 3,500 ÷ 50,000 = 7% of goods value.
- By value: A 60% = 2,100 (0.35/unit), B 40% = 1,400 (0.35/unit)
- By volume: A 10/30 = 1,166.67 (0.1944/unit), B 2,333.33 (0.5833/unit)
The bulky SKU B carries three times the cost per unit when freight is split by volume.
How to use it
Enter the shipment costs
Fill in freight, local charges, non-creditable duties and taxes, trucking, insurance and other costs in one currency.
Add the SKUs
For each product enter the units, total weight, total volume and goods value in this shipment.
Choose the allocation basis
Pick value, weight, volume or units, then read the cost per unit and percentage for each SKU in the table.