LandedHQ
UK importers calculate landed cost, duty, VAT, suppliers, and customs paperwork in one dashboard.
Tagline
Know landed cost before you order
The system of record for UK importers
Stop losing margin at the border
Replace spreadsheets with live import costing
The landed cost system of record for UK importers.
This is stronger than “calculator” because the page includes calculators, supplier management, alerts, and document validation. The product is trying to own the full import workflow, not a single task.
The alternative to spreadsheet-based import costing and customs guesswork.
The page repeatedly attacks uncertainty: underestimating landed cost by 20–35%, missing rate changes, and document errors. Spreadsheets are the obvious incumbent, and this product is built to replace them with live rates and saved supplier/product data.
Stop losing margin at the border: duty, VAT, and paperwork checked before you order.
This is the strongest pain-killer angle because the site explicitly ties the product to customs delays, fines, storage fees, and incorrect duty assumptions post-Brexit. It’s not just compliance; it’s margin protection.
Primary user
Operations or import manager at a UK e-commerce brand or wholesale business placing regular overseas orders
ICP #1
Operations manager at a UK DTC clothing brand importing monthly from Bangladesh, China, and India
Pain
They keep getting margin surprises because quoted supplier cost is not the true landed cost, and they don’t have a clean way to track duty changes or DCTS eligibility.
Why this solves
LandedHQ shows duty, VAT, freight, and margin per unit before ordering, then alerts them when rates change and flags missing origin documents like Form A that would kill a 0% duty claim.
ICP #2
Founder of a small UK homeware or cosmetics brand sourcing from multiple suppliers in Asia
Pain
They’re making pricing decisions in spreadsheets and only discover customs issues when a shipment is delayed or the margin disappears.
Why this solves
The product combines calculator, supplier dashboard, and document checks so they can compare countries, track supplier exposure, and validate paperwork in one workflow instead of stitching together HMRC, email, and Excel.
ICP #3
Import/export coordinator at a UK wholesale distributor with repeated shipments and messy supplier documents
Pain
Cross-document mismatches, wrong commodity codes, and missing origin certificates create avoidable customs holds and rework.
Why this solves
The AI document checker specifically compares invoice, packing list, bill of lading, EORI format, and DCTS paperwork, which maps directly to the errors that trigger delays, fines, and emergency fixes.
Strengths
- +The page is unusually specific: it shows exact duty/VAT/freight math, real product examples, and actual document warnings like "Quantity mismatch" and "DCTS Form A missing."
- +It clearly maps to three distinct jobs-to-be-done: calculate, manage suppliers, and clear documents.
- +The free entry point is compelling and low-friction: 3 calculations/month, no card required, live HMRC rates.
Weaknesses
- −The page tries to sell three products at once, which blurs the wedge; it’s not obvious whether LandedHQ is a calculator, supplier CRM, or customs compliance tool.
- −The homepage is overloaded with feature density and pricing nuance, but the core aha moment isn’t distilled into one crisp promise for a specific user segment.
- −The term "AI" is present, but the page doesn’t show enough proof of accuracy, workflow details, or example outputs to make customs teams trust it immediately.
- −The sourcing directory tease feels premature and dilutes the current product story; it sounds like a future community feature, not a current reason to buy.
- −There’s limited evidence of integrations, exports, or how it fits into existing ERP/spreadsheet workflows, which matters for real import operators.
Fix these
- Pick one primary wedge for the homepage hero: either landed cost calculator for importers or customs-document checker; keep the others as supporting modules.
- Rewrite the top-of-page value prop around a single outcome, such as "Know your true landed cost before you place the order," then support it with the calculator example.
- Add proof assets: sample HMRC rate snapshots, before/after margin examples, and a short walkthrough of an actual document-check result.
- Create dedicated landing pages by persona and category, especially for clothing, cosmetics, electronics, and homewares, because the duty pain and terminology differ by vertical.
- Show export/share workflows: CSV output, supplier PDF reports, and a clean audit trail for customs and internal margin reviews.
Drop-in replacement copy
Headline
Know landed cost before you order
Duty, VAT, freight, and customs checks for UK importers.
See the real margin on every SKU
Enter product cost, origin, HS code, and freight to get landed cost, duty, VAT, and unit margin instantly. Stop pricing from supplier quotes that leave out the real import cost.
Catch tariff changes before they hit
LandedHQ monitors HMRC Trade Tariff rates daily and alerts you when duty changes affect saved products or suppliers. That means fewer surprise margin drops and fewer last-minute reprices.
Track suppliers by exposure, not guesswork
Link products to suppliers and compare origin countries across your sourcing options. You can see which suppliers are carrying the most duty risk before you reorder.
Check customs docs before the shipment moves
Upload commercial invoices, packing lists, bills of lading, and origin certificates to catch mismatches early. The checker flags issues that commonly lead to holds, delays, and manual rework.
FAQ
Is this a landed cost calculator or a compliance tool?
Both, but the wedge is landed cost. The calculator is the core workflow, and supplier tracking plus document checks are there to stop surprises later.
Does it use live HMRC tariff data?
Yes. LandedHQ pulls live HMRC Trade Tariff rates and monitors them daily so saved products and suppliers can be updated when rates change.
Who is this for?
UK importers who place regular overseas orders: DTC brands, wholesale distributors, sourcing teams, and operators who currently rely on spreadsheets and broker emails.
Can I compare different origin countries?
Yes. You can compare landed cost across multiple source countries to see how duty and VAT affect margin before you commit to a supplier.
Will this replace my broker or ERP?
No. It sits before that step and helps you make better buying decisions, keep a cleaner audit trail, and send fewer bad documents downstream.
UK importers still price blind. Supplier quote is not landed cost. Duty, VAT, freight, and bad paperwork can erase margin fast. LandedHQ calculates the real number before you order, using live HMRC rates. No spreadsheets. No customs surprises.
Built this after seeing margin vanish on "profitable" orders. Every time the spreadsheet missed duty, VAT, or origin paperwork, the real cost showed up later. LandedHQ now tracks the number before purchase, then alerts when rates change. That should be the default.
A 2% duty change kills margin. And most importers only notice after the PO is sent. LandedHQ watches HMRC rates daily and flags saved products and suppliers when costs move. If you're importing from China, India, Vietnam, or Bangladesh, this is the boring problem that saves real money.
Watch one SKU become unprofitable. Enter unit cost, origin, HS code, freight, and margin target. LandedHQ shows duty, import VAT, landed cost, and your real margin per unit. That’s the number you should be pricing from.
The best users hate surprises. Ops managers, founders, and import coordinators all want the same thing: know the real landed cost before customs does. That’s why LandedHQ combines calculator, supplier tracking, and document checks in one workflow.
Stop shipments getting held at customs. LandedHQ checks commercial invoices, packing lists, bills of lading, and origin docs before you ship. It flags mismatches that trigger holds, delays, and emergency rework. Less guessing. Less firefighting.
Most import tools stop at a calculator. That was the problem. The real workflow is: calculate landed cost, compare suppliers, watch duty changes, then catch document errors before the shipment leaves. So that’s what LandedHQ does now.
Your spreadsheet is lying to you. It doesn’t know live HMRC rates, DCTS eligibility, supplier exposure, or whether the invoice matches the packing list. LandedHQ pulls those checks into one place so you can price and ship with less risk.
What happens when Form A is missing? Your 0% duty claim can disappear, and your margin goes with it. LandedHQ checks origin paperwork against the shipment and flags missing DCTS documents before you find out the hard way. That’s the kind of mistake worth preventing.
Real import teams need audit trails. Not just a calculator result, but a saved product, linked supplier, rate snapshot, and document check you can export or review later. That’s why LandedHQ fits operators, not just founders.
Angle: margin protection before ordering
Most UK importers still price from supplier quotes. That’s not landed cost. It misses duty, import VAT, freight, and the paperwork problems that show up later as delays, storage fees, or lost margin. We built LandedHQ because this keeps happening in spreadsheets. You enter the product, origin country, HS code, freight, and target margin. Then it shows the real landed cost per unit before you place the order. The useful part is what happens after that: - live HMRC Trade Tariff checks - daily rate-change alerts - supplier exposure tracking - document checks for invoices, packing lists, bills of lading, and origin certificates For import-led brands, the goal is simple: know the real number before customs does. If you’re pricing products from China, India, Bangladesh, or Vietnam, I’d be interested in what you currently use today: spreadsheet, broker, ERP, or a mix of everything.
Angle: post-Brexit compliance workflow
UK import compliance is still too fragmented. One tab for landed cost. One email thread for the supplier. One spreadsheet for margin. One PDF that may or may not match the packing list. That fragmentation is where mistakes happen. Wrong commodity codes. Missing origin docs. Misread duty rates. Surprises after the shipment is already on the water. LandedHQ was built to reduce that mess in one workflow. It combines landed cost calculation, supplier tracking, rate alerts, and AI document checks so an ops team can spot issues before goods get held at customs. The point is not “AI.” The point is fewer avoidable errors. If you manage imports for a UK brand or wholesale business, I think the real category here is not a calculator. It’s an import operating system. Curious whether that framing resonates more than “landed cost calculator.”
Angle: specific use case for sourcing teams
A sourcing manager doesn’t need another generic SaaS tool. They need to answer three questions fast: 1. What is the real landed cost from this supplier? 2. Which origin country gives us the best margin? 3. Are the documents clean enough to clear customs? That is the actual workflow behind most import decisions. LandedHQ was built for that exact sequence. Compare suppliers across origin countries. See duty and VAT by product. Track rate changes when tariff rules move. Check the invoice, packing list, bill of lading, and origin paperwork before shipment. It’s a boring problem. Which is why it matters. Boring problems are where margin leaks. If you work in sourcing or ops for an import-led brand, I’d love to know which part hurts most: calculating cost, tracking supplier changes, or fixing customs paperwork at the last minute.
No visuals for this kit yet.
Tagline
UK landed cost, duty, VAT, and customs checks
Description
LandedHQ helps UK importers calculate true landed cost, track supplier exposure, monitor HMRC duty changes, and catch customs document issues before shipments get held.
Maker's first comment
I built LandedHQ because I kept seeing the same failure mode: a product looks profitable on paper, then duty, VAT, freight, or paperwork turns it into a bad order. If you import regularly, you probably live in a mix of spreadsheets, HMRC tabs, supplier emails, and PDFs. That works until rates change or a document is wrong, and then the fix is expensive and slow. LandedHQ started as a landed cost calculator, but the real need was broader: keep the product, supplier, tariff rate, and shipping docs connected in one place. So now it calculates landed cost, tracks suppliers, watches HMRC rate changes, and checks common customs documents for mismatches before the shipment leaves. I’m launching it because I want feedback from people who actually do this work every week. I’m especially interested in whether the calculator, supplier tracking, or document checks is the sharpest entry point for your workflow.
Pinned maker comment
Would love feedback on the core wedge: landed cost calculator vs customs document checker. Also keen to hear what export format you’d need most: CSV, PDF, or something you can hand to a broker.
Meta
UK importers lose margin in spreadsheets
Hypothesis: UK ops managers and founders who import from Asia will click if the ad promises true landed cost before ordering, not after customs. LandedHQ calculates duty, VAT, freight, and margin per unit using live HMRC rates, then flags document issues before shipment.
Google Search
landed cost calculator uk
Hypothesis: people searching for a landed cost calculator UK want a tool that includes duty, import VAT, and HMRC rates, not a generic freight estimator. LandedHQ shows the real cost per product, by origin country and HS code, with alerts when rates change.
Reddit Promoted
Spreadsheets miss duty changes.
Hypothesis: indie founders and import operators in r/indiehackers, r/EntrepreneurRideAlong, and r/SideProject will engage with a painful, specific problem if it’s framed as a workflow fix rather than a promo. LandedHQ helps UK importers calculate landed cost, track supplier exposure, and catch customs doc errors before shipments get held.
Subreddits
r/indiehackers
Build-in-public post about replacing spreadsheets with live HMRC tariff checks and why the wedge is landed cost for UK importers
Rules: Share lessons, numbers, and product decisions; no obvious spam or pure promotion
r/SideProject
Show the product workflow with a short demo of landed cost calculation and document checking
Rules: Must present the build and ask for feedback; self-promo is tolerated only when it’s useful and transparent
r/microsaas
Talk about building a narrow SaaS for a painful operational niche and the challenge of serving a specific ICP
Rules: Keep it founder-focused, share numbers or product thinking, avoid generic marketing posts
r/EntrepreneurRideAlong
Story post about finding a painful UK import problem from customer conversations and shipping the first useful version
Rules: The sub wants founder journey and lessons, not a hard sell
r/smallbusinessuk
Practical post about margin risk for UK small businesses importing from overseas and how to avoid surprise costs
Rules: Be helpful first, keep it UK-specific, avoid spammy launch language
Communities
Publish a build log post with real screenshots, numbers, and one lesson per week. Comment on import, e-commerce, and SaaS threads with genuine advice before mentioning the product.
Share the founder story and the specific margin problem. Use it to recruit early operators by being transparent about why the product exists and what it does not do yet.
Join discussions around sourcing, margin, and operations. Offer useful landed-cost calculations or tariff insights without pushing the product until people ask.
Cold outreach template
{firstName}, saw {context} and thought of you because LandedHQ is built for teams importing from overseas. It calculates duty, VAT, freight, and margin before you place the order, then flags customs doc issues before the shipment leaves. If useful, I can set you up with a free example on one of your SKUs.
Product Hunt timing
Launch on Tuesday at 8:00 AM UK time. That catches UK operators at the start of their day and gives you overlap with US morning traffic, while avoiding weekend noise when import teams are offline.
Indie Hackers post ideas
- 01How we turned HMRC tariff data into a landing cost workflow for UK importers
- 02Why spreadsheets fail import teams: the 5 hidden costs we kept seeing
- 03Building a niche SaaS for customs paperwork checks and landed cost alerts
Competitor alternatives
Current tone of voice
Confident, direct, and operationally pragmatic, with a lightly urgent UK-post-Brexit framing; for example: "Stop shipments getting held at customs" and "Know about new trade deals before your competitors."
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