Sourcing Guide

Golf Cart Landed Cost

The quotation is one line out of nine. Here is the whole list, what moves each one, and which party can actually give you the number.

The landed cost of an imported golf cart is everything you spend to get a cart onto your floor ready to sell, and it has nine lines rather than one. The carts themselves, ocean freight, marine insurance, duty and any additional tariffs, customs brokerage and entry fees, port charges and terminal handling, drayage to your yard, spare parts held against your first warranty question, and assembly labour if the carts ship knocked down.

Six of those nine are priced by parties other than your supplier — the freight forwarder, the insurer, your customs authority, your customs broker, the terminal and the drayage carrier. That is the structural reason a supplier quotation can never be your landed cost, however detailed it looks, and it is also why the sensible order of operations is to get the specification and goods quotation first, then take that specification to a broker and a forwarder rather than asking your supplier to estimate their side of the table.

Written by EV Cart Source, a factory-direct golf cart supplier. We quote the goods and tell you what leaves our side in what condition. We do not quote duty or freight, and the section below says why. Last updated September 2026.

The nine lines

No figures here, deliberately. Every one of these lines is decided by something specific to your order, your country and the week you book — so a number printed on a supplier’s website would be decoration rather than information. What is useful is knowing what each line is, what moves it, and who to ask.

Two boundaries worth stating so you do not read this as exhaustive. The list starts at the ex-works value, so whether inland transport to the port of loading and the export formalities sit on your side or ours depends on the terms of sale you agree — settle that in writing rather than assuming. And outside the United States there is usually an import VAT or GST line as well, which behaves differently from duty because it is often recoverable; your own accountant, not your broker, is the one to ask about that.

The carts themselves

What it is: The ex-works value of the vehicles in the configuration you actually ordered — seat count, lift, battery chemistry and capacity, wheels, and the branding work if you are ordering under your own name.
What decides it: Configuration, and quantity. A single branded sample and a repeat container are not the same per-unit number, which is why the first order and the reorder need to be budgeted separately rather than one being used to forecast the other.
Who can give you the number: Your supplier, on a written quotation tied to a specification. Ask for the specification and the quotation as one document, so there is no gap between what was priced and what gets built.

Ocean freight

What it is: Moving the container from the port of loading to your port of discharge.
What decides it: The loading plan, the destination port, the container type, and the rates in force on the day you book. Rates move, so a figure quoted weeks before you book is an indication and not a cost.
Who can give you the number: A freight forwarder, quoted per shipment. Ask for the quote to state the validity date, because that date is the part that makes it usable.

Marine insurance

What it is: Cover for the goods while they are in transit.
What decides it: The declared value and the cover you choose. Get it quoted rather than assumed — it is a small line to price and a large one to be without.
Who can give you the number: Your forwarder can usually arrange it; an independent broker will quote it separately so you can compare.

Duty and any additional tariffs

What it is: What your customs authority charges on the goods when they enter your country.
What decides it: The tariff classification of the specific vehicle, its declared value, its country of origin, and whatever measures are in force for that classification and origin on the day of entry. All four can change independently of anything your supplier does.
Who can give you the number: A licensed customs broker in your own country, or a binding ruling from your customs authority if the classification is not obvious. Do not take any supplier's word for a duty figure — including ours. We are not the party that can settle a classification, and whoever is recorded as the importer on the entry is the party your customs authority holds to the declaration.

Customs brokerage and entry fees

What it is: What your broker charges to file the entry, plus any government processing fees that come with it.
What decides it: Your broker's fee schedule and the number of entries. Ask for the schedule in writing, because it is a line that is easy to leave out of a first spreadsheet entirely.
Who can give you the number: Your customs broker, in writing, before the vessel arrives.

Port charges and terminal handling

What it is: What the terminal charges to handle and release your container, plus anything that accrues while it sits there.
What decides it: The terminal's tariff, and how quickly you collect. The variable part is the demurrage and detention clock — it starts whether or not you are ready, so this line is mostly a scheduling problem rather than a pricing one.
Who can give you the number: Your forwarder, who should tell you your free-time allowance in days before the container lands, not after.

Drayage to your yard

What it is: Trucking the container from the terminal to wherever you are unloading it.
What decides it: Distance, and whether you can unload and return the container inside the trucker's window.
Who can give you the number: A drayage carrier or your forwarder. Worth confirming your site can actually take a container before the container is on a truck.

Spare parts

What it is: The parts you hold so that your first warranty question does not become a wait.
What decides it: Your models, your volume and where you are. On a container order our engineers size a spares package before it ships — usually 5–10% of order value — built around the vehicles you actually bought and the service capability in your region, rather than being a generic kit. A single branded sample is a different case: one cart does not carry a spares package, so parts for it come from stock — direct from China, about a week when it is in stock, or from our Wheatland, Missouri facility, which carries spare parts and provides repair service for qualifying markets.
Who can give you the number: Us on the list, you on how deep to go. Settle it before the container ships rather than after, because a spares package that rides along costs nothing extra to move.

Assembly labour

What it is: Getting the carts from how they ship to how they sell. Ours ship SKD, so there is assembly work at your end.
What decides it: How much is knocked down, and who is doing it. About 1–3 hours per cart for one experienced technician working alone, with the illustrated manual and remote guidance included — and the first one takes longer than that while the technician learns the sequence, so do not budget the first cart at the steady-state figure.
Who can give you the number: You, or a local shop. Either way it is labour you are paying for, so it belongs in the landed cost rather than being discovered after the container is open.

Why none of these lines has a number printed on this page

We quote the goods against a written specification. We also quote freight for your shipment against your delivery address when you ask for it, priced per shipment rather than from a rate card — because the destination, the postcode, how tight sailing space is that week and the season all move it.

What we do not do is print a standing figure for any of it, and that includes freight we quote every day. A number published here would be quoted against no destination and no date, so it would be wrong by the time you read it, and a wrong figure is not a neutral placeholder when you are deciding how much working capital to commit.

Duty is a different case again. The tariff classification of a specific vehicle, the declared value, the origin and the measures in force on the date of entry are determined by your customs authority, and a supplier is not the party that can settle them. We will give you the technical description, the declared value and the origin your broker needs. Ask your own broker what applies to your entry, on your dates — and note that if a cost element turns on measures that apply to goods of a given origin, then how a vehicle is branded, boxed or badged does not change what applies to it.

What we can be accurate about is our side of the table: a specification you can hand to a broker, a packing arrangement you can hand to a forwarder, freight quoted for your actual shipment with the validity date on it, and terms you can put into a cash-flow plan.

Budget the sample as a sample

A first landed-cost model can have every line in it and still be wrong, because the sample was used to forecast the container.

A first custom order here can be a single branded sample rather than a container. That lets you see the product and the paperwork before committing container-scale working capital, and we recommend it. Per cart, a sample’s freight, brokerage and drayage cost more than they will on a container order. That is normal, and the reason is how the charges are levied: ocean freight is charged for the container, and brokerage, entry fees and drayage are charged per shipment. One cart on its own carries the whole of each charge. A container divides those same charges across every cart in it.

So use the sample for the product and the paperwork, and take your per-cart logistics figure from the container quote.

Spare parts work differently again. The 5–10% spares package is sized to a container order and ships with it — a single sample does not carry one. So when you are budgeting a sample, budget the cart and its logistics, and treat the spares package as something that arrives with your first container. Assembly labour per cart falls as your technician gets faster, which is why the first cart should not be budgeted at the steady-state figure.

For cash-flow planning, the two terms to read together are the production window and the payment split: custom production runs about 45 working days from the deposit and artwork approval, with a 30% T/T deposit to start production and the 70% balance before shipment. The freight, duty and brokerage lines then land after that again.

Order mechanics in full are on How to Order. If you are still choosing between buying wholesale and buying from a brand’s authorised programme, that comparison is on Wholesale Golf Carts.

The order of operations that avoids rework

Fix the specification first. Seat count, lift, battery chemistry and capacity, and the branding scope. Everything downstream is quoted against this, so changing it later invalidates the other quotes rather than adjusting them.
Get the goods quotation tied to that specification, as one document, so there is no gap between what was priced and what gets built.
Take the technical description to a customs broker in your own country and ask for the classification and what applies to it on your intended entry dates. Ask whether a binding ruling is worth requesting before you order.
Take the packing arrangement to a forwarder and get freight quoted per shipment, with the validity date stated.
Add insurance, brokerage, port charges and drayage from the parties who quote them, then spare parts and assembly labour from your own side.
Only then compare against your local selling price. A margin calculated against the goods quotation instead of the landed cost is the mistake that shows up latest and costs most to unwind.

Vehicle registration and titling are a separate matter from customs entry. In the United States they are handled by you as the importer, state by state, and what a state requires is not answered by what clears customs.

Landed cost questions

What does the landed cost of a golf cart include?

The landed cost is everything you spend to get a cart onto your floor ready to sell, not the price on the quotation. It has nine lines: the ex-works value of the carts in the configuration you ordered, ocean freight, marine insurance, duty and any additional tariffs, customs brokerage and entry fees, port charges and terminal handling, drayage to your yard, spare parts held against your first warranty question, and assembly labour if the carts ship knocked down. Six of those nine are priced by parties other than your supplier — the freight forwarder, the insurer, your customs authority, your customs broker, the terminal and the drayage carrier — which is why a supplier quotation alone can never be your landed cost, however detailed it looks. The supplier prices the goods and the spare parts list; the assembly labour is yours.

Why will you not just give me a landed-cost figure?

Because we are not the party that can produce it accurately, and a figure quoted against no destination and no date is not a usable input when you are committing working capital. Duty depends on the tariff classification of the specific vehicle, its declared value, its origin and the measures in force on the day it enters — determined by your customs authority, not by us. Freight depends on the loading plan, the destination and the rates on the day you book. What we can do is quote the goods against a written specification, tell you what leaves our side and in what condition, quote freight for your actual shipment against your address with a validity date on it, and set out the lines above so you can check your own spreadsheet against them. The numbers for the other lines should come from people who are licensed to give them and who carry the consequence if they are wrong.

Which of these costs change between my first order and my reorder?

Most of them, and not all in the same direction. Per cart, a sample's freight, brokerage and drayage cost more than they will on a container order, and that is normal rather than a quoting problem. Ocean freight is charged for the container, and brokerage, entry fees and drayage are charged per shipment — so one cart on its own carries the whole of each charge, while a container divides those same charges across every cart in it. Take your per-cart logistics figure from the container quote, not from the sample. Spare parts do not move with order size in the way people expect: the 5–10% spares package is sized to a container order and ships with it, and a single sample does not carry one. Assembly labour per cart falls as your technician gets faster. Budget the sample as a sample, and build your actual unit economics from the first container rather than from the sample.

What do I need to have ready before a broker can quote my duty?

Four things, and gathering them is quick once you know they are the list: the specific vehicle and its technical description in enough detail to classify it, including motor power and top speed; the declared value and the terms of sale; the country of origin; and your intended entry date, because measures in force are dated. If the classification is not obvious for your vehicle, ask your broker whether a binding ruling from your customs authority is worth requesting before you order rather than after the container is on the water. Registration and titling are a separate question from customs entry, and in the United States they are handled by you as the importer, state by state.

What are your payment and production terms, so I can plan working capital?

Custom production runs about 45 working days from the deposit and artwork approval. Payment is a 30% T/T deposit to start production with the 70% balance before shipment. Read those two together for cash-flow purposes: the deposit starts production and the balance falls due before shipment, so plan for the balance landing at the end of that production window. When the freight, duty and brokerage lines fall due depends on your own forwarder's and broker's terms, so confirm those dates with them rather than assuming they follow ours. The first custom order can be a single branded sample rather than a container, which lets you see the product and the paperwork before committing container-scale working capital.

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