If you are looking to import from China and you have no experience with the Asian country, you probably have a lot of doubts. As with any import process, crunching the numbers is a real headache.
Product costs, transportation, duties, etc., add up to a long list to contend with. For this reason, we often wonder whether or not it is profitable to import from China and its conditions.
Due to the complexity of this topic, we believe that the best way to see the cost of importing from China is precisely with a practical case that serves as a clear example.
How much does it cost to import from China
We have reached the end of this Manual for Importing from China, but we have saved the best for last. Here is an example of how to calculate the price of an import by sea from China to Spain. In this case, we are going to talk about a product that is often imported from the Asian giant: T-shirts.
We will leave the prices in dollars for ease of use.
Product: White T-shirts
FOB unit price: 2 USD
Quantity: 10,000 => total price 20,000 USD
Total volume: 20 m3 => fits in a standard 20 ft. container
We therefore start from an FOB price of USD 20,000 with the cargo loaded on the ship. The costs we will add are as follows:
Freight from China to Spain: 2500 USD => total 22,500 USD
Insurance: 0.6% of the insured cost, about 135 USD => total 22.635 USD
Port terminal expenses 350 USD => total 22,985 USD
Tariff : 12 %, about 2,758 USD => total 25,743 USD
Customs import formalities: USD 250 => total USD 25,993
V.A.T. 21%, about 5.458 USD => total 31.452 USD
Inland transportation to destination: 165 USD
FINAL TOTAL: $31,217 USD
Total Unitary: 3.12 USD
As you can see, we would have increased the price of the product by more than 33%. The higher the value of the goods, the less transport costs affect the final price. For high value-added products, such as smartphones, the price of transportation is only a small percentage of the final value (only VAT and duty increase the price).
Therefore, when calculating the cost of importing from China, we must take into account the type of product we want to import, as well as the increase due to the different taxes.
We hope this will serve as a reference for you to be able to make your budgets when importing. Thank you for following this manual and don’t hesitate to ask any questions you may have!
Other entries in the Handbook for Importing from China:
– How much does it cost to import from China? (A practical example)
If you want to import from China, do not hesitate to contact us at without obligation.
