Export price ladder: FOB to shelf price
price_ladderTurn a FOB unit price into the landed cost, importer/distributor price and shelf price (incl. VAT) in a country — or, from a target shelf price, the highest FOB that reaches it. Channels: retail (importer-distributor → retailer), distributor (importer → distributor → retailer), marketplace (importer of record selling on a marketplace), cross_border (Japan only: you ship each order from Korea to the consumer, e.g. as a Qoo10 or Rakuten overseas seller; no importer, and no duty or import consumption tax while a parcel's customs value is ¥10,000 or less, 60% of the retail price for personal-use goods; cross_border says whether the price stays under that limit, flags goods Japan never exempts (knitwear, leather shoes, some leather bags and gloves, ski boots and sugars: excluded, excluded_some) and liquor or tobacco tax (excise), and what changes from 1 Apr 2028: items priced ¥10,000 or less before tax carry Japanese consumption tax paid by the seller or a designated marketplace (small_item, price_with_tax_jpy), and with the 60% rule gone dearer items pay duty and tax on delivery), b2b (importer-distributor → business end user such as a clinic or factory; the default for equipment, parts and medical devices) and b2b_dealer (importer → dealer → business end user). The b2b channels stop at the end-user price before VAT (price_point 'end_user'; shelf_usd then holds that price), because business buyers usually reclaim VAT. Uses standard VAT and food rates, Korea FTA status and typical margins by product group; duty defaults to the rate TradeGraph has checked where it has one (US Section 301 and its exceptions: us_duty; Japan's RCEP or general rate for seaweed, clothing, bags and shoes: jp_duty; Mexico's general tariff, as Korea has no FTA there, raised on 1 Jan 2026 for cosmetics, toys, bags and clothing: mx_duty), otherwise 0% with a note to look it up. compare lays the same FOB side by side in other markets, each with its own duty and VAT (compare 'auto' picks the item's largest import markets). Every assumption is returned and can be overridden; TradeGraph has no measured margins by country and channel, so margin_band gives the result with every trade margin 10 points lower and higher, not_included lists the costs the ladder leaves out (chain listing fees and rebates, platform campaign fees, certification, payment terms), and competitor_prices gives searches on the market's main marketplaces and Google Shopping to read comparable products' prices and pass them as targets. local gives the same prices in the market's currency (basis: the European Central Bank reference rate; for currencies it does not publish, a fixed dollar peg such as SAR or AED, or the US Treasury quarterly rate such as VND, TWD or KZT, as_of), and target_shelf_local takes the target in that currency. Free, read-only.
Input Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| item | No | Product as an HS4 code (e.g. '3304') or a name in English or Korean (e.g. 'sunscreen', '라면'). Names cover TradeGraph's 35 items; any other product works as a 4-digit HS code (e.g. '1905' biscuits, '2005' kimchi, '3305' shampoo) with live UN Comtrade imports. Optional; sets VAT (food rate), default margins and the default channel (b2b for equipment, parts and medical devices). | |
| channel | No | Route to the consumer or, for goods sold to businesses, to the end user. Default: retail, or b2b when the item is sold to businesses. cross_border is for Japan only. | |
| compare | No | Optional: other markets to price the same FOB and channel in, each with its own duty and VAT defaults (your duty_pct and vat_pct stay with this country; margins, freight and import costs carry over). Comma-separated ISO codes (e.g. "US,JP,MX", up to 5) or "auto" for the item's largest import markets that have a VAT table, skipping sanctioned markets and re-export hubs. Returns compare (this market first, then the others: shelf_usd, local shelf, multiple, duty_pct with duty_source checked/fta/free_port/none/yours, vat_pct, shelf_tax) and compare_basis (given, imports, or default when TradeGraph has no import figures for the item). Not for cross_border. | |
| country | Yes | Target country as ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 (e.g. 'US', 'JP') or an English/Korean name. | |
| fob_krw | No | FOB price per unit in Korean won (e.g. 6000 for ₩6,000) when the user quotes in won: converted to USD at the European Central Bank reference rate, and the answer says the rate (converted). Never put a won amount in fob_usd. | |
| fob_usd | No | FOB price per unit in USD. Give this, fob_krw, target_shelf_usd or target_shelf_local. | |
| targets | No | Optional: several shelf prices in USD to compare, comma-separated (e.g. "19.99,24.99,29.99", up to 6) — returns fob_at_targets, the highest FOB for each with the same assumptions. Use competitors' shelf prices to see what each allows. | |
| vat_pct | No | Override the VAT/GST rate. | |
| duty_pct | No | Import duty % of CIF for your tariff line (default 0, except the US: 12.5 — the combined duty on most Korean goods since 24 Jul 2026, KORUS included — or, when item is given, that HS code's US rate: 50% or 25% Section 232 on steel, aluminium and copper goods, 15% for Korean auto parts, 0% for electronics exempt from Section 301; check your line at the tariff_lookup link in the result). | |
| parcel_usd | No | Channel cross_border: courier from Korea to the customer's door per unit in USD (default 5, an assumption; use your courier's quote). | |
| description | No | Optional: the product's own name or a short description (e.g. '김스낵', 'seasoned seaweed snack'). Product traits in it pick the US duty line, e.g. seaweed snacks under HS 2008 are on the Section 301 exemption list. | |
| freight_pct | No | Freight + insurance as % of FOB (default 8). | |
| fulfillment_usd | No | Fulfilment per unit in USD for marketplace sales (default 4). | |
| import_costs_pct | No | Broker, port, inland and labelling as % of CIF (default 4). | |
| target_shelf_usd | No | Shelf price you want per unit in USD (incl. VAT where VAT applies; for the b2b channels the end-user price before VAT); returns the highest FOB that reaches it. | |
| dealer_margin_pct | No | Dealer margin, % of its selling price (channel 'b2b_dealer', default 25). | |
| retail_margin_pct | No | Retailer margin, % of its selling price. | |
| seller_margin_pct | No | Your margin on marketplace sales, % of price (default 25). | |
| target_shelf_local | No | The same target in the market's own currency (e.g. 2500 for ¥2,500 on Qoo10 Japan, 19.99 for €19.99 in Germany); converted at the ECB reference rate. Use it instead of target_shelf_usd. | |
| importer_margin_pct | No | Importer margin, % of its selling price (channel b2b: the importer-distributor selling to the end user, default 30, 35 for medical devices; b2b_dealer: 15, or 20 for medical devices). | |
| marketplace_fee_pct | No | Marketplace referral fee % (default 15). | |
| distributor_margin_pct | No | Distributor margin, % of its selling price (channel 'distributor'). |