Pricing imported goods in Nigeria when the naira moves

Pricing imported goods in Nigeria: the real naira record since 2023, why the inflation figure cannot guide you, and whether to reprice stock you already paid for.

Pricing imported goods in Nigeria is not:

China price + 30% = selling price.

It is also not:

“Dollar has gone up, add something.”

Your price has to answer three questions:

What did this stock really cost me?

What will it cost to replace it?

What will the Nigerian market actually pay?

If one of those three is missing, your price is guesswork.

Stop pricing with a 2024 mindset #

Many Nigerian importers built their pricing habits during the heavy naira depreciation of 2023 and 2024.

The assumption became:

“Dollar will always be higher by the time I reorder.”

That is no longer a safe pricing rule.

The naira ended 2025 around ₦1,429/$, compared with roughly ₦1,535/$ at the end of 2024 — its first annual appreciation in more than a decade. (nairametrics.com)

Through 2026, the currency has also spent long periods stronger and more stable than many traders expected.

The CBN's NFEM rate is the official daily market reference, and it changes with trading conditions. (cbn.gov.ng)

So do not build every selling price around:

“The naira will definitely fall again.”

It might.

It might not.

Price from today's business numbers.

Start with landed cost, not supplier price #

Suppose your product costs:

₦5,000 equivalent in China.

That does not mean your cost is ₦5,000.

You may still have:

• China local delivery
• payment charges
• inspection
• freight
• insurance
• Customs duty
• VAT and levies
• port or warehouse charges
• clearing
• Nigerian transport
• damaged or unsellable units

The number that matters is:

Total cost to your warehouse ÷ saleable units

That is your landed cost per unit.

If 1,000 items cost you ₦8 million landed, but only 950 are actually saleable:

₦8,000,000 ÷ 950 = ₦8,421 per saleable unit

Not ₦8,000.

Use our landed cost guide before setting a selling price.

Then calculate the margin you actually need #

Suppose your landed cost is:

₦8,421

and you sell for:

₦12,000

Your gross profit is:

₦3,579 per unit.

But do not stop there.

You may still have:

• sales commissions
• warehouse costs
• delivery
• advertising
• staff
• bad debt
• returns
• unsold stock

Your gross margin is not automatically your final profit.

Our profit margin on imported goods breaks that calculation down properly.

Should you price old stock from what it cost or what it costs to replace? #

There is no Nigerian law saying:

“Every importer must price at replacement cost.”

This is a commercial decision.

But replacement cost is one of the most useful numbers an importer can watch.

Imagine this:

Your old shipment landed at:

₦8,000 per unit.

You sell at:

₦10,000.

Looks fine.

But today, because freight or exchange rate has changed, the same item will land at:

₦10,500.

If you keep selling at ₦10,000 because:

“I bought this stock cheaper,”

you may finish the stock with cash in your account and still not have enough money to replace it.

That is how a business can make an accounting profit and still become smaller after every shipment.

Replacement cost works in both directions #

This is the part many importers dislike.

If your next shipment will be more expensive, your selling price may need to rise.

But if your next shipment will be cheaper, your selling price may also need to come down.

Suppose your old container landed at:

₦10,000 per unit.

The naira strengthens, freight drops and your competitor's fresh stock lands at:

₦8,500.

If you insist:

“Mine cost me ₦10,000, so I cannot reduce price,”

the customer does not care.

They buy from the person whose current stock is cheaper.

The market prices today's replacement cost much faster than it cares about yesterday's pain.

Accounting cost and selling price are not the same thing #

Do not confuse business pricing with inventory accounting.

IAS 2 requires inventory in financial statements to be measured at the lower of cost and net realisable value. (ifrs.org)

That tells your accountant how inventory should be carried in your accounts.

It does not tell your sales team what price must appear on WhatsApp tomorrow morning.

Your selling price is a commercial decision.

Keep the two ideas separate.

Do not use Nigeria's inflation rate as your markup #

Nigeria's headline inflation rate was 15.39% in August 2026, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. Food inflation was 19.57% and core inflation 13.29%. (nigerianstat.gov.ng)

Useful economic information.

Not a pricing formula.

If NBS says inflation is 15.39%, that does not mean:

“Add 15.39% to my phone accessories.”

Your product might have become cheaper.

Your freight might have risen.

Your Chinese supplier might have reduced the price.

Customs might classify it differently.

Demand in your market may have weakened.

Track the inflation that affects your own product:

supplier price + FX + freight + Customs + local operating cost.

That is the inflation your business feels.

Watch the exchange rate that actually affects each cost #

One shipment can involve several exchange rates.

Supplier payment rate #

What it actually costs you to buy RMB or USD.

Customs exchange rate #

The rate Nigeria Customs uses for the Customs valuation.

Your replacement rate #

The rate available when you are planning the next order.

Those numbers may not be identical.

So do not write:

“Dollar = ₦1,400”

inside your spreadsheet and leave it there for six months.

Update your costing when you are preparing the next order.

Our yuan to naira guide explains the China-payment side.

Do not change your retail price every morning #

Replacement-cost pricing does not mean waking up every day to send customers a new price list.

Customers hate unstable pricing.

Instead, set a review trigger.

For example:

review when FX moves materially

or:

review when a new shipment is being ordered

or:

review weekly for fast-moving wholesale stock.

There is no magic 5% rule that suits every product.

A low-margin wholesaler may need to react quickly to a 3% movement.

A high-margin fashion product may absorb much more.

Choose a threshold that matches your margin.

Every wholesale quotation should expire #

Do not give a customer a price today and leave it open indefinitely.

Write:

Quote valid for 7 days

or:

Price valid until 30 September 2026.

The exact period depends on the product and market.

The important thing is that the quotation has an expiry.

Otherwise you may quote when:

FX = X

then the customer comes back three weeks later after your replacement cost has changed and says:

“But this is the price you sent me.”

Your quotation should not become free exchange-rate insurance for the buyer.

Separate cash price from credit price #

This matters in Nigeria.

If your customer pays:

today

that is one transaction.

If the customer pays:

30 or 60 days later

you are also financing them.

Your credit price may therefore need to reflect:

• financing cost
• collection risk
• FX/replacement risk
• bad-debt risk

Do not give a wholesaler:

60 days to pay

at the same price as somebody paying cash today without knowing why you are doing it.

Use our selling on credit in Nigeria before offering terms.

The 2026 CBN advance-payment rule affects your cost timing #

The CBN launched the Fourth Edition of the Foreign Exchange Manual on 15 May 2026, with implementation from 1 June 2026. (cbn.gov.ng)

One important change for importers was an increase in the permissible advance payment for physical imports from:

15% to 30% of FOB value. (vanguardngr.com)

That means part of your order can be committed earlier in the buying cycle.

Commercially, this matters because the deposit and balance may be paid at different exchange rates.

For example:

30% deposit: RMB bought today

70% balance: RMB bought six weeks later

Your true FX cost is therefore the weighted cost of both payments.

Do not calculate the entire order using only the exchange rate from the day you paid the deposit.

Nigerian customers should generally be priced in naira #

The 2026 FX Manual also reiterates that goods and services exchanged between Nigerian entities should generally be priced and settled in naira, subject to limited sector-specific exceptions. (mondaq.com)

So:

“My price is $10, pay whatever the dollar is tomorrow”

is not the normal answer to exchange-rate risk in a domestic Nigerian sale.

Manage the risk inside your costing and quote validity.

Be careful with China payment agents and Form M #

There is an important correction to the old advice here.

In August 2020, the CBN initially directed banks against opening Form M where payments were simply being routed through third-party buying companies or agents.

But in November 2020, CBN clarified the rule.

The “ultimate supplier” can be the direct party selling to the Nigerian importer, including an internationally recognised buying company, supplier or agent.

The important requirement is that the beneficiary should line up across the:

Form M + invoice + payment instrument + relevant trade documents. (cbn.gov.ng)

So the rule is not:

“You can never use an agent.”

It is:

“Do not pay a random third party who is disconnected from the documented transaction.”

That is both a payment-risk issue and a Form M issue.

How should you price an imported product? #

Use this order.

1. Calculate today's landed cost #

Include everything required to get the product into your Nigerian warehouse.

2. Check today's replacement cost #

What would the same order cost if you placed it now?

3. Check the real wholesale market #

Not Instagram asking price.

What are actual buyers paying?

4. Decide your required margin #

After selling costs, credit risk and overhead.

5. Set cash and credit terms #

Do not mix them accidentally.

6. Give the quotation an expiry date #

Especially for bulk orders.

7. Review after meaningful cost movement #

Up or down.

That is a pricing system.

Example: when the naira weakens #

Your current landed cost:

₦8,000

Selling price:

₦10,500

Next replacement cost rises to:

₦9,300

You have three choices:

Raise price

if the market can carry it.

Accept a smaller margin

if the product is strategically important.

Stop or change the product

if the market price no longer covers the business.

What you should not do is pretend the new cost does not exist.

Example: when the naira strengthens #

Old landed cost:

₦9,500

Old selling price:

₦12,500

New replacement cost:

₦8,000

Your competitor gets fresh stock and begins selling at:

₦10,800.

Keeping your old price because:

“That is what I paid”

does not protect your margin if you stop selling.

You may need to reduce the price, clear the expensive stock and allow the cheaper replacement shipment to restore the margin.

That is the discipline many traders forget.

What if replacement cost is above the market price? #

Then the problem is probably the product.

If the market will pay:

₦10,000

but a fresh shipment lands at:

₦11,500

you do not have a pricing problem.

You have a sourcing or product problem.

Options include:

• negotiate supplier price
• reduce freight cost
• change packaging
• increase order efficiency
• find another supplier
• sell through a higher-margin channel
• stop importing the item

Do not keep dead stock for one year hoping customers will eventually agree with your spreadsheet.

Use our dead stock guide when the market has moved away from the product.

Do not hide your FX buffer inside an unreasonable price #

There is nothing wrong with keeping a reasonable risk buffer.

But do not keep adding:

10% exchange-rate buffer

10% emergency buffer

10% “Nigeria factor”

until the product cannot compete.

Risk should also be managed through:

• smaller repeat orders
• faster stock turnover
• shorter customer credit
• shorter quote validity
• better supplier terms
• keeping some working capital available
• checking replacement cost regularly

Sometimes the safest price is the one that lets the stock move quickly.

Stock turn can matter more than markup #

Consider two products.

Product A #

20% profit margin.

Sells out every month.

Product B #

50% margin.

Takes six months to sell.

Product B looks better on paper.

But Product A may produce much more profit from the same capital over a year.

This is especially important for importers because your money is tied up during:

production + shipping + Customs + warehousing + customer credit.

Do not judge a product only by markup.

Judge how quickly the capital comes back.

The short answer #

Price imported goods in Nigeria from:

landed cost + current replacement cost + market price + required margin.

Not from fear.

Not from last year's exchange rate.

Not from headline inflation.

And not because another trader said:

“We normally add 40%.”

If replacement cost rises, review your price.

If replacement cost falls, review your price too.

Give bulk quotations an expiry date.

Separate cash pricing from credit pricing.

And if today's replacement cost is already higher than what customers will pay, change the economics before placing another order.

Next, calculate the profit margin on imported goods.

Then use how to sell imported goods in Nigeria to see where the market will actually test your price.

And if the customer wants time rather than a discount, read selling on credit in Nigeria.

First published 23 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.