Freight Ain’t Free—And It’s Out to Get You

You Found the Perfect Product… Until You Saw the Freight Bill

You did it.

You spent weeks (maybe months) digging through Jungle Scout, vetting samples, checking reviews, and running numbers until your eyeballs bled.

You finally locked in a winner—a product with solid demand, weak competition, and juicy profit potential…

Then boom 💥

A freight quote shows up that looks more like a car payment than a shipping cost.

Now you’re stuck asking the million-dollar question:

How the heck do I price this thing when shipping is killing my margins?

Let me break it down with a story and a strategy that’ll save your listing—and your sanity.

📦 Real Talk: The $29 Water Bottle That Sank My Buddy's First FBA Launch

A buddy of mine (we’ll call him Jake) was pumped.

He found a sleek insulated water bottle—double-walled, minimalist design, trending like crazy.

Manufacturing cost? Just $5 per unit in China.

His plan? Sell for $29.99, undercut the competition, and bank an easy $10+ profit per unit after Amazon fees.

He ordered 500 units and set up sea freight for what should have been around $600.

Then the shipping gods laughed. 😅

Freight delays. Port congestion. Fuel surcharges. Suddenly his $600 quote became $1,650.

That’s $3.30 extra per unit—more than half his expected profit—gone.

Oof.

Now Jake had two choices:

1. Raise his price and risk losing buyers

2. Eat the cost and hope to make it up in volume

He panicked, left his price at $29.99, and barely broke even. Worse, it killed his confidence.

Don’t be Jake. Be smarter.

🔢 The 4-Step Freight-Proof Pricing Strategy

If freight’s eating your margins, don’t wing it. Here’s what I recommend:

🛠️ Step 1: Calculate “All-In” Landed Cost

Include everything:

• Product cost

• Packaging

• Freight (including port fees, duties, and drayage)

• Prep fees and inspection

• 3PL or Amazon inbound costs

Divide total costs by units to get your true landed cost per unit.

👉 If you're not including freight per unit, you're just lying to yourself.

📊 Step 2: Use Reverse Profit Math

Take your target sale price and subtract:

• Amazon referral fee (usually 15%)

• FBA fee (use Amazon’s calculator)

• Landed cost

• Ad budget per unit (if you're launching with PPC)

What’s left is your net margin per unit.

You want at least 30% margin or $10 net profit, whichever is higher.

📈 Step 3: Test Price Elasticity Before You Commit

Before you go all-in:

• Create a test listing with 20–50 units

• Run PPC at break-even for a week

• Test pricing at $5–$10 higher than your initial guess

You’ll learn fast if your audience can stomach a higher price—or if you need to cut bait.

📦 Step 4: Shrink to Win

Sometimes, the answer isn’t raising your price.

It’s shrinking your size tier.

If your product is this close to tipping into a higher FBA tier, redesign it.

Examples:

• Trim packaging to stay “small standard”

• Switch from glass to silicone to cut weight

• Use vacuum-sealed packaging to shrink volume

I’ve seen people save $4 per unit just by reducing box dimensions.

That’s not a hack. That’s a lifeline.

🎯 Big Takeaway: Price From the Bottom Up, Not the Top Down

Most new sellers price based on what the market is doing.

But smart sellers? We price based on our real costs—and we build the listing to earn that price.

Shipping is part of the game now. The winners know how to factor it in and still turn a profit.

So before you launch, take a breath. Run the math. Get freight-smart.

Because if your margins get murdered before launch, it doesn’t matter how great your product is.

💬 Repeat After Me: “If it doesn’t land cheap, it doesn’t sell deep.”

🙋‍♂️ Been burned by freight before? Comment if you’ve been there 👇
💌 Forward this to a seller friend who needs to hear it
🔖 Save this to your favorites for your next launch

✍️ To your smart (and profitable) selling,

Andy Splichal
Founder & Managing Partner of True Online Presence & Author of the Make Each Click Count Book Series

P.S. Overwhelmed by Amazon ads? I get it. Most sellers are throwing darts in the dark. If you want a pro in your corner running your PPC while you focus on growing your brand, let's hop on a call.
👉 Schedule your call here — we’ll see if it’s a fit 👊

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