Oct 14, 2026Buying Guide
Pool Robot Landed Cost: What Adds Up After FOB
A FOB pool robot quote is only part of the cost. Freight, battery paperwork, duty, certification, packaging, spares and warranty: what to budget.
A FOB quote tells you what the robot costs once it's on board the ship at the port in China. Everything after that point is yours to arrange and pay for, and on a pool robot the list is longer than on most products, mainly because of the lithium battery. This is the list we'd work through before setting a retail price.
We've left rates out on purpose. Freight, duty and fees change by market and by month, so take current figures from your forwarder and customs broker and drop them into the structure below.
What does FOB include, and what doesn't it?
Under FOB, the seller covers the goods, export packing, delivery to the port and export customs clearance. Once the goods are on board, the risk passes to you, along with ocean freight, insurance, destination port charges, import clearance and delivery to your warehouse. Check what the quote itself assumes as well. A FOB price for neutral stock in neutral packaging and one for private label in your own box are different numbers for the same model.
How much does freight add per robot?
It depends mostly on how many robots fit in the container, and that varies more than buyers expect. Our floor-only robots pack three to a carton. Our Y50S wall-climbing robot packs one to a carton, so the same container holds far fewer units and the freight per robot rises. Ask your supplier for the loading quantity per container for each model before you compare freight quotes. Pallets, a larger retail box or extra accessories in the box all cut that count.
Sea or air for lithium-battery robots?
Sea freight is the normal route for a full order. Your forwarder will ask for a UN38.3 test report and an MSDS before booking any lithium-battery shipment, and we supply both. Air freight adds dangerous-goods paperwork and labels, and forwarders charge for handling dangerous goods, so air tends to make sense only for samples or an urgent top-up. Plan the sailing time in as well. Our lead times run until the goods are ready to ship, and freight time comes on top.
What about duties, taxes and producer fees?
Import duty depends on how the robot is classified, where it's made and where it's going, and import VAT or sales tax often comes on top. Your customs broker confirms the classification, so ask before the first order. Rates on goods made in China have changed more than once in some markets, so check the rate in force when you order instead of relying on last year's spreadsheet.
Some markets, including the EU, also expect whoever places the product on the market to register with take-back schemes for electronics, batteries and packaging, and to pay their fees. For a private-label importer that's usually you. Those fees belong in your cost per unit.
Which costs come before the first sale?
Market certifications are issued per model. If the model you pick doesn't already carry the marks your market needs, testing adds cost and time, and it's worth agreeing who carries that before the order. Tell us the model and market early and we'll say what's available. Private label adds your packaging artwork and manual translation, and someone on your side has to proofread both. Most of these costs are one-off for a given model, so spread them over the units you expect to sell in the first year.
How much should we hold for spare parts and warranty?
A retailer who can post a new filter or charger keeps that robot out of the returns pile. Filters, brushes, tracks, chargers and batteries can be ordered separately from us, so plan a small spare-parts stock with the first order and count it in landed cost.
Then set a warranty reserve. Our warranty to you is 1 year on the whole unit. Consumer law in some markets, the EU among them, gives your customers a longer guarantee period than that. Any gap between the two is yours to cover, so price it in from the start, and size the reserve from your own channel's history with similar products.
A one-line landed-cost sheet
Give each model one line: the FOB price, freight per unit worked out from the loading quantity, insurance, destination charges, duty and taxes, producer fees, the one-off costs spread over your first-year volume, spare parts and the warranty reserve. Fill it in for two or three candidate models side by side. The one with the lowest FOB price doesn't always arrive on your shelf as the cheapest.
FAQ
Do your lead times include shipping?
No. They run until the goods are ready to ship. Sea or air freight time comes on top.
Which of these costs can we bring down?
Freight per unit, by choosing models and cartons that load well and skipping pallets if your warehouse can unload loose cartons. One-off costs, by settling artwork once and keeping changes between orders to a minimum.
Building a landed-cost sheet for next season? Tell us the models, your market and the trade term you buy on in the form below. We'll send the carton and loading details for each model with the quote. Our team will reply by email within 1 business day.
Written by the Silver Home R&D and quality team.
