Estimate air, ocean, and DDP-style landed cost from supplier to Amazon FBA. Calculate CBM, chargeable weight, duty, prep, and freight cost per unit before you book.
This calculator is a planning estimate, not a live freight quote. Freight rates change by lane, carrier, season, fuel surcharge, customs duties, port fees, warehousing, delivery appointment fees, and shipment details. The default air, ocean, and FCL rate ranges are mid-2026 planning defaults from publicly published industry ranges — replace them with quotes from your freight forwarder, 3PL, or Seller Central shipment workflow for purchasing or replenishment decisions. No live freight quote API call is made.
An Amazon FBA freight calculator estimates the cost of shipping cartons or pallets from a supplier or factory to an Amazon FBA fulfillment center. It covers four building blocks: (1) shipment volume and weight — CBM and chargeable weight; (2) the freight rate itself — air, ocean LCL, or ocean FCL; (3) customs duty and insurance; and (4) downstream costs — prep, drayage or domestic delivery. The output is a planning landed-cost-per-unit figure, which you compare against your selling price to estimate margin before booking freight or placing a purchase order.
Air freight is faster (5–10 days door-to-door typical) but more expensive per kg. It is best for low-volume replenishment, urgent restocks, or items where inventory-out risk is high. Ocean freight is much cheaper per kg but slower (25–45 days door-to-door typical). It is best for large replenishment orders where you can plan inventory 6–10 weeks ahead.
The breakeven between air and ocean typically falls between 1 and 3 CBM depending on lane, season, and rate spread. Below that volume, air freight may cost less in total despite a higher per-kg rate. Above that volume, ocean wins on cost-per-unit. The calculator shows both ranges side by side when you select Compare air vs ocean.
CBM stands for cubic meter. It is the standard unit ocean freight carriers use to bill LCL (less-than-container-load) shipments. One CBM equals one cubic meter of volume. To compute CBM for one carton, multiply length × width × height in meters. Multiply that by the number of cartons to get total shipment volume.
CBM per carton = lengthM × widthM × heightM
Total CBM = cartons × cbmPerCarton
Most LCL carriers set a 1 CBM minimum even if your shipment is smaller, and many apply a weight/cbm ratio of 1:1000 — meaning 1000 kg counts as 1 CBM. This calculator applies the 1 CBM minimum so very small shipments are not undercounted.
Air freight carriers charge by the higher of actual weight and volumetric (dimensional) weight. Volumetric weight is calculated as:
Volumetric weight (kg) = lengthCm × widthCm × heightCm / 6000
The 6000 divisor is the international air freight standard. The chargeable weight is whichever of actual weight and volumetric weight is greater, applied to your air rate per kg. If your cartons are light but bulky (apparel, foam, packaging-heavy items), volumetric weight dominates. If your cartons are dense (electronics, supplements, hardware), actual weight usually wins.
Freight cost per unit is part of your landed cost, which is part of your margin. A $4 product with $2 freight per unit and a $19.99 selling price leaves different margin than the same product with $4 freight per unit. Many Amazon sellers see freight consume 8–25% of landed cost depending on lane and mode. Ocean from Asia is typically 60–80% cheaper per kg than air but requires 6–10 weeks of inventory planning.
Run the calculator with different shipment modes and seasonal rate swings to find a freight cost you can build into your selling price. Then verify with your freight forwarder or 3PL before placing a purchase order.
If you ship pallets rather than loose cartons, run the Pallet Calculator first to confirm boxes per layer, total boxes per pallet, stack height, and pallet weight. The FBA Freight Calculator treats your shipment as cartons — pass the total carton count and average carton dimensions into the freight calculator to estimate air vs ocean cost. For palletized freight, FCL ocean is often more cost-effective than LCL because the container is filled with palletized goods.
An Amazon FBA freight calculator is a planning tool that estimates the cost of shipping cartons or pallets from a supplier or factory to an Amazon FBA fulfillment center. It covers CBM, chargeable weight for air freight, ocean LCL or FCL estimates, customs duty, prep cost, and landed cost per unit. It is not a live freight quote.
No. This is a planning estimate. Freight rates change by lane, season, carrier, fuel surcharge, customs duties, port fees, warehousing, and delivery appointment fees. Verify quotes with your freight forwarder, 3PL, or Seller Central shipment workflow before making purchasing or replenishment decisions.
CBM is the volume of one carton in cubic meters: length × width × height in meters. Multiply by the number of cartons for total CBM. A 50 × 40 × 30 cm carton is 0.5 × 0.4 × 0.3 = 0.06 m³. For 100 cartons, total CBM = 6.0 m³.
Air freight carriers charge by the higher of actual weight and volumetric weight. Volumetric weight is calculated as length × width × height (in cm) / 6000 for international air freight. The chargeable weight is whichever of the two is greater.
Air is faster but more expensive per kg. It is best for low-volume replenishment or urgent restocks. Ocean is much cheaper per kg but slower. It is best for large replenishment orders where you can plan inventory 6–10 weeks ahead. The breakeven typically falls between 1 and 3 CBM depending on lane.
Yes. Enter your estimated duty rate (as a percentage of product cost). The calculator multiplies that by your total product cost. Verify duty with your customs broker or freight forwarder — actual duty depends on HTS code, country of origin, declared value, and trade agreements.
Yes. DDP (Delivered Duty Paid) bundles freight, duty, insurance, and final delivery into one figure. This calculator's DDP option combines all of those costs into a landed cost per unit for easy margin comparison. Actual DDP quotes must come from your freight forwarder.
No. This calculator only covers inbound freight and landed cost from supplier to FBA. Amazon FBA fulfillment fees, referral fees, storage fees, and aged-inventory surcharges are calculated separately in the Amazon FBA Fee Calculator and Amazon FBA Revenue Calculator.