A transparent method for uncertain import decisions

The five-stage method

1. Normalize the product. Fix specification, quantity, units, finish, packaging, destination, and required delivery window.
2. Normalize commercial scope. Record Incoterm and named place, then identify included and excluded cost legs.
3. Build the cost stack. Separate goods, origin, freight, insurance, customs value, duties, import VAT, destination handling, clearance, inland delivery, and other costs.
4. Test execution. Check route feasibility, capacity, lead-time ranges, handling points, document availability, and compliance questions.
5. Make the next decision explicit. Rank options, name blockers, and define the evidence or quote needed before release.

Evidence labels used in reports

Cost-model boundaries

The free estimator performs arithmetic on user-entered assumptions. It does not select an HS code, guarantee a duty rate, predict a live freight quotation, or decide whether import VAT is recoverable. Those questions depend on the product, transaction, importer, destination, and current rules.

Every material decision should preserve both economic cost and cash requirement. Recoverable import VAT may not be an economic cost, but it can still create a working-capital requirement.

Construction-import research assets and working files

This catalog joins LandedSpec's buyer tools, product-and-destination registers, and data-backed cases to their authoritative landing pages. Cite and evaluate the landing page first; each CSV, Excel, or printable PDF file is a supporting distribution, not a separate recommendation or keyword page.

For versioned reuse, a versioned GitHub mirror publishes three selected public CSV files with hashes, citation metadata, and the same license and source boundary. LandedSpec landing pages remain authoritative; the repository files are mirrors, not new recommendations or search canonicals.

The release also publishes a validated Data Package v2 descriptor for machine-readable resource, schema, missing-value, primary-key, hash, license, and source metadata. It describes three immutable CSV resources with 175 records and 43 ordered fields. The descriptor is a discovery and reuse aid, not a separate landing page or recommendation.

The repository's v2026.07.19 state also has an independently preserved Software Heritage copy with a persistent source identifier and a BibTeX citation generated from CITATION.cff. The record verifies an archived repository state; it is not an editorial endorsement, earned backlink, Google crawl, indexing, or ranking evidence.

Blank, unresolved, modeled, and illustrative fields are labelled deliberately and do not mean zero or confirmed. These working files do not provide live rates, classification, tax, conformity, carrier, supplier, or shipment approval. Replace planning inputs and resolve professional questions for the actual transaction.

Buyer tools and evidence controls

Product and destination registers

Data-backed analyses and worked cases

Dataset reuse, attribution, and source terms

Unless a dataset page states otherwise, LandedSpec-authored selection, calculations, labels, and explanatory notes in a downloadable dataset may be reused under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC BY 4.0). Attribute LandedSpec, link to the dataset landing page, cite the named source dataset and data date, and identify LandedSpec-added calculations or labels.

Underlying source data remains subject to the source provider's rights and reuse terms. For Eurostat-derived datasets, follow Eurostat's reuse notice, preserve any source-provider exceptions, and indicate that the data has been modified. Eurostat does not endorse or accept responsibility for LandedSpec's calculations, labels, interpretations, or conclusions.

This policy covers only LandedSpec's compilation layer. It does not replace, narrow, or expand third-party rights, database rights, attribution requirements, or restrictions identified by the original source.

Article visual reuse and attribution

LandedSpec-authored article visuals served from /assets/articles/ may be reused under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC BY 4.0). Credit LandedSpec, link to the originating article, link to the license, and identify LandedSpec-added selection, calculations, labels, or design.

For accurate editorial use, reuse the visual intact where possible. If you crop or adapt it, state that the visual was changed and retain the scope and boundary text in the visual or accompanying caption. Cite the named source dataset and data date when the visual presents source data.

Underlying source data remains subject to the source provider's rights and reuse terms. This license covers only LandedSpec's article-visual layer; it does not cover the site logo or other brand assets, and it does not grant trademark rights or imply endorsement by LandedSpec, Eurostat, or another source provider.

For editors, reviewers, and dataset users

A LandedSpec review pack identifies the canonical page URL, reviewed date, named source references, downloadable data or evidence registers when available, calculation formulas and assumptions, and the explicit boundary between planning analysis and facts requiring professional confirmation.

Suggested citation: LandedSpec, “page or dataset title,” reviewed or data date, canonical URL, accessed date. Cite each underlying source separately when relying on its data.

Reviewers may challenge a source, formula, label, or conclusion by sending the page URL and primary evidence to hello@landedspec.com. Reviewer credit is optional, requires consent, and does not imply endorsement of LandedSpec or the resulting conclusion.

Review, dates, and corrections

Pages show a reviewed date. A date is changed only when the content or assumptions are materially reviewed. Corrections that affect a recommendation, formula, source interpretation, or material number are disclosed on the relevant page.

To report an error, send the page URL and evidence to hello@landedspec.com. LandedSpec prioritizes corrections over preserving a previous conclusion.