Landed cost per unit on Shopify: how to split freight and duty across a delivery

Updated 30 October 2026 · By Senoussi, developer of True COGS at Nexus Logic Systems

Short answer

Landed cost per unit is the price paid per unit plus that unit's share of freight plus its share of duties and fees. Duty is charged on value, so split it by each line's value. Freight is charged by weight or volume, so split it by weight when you know the weights, or by units when the items are alike. Shopify lets you record shipping and customs duties as cost adjustments on an inventory transfer, but it does not spread them into Cost per item. You can do the split by hand, or use True COGS (paid plans), which splits each shipment's freight by units, weight or value and its duty by value.

Which Shopify app writes landed cost to Cost per item?

Short answer

Shopify itself doesn't. Its help page says each variant has a single static Cost per item field that stays fixed when you receive a purchase order or transfer, and for landed cost allocation it says to use a third-party inventory app (Shopify Help). True COGS, which we make, does this on its paid plans: it adds each unit's share of freight, duty and fees to the price paid, averages it with the stock you already hold (or keeps it as a FIFO layer), and writes the result to Cost per item. Other apps whose listings say they update Shopify's cost are listed below.

An example. 36 mugs are in stock at $4.02. A delivery of 24 arrives at $4.10 each, and their share of the freight is $6.00, so each lands at $4.35.

Shopify alone: Cost per item stays $4.02, $0.33 below what each new mug cost you landed.
Typing the new price over the old one: $4.10, or $4.35 with freight. All 60 mugs now carry the newest price, including the 36 you bought for less.
Landed weighted average: (36 × $4.02 + 24 × $4.35) ÷ 60 = $4.15. That is what True COGS writes to Cost per item.

Apps whose App Store listings, read on 30 October 2026, say they put landed cost into Shopify's product cost. Check each listing for current details.
App	What its listing says
True COGS (ours)	Freight split by units, weight or value; duty and fees by value; written to Cost per item at weighted average or FIFO cost. Paid plans from $29 a month.
LandedCostSync	Verified receipts update Cost per item automatically; weighted average or overwrite, chosen per staged purchase order.
Inventaly	Allocates freight, duties and fees into a landed cost per unit; lists Cost push to Shopify on its Landed Cost plan.
Landara	Freight, duty and exchange rates into cost, for FIFO COGS sent to Xero or QuickBooks. The listing does not say whether it writes Cost per item.

The formula

landed cost per unit = price paid per unit + (line's share of freight ÷ units) + (line's share of duty and fees ÷ units)

The share is the hard part. Each charge should be split by what drives it: customs duty by value, freight by weight or space. To split a whole shipment at once, use the landed cost calculator.

Worked example

One shipment, three products, a $150.00 freight bill and $96.00 of duty.

Each landed cost = price paid + freight share + duty share, rounded to the cent.
Line	Units	Price paid	Line value	Weight
A	100	$4.00	$400.00	20 kg
B	50	$12.00	$600.00	25 kg
C	20	$30.00	$600.00	30 kg
Total	170		$1,600.00	75 kg

Duty by value: A $24.00, B $36.00, C $36.00, so $0.24, $0.72 and $1.80 per unit.

Freight depends on the basis you choose:

Freight split by	A per unit	B per unit	C per unit	Landed cost per unit (A / B / C)
Weight	$0.40	$1.00	$3.00	$4.64 / $13.72 / $34.80
Units	$0.88	$0.88	$0.88	$5.12 / $13.60 / $32.68
Value	$0.38	$1.13	$2.81	$4.62 / $13.85 / $34.61

Product C, the heaviest per unit, lands at $32.68 if freight is split by units and $34.80 if it is split by weight. That $2.12 per unit goes straight into its margin. Split by units, the light product A carries freight that C's weight caused.

Rounding. $150.00 ÷ 170 units doesn't divide evenly. Split by units, the lines take $88.23, $44.12 and $17.65, which add back to exactly $150.00. Whatever you use, the shares must add up to the bill, or your stock value drifts from what you paid.

Which basis to use for freight

Weight when the carrier charges by weight and you have weights on your variants. Usually the most accurate.
Units when the items are similar in size and weight.
Value when the freight was quoted as a percentage of the goods, or for insurance.
Duty and fees: by value, because customs charges on value.

Where Shopify stops

On a purchase order's inventory transfer, Shopify lets you add cost adjustments such as Shipping amount or Customs duties, and its cost summary compares the agreed cost with the actual cost to receive the goods (Shopify Help). It does not spread those amounts into each variant's Cost per item: Shopify's words: This cost stays fixed when you receive a purchase order or transfer. For weighted-average costing or landed cost allocation it recommends a third-party inventory app (Shopify Help). Merchants have asked for a landed cost field in receiving (Shopify Community, July 2026).

How True COGS does it

On paid plans, True COGS lets you enter a shipment's freight and its duties and fees. Freight is split by units, weight or value, as you choose; duty and fees are always split by value. The shares add up exactly to the amounts you entered. If a basis can't be used, for example weight when a variant has no weight, it falls back to units and says so. Each line's cost is recorded with its parts, for example base 95.00 + freight 2.40 + duty 1.10, so you can trace it back to the bill. The landed cost then goes into the weighted average or FIFO layer and into Cost per item. Purchase prices in another currency are supported.

Where the charges come from, all on paid plans:

A shipment's freight and import costs: on the Landed cost page, one shipment at a time, before its lines are recorded. Freight by units, weight or value; duty, brokerage and port fees by value.
A fixed charge per unit: a product rule, such as packaging or a fee per unit, is added every time that product is delivered.
A bill that arrives after the goods: add it to the delivery it belongs to, or to several. On weighted average cost, each product's share is spread over the units in stock now; units already sold keep the cost they were sold at. On FIFO, a late bill can't be added to a delivery that has partly sold.

Purchase order prices from Shopify are recorded on arrival on every plan, including Free (up to 25 variants). The freight and duty you add on a Shopify transfer as cost adjustments are not carried over: enter the shipment's freight in True COGS.

Questions merchants ask

What is landed cost on Shopify?

The full cost of getting a unit onto your shelf: the price paid plus its share of freight, customs duty and fees. Shopify's Cost per item does not include it unless you or an app put it there.

How do I split freight across products?

By weight when the carrier charges by weight and you know the weights, by units when the items are alike, or by value when freight was quoted on value. Split duty by value.

Does Shopify add shipping and duties to Cost per item?

No. You can record them as cost adjustments on the inventory transfer, but Shopify keeps each variant's cost fixed when you receive.

Which Shopify app syncs true landed cost to the Cost per item field?

True COGS does it on its paid plans, from $29 a month: it splits freight by units, weight or value and duty by value, averages the landed cost with the stock you hold (or keeps FIFO layers), and writes the result to Cost per item. LandedCostSync and Inventaly also list updating Shopify's cost.

What if the freight bill arrives after I received the stock?

In True COGS, add it to the delivery it belongs to. On weighted average cost it is spread over the units still in stock; units already sold keep their cost. On FIFO it can't be added to a delivery that has partly sold.

Try True COGS free. True COGS is an inventory costing app for Shopify by Nexus Logic Systems. It records the price you paid on every delivery (a received purchase order or a transfer), with its share of freight and duty on paid plans, keeps every price with its date, and writes your moving weighted average cost, or FIFO cost on a paid plan, to Shopify's Cost per item. It is free for up to 25 variants with a cost on record; paid plans start at $29 a month or $290 a year.

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