“Quote me CIF Los Angeles” was never a vocabulary test — it is a test of which costs your quote sheet stacks and which it forgets. Incoterms-comparison articles are everywhere; this one does a different job: it takes the quote apart as arithmetic. (Where responsibility and risk transfer under each term is the DDP vs DAP article’s territory; this piece is purely how the price is built.)
A quote is stacked blocks: three layers
The same cargo, three quoting terms, one difference — how high you stack:
- Layer one — FOB (goods + export side): production cost and margin, plus inland trucking, export clearance, port charges, to the ship’s rail. Fewest variables — mostly domestic, lockable before shipment
- Layer two — CIF (+ ocean freight and insurance): stacked on FOB, to the destination port. Variables widen: rates float, peak surcharges appear, and the market can turn between quote and sailing
- Layer three — DDP (+ destination taxes and final mile): import duty, clearance, inland delivery to the customer’s door. The fiercest variables of all: the duty turns on classification and trade policy — neither in your control
Every layer up, thicken the buffer
The second discipline is buffering. The FOB layer runs thin; the CIF layer must absorb a stretch of rate upside, so validity periods shorten; the DDP layer carries another country’s taxes — thickest buffer, and above all the duty checked dead before quoting. On the US lane, Taiwanese goods currently carry the 15% reciprocal tariff on a non-stacking basis (current publications govern) — where your item classifies and what it truly owes runs through the tariff calculation article, with the policy state in the trade-deal article.
One practical house rule: each term gets its own validity period — FOB longest, CIF tracking the freight market, DDP shortest, because it is exposed to freight and tariff variables at once.
Two ways misquotes lose money
- Quoted CIF, calculated FOB: the contract signs, then you discover the ocean freight is yours — and rates just rose. The order’s margin goes to the carrier, and you must still ship, because breaching costs more
- Quoted DDP, never checked the duty: the goods reach US customs and the bill reveals a different classification at a higher rate — under DDP that tax is your cost, and the customer owes nothing more. You handed the order’s profit to a classification decision
The common thread: the loss did not happen at shipment — it happened at the quote. The moment the sheet went out, the loss was already written into the contract.
Before you quote, price the logistics
Accurate quotes need every layer’s numbers, current and complete. SKYCARGO INC’s import-export service spans export clearance, ocean and air, US-side entry and delivery — quoting FOB, CIF or DDP, tell us the item, volume and destination and we will return the cost lines your quote should stack; rates on request. (Personal shipments: Shiptw.)
Rates, surcharges and duties move continuously; quotes follow current market and official publications. Reference only.
