Landed cost from China to Nigeria: the real price of goods

The landed cost from China to Nigeria is the goods plus nine other lines: freight, insurance, duty, levies, VAT, port, clearing, delivery and losses. Build it first.

The supplier says the goods cost ₦10 million.

That does not mean you have ₦10 million worth of stock in Nigeria.

Your real cost is what you have spent when those goods finally reach your warehouse:

goods + China costs + freight + insurance + Customs + port charges + clearing + delivery + losses.

That is your landed cost from China to Nigeria.

Calculate it before paying the supplier.

Not when the container reaches Apapa.

The landed-cost formula #

For a normal commercial import:

Landed cost =

Supplier cost

• China local charges
• international freight
• insurance
• import duty
• applicable Customs taxes/levies
• import VAT
• shipping-line and terminal charges
• clearing
• delivery to your warehouse
• expected losses

Then:

Landed cost per unit = total landed cost ÷ saleable units received

That last number is what you use to decide your selling price.

1. Start with the actual supplier cost #

Use the amount you will really pay.

If the supplier quotes:

RMB 38 per unit × 5,000 units

do not convert it using the first yuan-to-naira rate you see on Google.

Use the rate available through the payment method you will actually use.

That may include:

• FX spread
• agent margin
• bank charges
• payment-platform fees

If ₦1 million leaves your account to settle what looked like an ₦930,000 supplier payment, your cost is ₦1 million.

See our yuan to naira guide.

2. Add the China-side costs #

A factory price is not always the price of getting the goods out of China.

You may still pay for:

• factory-to-warehouse delivery
• China domestic freight
• consolidation
• warehouse handling
• inspection
• repacking
• export handling
• sourcing-agent commission

This is especially important on 1688.

The cheap 1688 price may only get the carton from the factory to your agent's warehouse.

Ask your agent for the China-side total, not only the product price.

3. Calculate freight from the carton, not the product price #

This is where cheap products become expensive.

Freight does not care that you bought an item for RMB 5.

It cares about:

weight and volume.

For sea groupage, CBM matters.

For air freight, actual or chargeable weight matters.

For a full container, the question becomes how efficiently your cartons use the space.

Before ordering, ask the supplier for:

• carton length
• carton width
• carton height
• cartons required
• gross weight per carton
• units per carton

From those numbers you can calculate the freight before committing to the MOQ.

Our China-to-Nigeria CBM guide explains the sea calculation.

For air shipments, use the shipping cost per kg guide.

4. Add marine insurance #

Commercial imports processed through Form M require the relevant marine-insurance documentation.

CBN integrated the Nigerian Insurers Association's digital Marine Insurance Certificate into the e-Form M process, so this is part of the paperwork you should arrange before shipment.

Do not treat insurance as something to remember after the vessel sails.

Ask for the premium and put the actual figure into your landed-cost sheet.

Our cargo insurance guide covers it separately.

5. Find the Customs value #

Nigeria Customs normally begins with the transaction value and adds relevant costs such as transport to the Nigerian port, loading/handling connected with that transport, insurance and certain commissions where they are not already included.

In practical importer language, you will often hear this described as the CIF value:

Cost + Insurance + Freight.

Do not assume Customs must accept any figure printed on your Chinese invoice.

Customs can test the declared value where it has reason to question it.

Under-invoicing is therefore not a landed-cost strategy.

It is a clearance problem waiting to happen.

6. Apply the correct import-duty rate #

Your duty rate comes from the HS code.

Not from the country the goods came from.

Not from what your friend paid on another container.

Not from what the supplier calls the product.

The HS classification determines the tariff treatment, and Customs specifically warns that tariff rates can change, so the current tariff should be checked before relying on a percentage.

Before buying:

get the HS code checked by your clearing agent.

Then ask:

“What Customs charges apply to this exact code today?”

Our Customs duty calculator guide shows how to work through it.

7. Add the other Customs charges shown on the assessment #

Basic import duty is not necessarily the end of the Customs bill.

Depending on the tariff line and current fiscal treatment, an assessment may include items such as:

• surcharge
• CISS
• ECOWAS/ETLS levy
• product-specific levy
• other applicable statutory charges

Nigeria Customs has previously illustrated assessments containing duty, CISS, surcharge, ECOWAS levy and VAT.

But do not build a permanent spreadsheet that assumes every old charge applies forever.

A good example is the 4% FOB Customs charge introduced in early 2025 and then suspended while government consulted stakeholders.

Use the current assessment for the current shipment.

Not an old WhatsApp calculator.

8. Add import VAT #

VAT remains 7.5% under the Nigeria Tax Act 2025.

The important part for landed cost is the base.

For imported taxable goods, the Act says the VAT value includes the imported price plus applicable:

taxes, duties and other import charges

and costs including:

commission, packing, transport and insurance up to the port or point of entry.

So do not calculate:

7.5% × supplier invoice

and call that your import VAT.

The base is wider.

If your business can claim qualifying input VAT, your accountant may treat that differently for tax purposes.

But when planning the cash required to clear the shipment, the money still has to be available.

9. Use the Customs exchange rate for the Customs side #

Another mistake is using one exchange rate for the entire calculation.

You can have:

supplier/payment rate

and

Customs conversion rate.

Nigeria Customs publishes its own reference exchange rates for Customs transactions.

If the naira moves between the day you calculate your order and the day Customs assesses it, your Nigerian clearing bill can move even though the Chinese supplier never changed their price.

Build an FX buffer.

Do not calculate a 7% profit margin using today's exchange rate and assume it will survive a two-month production and shipping cycle.

10. Add the Nigerian port side #

Customs release does not mean your cost is finished.

You may still have:

• shipping-line local charges
• documentation charges
• terminal handling
• terminal storage
• container-related charges
• clearing-agent professional fee
• scanning/examination-related operational costs where applicable
• truck/haulage

If the container sits too long, storage and container charges can turn a good import into a bad one.

Our Apapa clearing guide explains where those charges begin.

For full-container imports, also read cost of shipping a 40ft container from China to Nigeria.

11. Add transport to where you actually sell #

Apapa is not your warehouse.

If the goods are going to:

Alaba, Trade Fair, Aba, Onitsha, Kano, Abuja or Port Harcourt

the transport from the port belongs in landed cost.

So does unloading where applicable.

If it costs ₦700,000 to move the container from Lagos to your warehouse, leaving that ₦700,000 outside your product costing does not make it disappear.

See our haulage from Lagos guide.

12. Divide by saleable units, not ordered units #

This is the number many traders get wrong.

You ordered:

5,000 units.

But perhaps:

• 80 arrive damaged
• 20 are missing
• 100 have poor finishing
• 50 are samples or giveaways

You now have 4,750 saleable units.

If total landed cost was ₦19 million:

Wrong: ₦19,000,000 ÷ 5,000 = ₦3,800

Better: ₦19,000,000 ÷ 4,750 = ₦4,000

That ₦200 difference becomes ₦1 million across 5,000 units.

Count what you can actually sell.

The three numbers to get before paying a deposit #

If you only remember three things from this guide, get these.

1. HS code and likely Customs assessment #

A product with the wrong duty assumption can be dead before it leaves China.

Ask the clearing agent before ordering.

2. Carton size and gross weight #

This tells you whether the product is freight-friendly.

A ₦2,000 product inside a huge carton can be a worse import than a ₦20,000 product that occupies one-tenth of the space.

3. Nigerian selling price #

Do not finish the landed-cost calculation and then begin asking what the product sells for in Nigeria.

Know the market first.

If Nigerian wholesalers are selling at ₦5,000 and your conservative landed cost is ₦4,600, you do not have a business simply because the Chinese factory gave you a “good price”.

Build this sheet before you order #

Your calculation can be this simple:

PRODUCT

Supplier price: ₦
Quantity:

CHINA

Domestic delivery: ₦
Inspection/agent/warehouse: ₦

FREIGHT

CBM or chargeable weight:
International freight: ₦
Insurance: ₦___

CUSTOMS

HS code:
Customs value: ₦
Import duty: ₦
Other Customs charges: ₦
Import VAT: ₦___

NIGERIA

Shipping line/terminal: ₦
Clearing agent: ₦
Haulage: ₦
Other verified charges: ₦

LOSS ALLOWANCE

Damaged/unsaleable units or contingency: ₦___

TOTAL LANDED COST

₦___

SALEABLE UNITS

LANDED COST PER UNIT

₦___

EXPECTED WHOLESALE PRICE

₦___

EXPECTED RETAIL PRICE

₦___

Now you can make a decision.

Do not blindly add 10% “for surprises” #

A contingency is sensible.

But it should not hide lazy costing.

If you do not know the duty, get it checked.

If you do not know the CBM, ask the supplier.

If you do not know freight, get a quote.

If you do not know the Nigerian selling price, research the market.

Then add a reasonable buffer for things that genuinely move:

FX, minor port expenses, damage and delays.

A buffer is protection.

It is not a substitute for numbers.

Be careful with “door-to-door” quotes #

Ask exactly what the quote includes.

Does it include:

China pickup?

international freight?

Customs duty?

VAT?

clearing?

terminal charges?

delivery to your actual address?

all regulatory charges?

The phrase door to door is not a Customs formula.

It is a service description.

Get the inclusions in writing.

Then compare it with your own landed-cost calculation.

The simple decision #

Before paying a Chinese supplier, you should be able to answer:

What will one saleable unit cost me inside my Nigerian warehouse?

Not FOB Guangzhou.

Not “shipping is ₦X per CBM”.

Not “my agent said clearing shouldn't be much”.

The final Nigerian number.

If your product sells comfortably above that number after leaving room for your operating expenses and profit, continue.

If it does not, stop.

Change the quantity.

Change the packaging.

Negotiate the product.

Use another shipping method.

Find another supplier.

Or leave the product completely.

That is the purpose of calculating landed cost.

It is cheaper to reject a bad import before the deposit leaves Nigeria than to discover the problem after the container reaches Apapa.

For the next calculation, start with shipping cost per CBM from China to Nigeria.

Then check the Customs duty calculation.

And when you have the supplier quotation, carton dimensions, weight and quantity, ChinaBridge can help you build the full landed-cost picture before you commit to the order.

First published 20 Sep 2026. Last checked 23 Sep 2026 by The ChinaBridge desk. Something here out of date? Tell us in the comments and we will fix it.