Amazon FBA USA and Tariffs

[Porky]

How would it work if you ship say £20k retail Price value to FBA in the USA?

Would i have to pay the tariff on the whole retail value. After all a) they may not sell all of the stock b) pricing changes according to demand c) they take their fees/commissions out so my net value is far less than the RRP Value?

Could i based my value on my own manufacture value?

Anyone know? @AmazonGeek

 

[AmazonGeek]

No, duties are paid on the declared value, which is what you pay your supplier. You will need a commercial invoice from them and don't even think about fudging this. If you get caught there are severe penalties.

However, be careful shipping to the US at the moment - it is a very volatile situation and tariffs are all over the place, as I am sure you know.

You pay duties, tariffs, etc when they arrived in the US by the way. This is completely separate to FBA.

You can use bonded warehouses to defer some of it though, since goods stored are treated as if they have not yet entered US territory. As you withdraw stock, you only pay the the duty/tariff on that portion of it. You have to pay storage of course but it might help with cashflow.

 

[apricot]

You don't pay duty based on retail price.

You pay duty based on production price.
Use simpledutycalculator to calculate the duty fee. Enter where the product is made and how much you pay for each product, it will show you how much you need to pay for the duty.

 

[DontAsk]

You don't pay duty based on retail price.

You pay duty based on production price.

You don't pay duty based on production cost.

You pay duty on the declared value.

 

[Customs Geek]

Customs declared value is usually take price paid by the US buyer at the time of import. Certain adjustments also need to be made. I assume that as you will be importing goods you already own there is no sale as you can’t sell to yourself. If so you can’t use the standard method.
Nor can you just use the price you previously paid for the goods or the use the intended retail value. There are a set of rules with six possible methods that most countries use to work out the goods value.
Here is some US info.
www.help.cbp.gov/s/article/Article-1162?language=en_US
The informed compliance document on valuation mentioned is below

www.cbp.gov/document/publications/customs-value

 

[DuyTran]

Nah, customs won’t charge you on the £20k retail value. Duties are based on your invoice/manufacture cost, not what you hope to sell it for on Amazon.

So if your supplier invoice says the goods are worth £20k at cost, that’s what they’ll look at. Doesn’t matter if Amazon fees cut into your margin or if some stock doesn’t sell — import duty is just on the landed value (product cost + shipping/insurance if included).

Think of it like: you pay duty once at the border, then all the Amazon stuff (FBA fees, commissions, price changes) comes after.

I’ve gone through this myself and shared more detail with examples over at freebirdsacademy.com if you want to dig in.

 

[DuyTran]

You only pay tariffs on what you paid your supplier — not the retail price.
Customs calculates duties based on the declared manufacturing cost (your invoice value), not your Amazon sale price.

I actually wrote a detailed breakdown about this on my blog — just Google the title “Save Thousands on Tariffs: What Amazon Sellers Should Declare When Shipping Inventory” if you want the full explanation.

 

[DontAsk]

You only pay tariffs on what you paid your supplier — not the retail price.
Customs calculates duties based on the declared manufacturing cost

Again, nothing to do with manufacturing or production cost. The supplier can add whatever profit they want to the manufacturing cost.

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

Nah, customs won’t charge you on the £20k retail value. Duties are based on your invoice/manufacture cost, not what you hope to sell it for on Amazon.

Assuming US customs works the same as EU/UK, duty is calculated on the invoice price at point of import. It has nothing to do with the suppliers' production cost.

How would customs know what a manufacturing cost is?

Therefore, they would pay the price based on what they bought at on Amazon i.e. retail, for single items. If sending to FBA, you would probably use a lower cost, whatever you want! Some people have been known to under declare item costs, which is very naughty.....

 

[DuyTran]

Yup, customs base duty on your transaction value — basically what you actually paid your supplier — not the Amazon retail price. Here’s a quick example to make it clearer


Example:
Let’s say you import 1,000 units at $5 each → $5,000 invoice value
Duty rate: 4%
Shipping + insurance: $800


If you’re using FOB terms (freight paid separately):

• Customs value = $5,000
• Duty = 4% of $5,000 = $200
• Small fees (MPF/HMF) add maybe $40 total
  Total landed cost ≈ $5,240

If you wrongly used your Amazon retail price ($20/unit), customs would think it’s a $20,000 shipment, and you’d pay $800+ in duty instead of $200. That’s why they only use your invoice price, not the RRP.


Also, under-declaring is risky — if your declared value looks too low, customs can re-value it and fine you.


TL;DR:
Duty = % of what you paid your supplier (plus freight/insurance depending on terms).
Retail price on Amazon doesn’t matter at all.