Buyer decision guide
Compare FOB and DDP Landed Cost Scenarios
Put FOB and DDP offers on a comparable cost basis, expose buyer-owned charges and keep customs assumptions separate from supplier prices.
Open the toolPrepare a controlled input
The calculator or checklist is only as useful as the commercial and product facts entered into it.
Use this when
- Suppliers quote different Incoterms.
- A DDP price looks simple but its import assumptions are unclear.
- An FOB offer requires buyer-arranged freight and customs handling.
Inputs to collect
- Unit price and quantity
- Incoterm and named place
- Origin and destination charges
- Freight and insurance
- Customs value, duty and tax assumptions
- Brokerage and final delivery
Decision workflow
Keep the working basis visible so another reviewer can reproduce the conclusion.
Fix the comparison basis
Use one product specification, quantity, currency, destination and packing revision.
Separate included costs
Map what the seller price includes and keep buyer-paid lines visible rather than entering unexplained zeroes.
Record border assumptions
State the customs-value and duty inputs as assumptions with a source date.
Compare sensitivity
Change the uncertain freight or duty input and see whether the award conclusion changes.
The output should support a decision
A side-by-side cost model with included, excluded and unverified lines visible.
Questions the output should answer
- Which offer has the lower modeled landed cost
- Which scenario carries opaque customs or delivery responsibility
- Which assumption is material enough to verify before award
Check the failure points
- Comparing different quantities
- Treating DDP as automatically lower risk
- Double-counting freight
- Using a duty estimate as a customs determination