Everyone told me importing would be “expensive.” Nobody told me what the line items actually were. So when I brought my first shipment of handblock-printed cotton bedding from Jaipur to Calgary, I wrote down every single cost. Here’s the honest breakdown.

The setup

I ordered cotton home textiles directly from a printer in Jaipur, India. The goods left from Nhava Sheva port and came to Calgary via Vancouver as LCL — “less than container load,” meaning I shared a container instead of paying for a whole one.

1. The goods

My supplier invoice came to roughly 6.5 lakh rupees for about 50 line items, including a small charge for the custom wooden printing blocks. Tip: ask your supplier to list the wooden block / tooling charge separately — it’s a service, not a product, and shouldn’t sit on your commercial invoice for customs.

2. Ocean freight

Sea freight (LCL) from Nhava Sheva to Calgary came to about USD $1,620. Air would have been multiples of that; sea is slow but far cheaper for bulky textiles.

3. Duties — the surprise

Canada charges duty based on the HS code of each product, and textile duties are high:

• Printed cotton bed linen: 17%
• Cotton quilts / comforters: 14%
• Cushions / filled items: 14%
• Cotton tablecloths: 17%
• Cotton tote bags: 10.5%

Yes — on cotton bedding you can pay 14–17% in duty alone. Budget for it or it wrecks your margins.

4. Brokerage & customs fees

Brokerage about $229, plus small EDI and CARM fees, and a 3% duty-disbursement charge. GST also applies on the customs entry (not on the shipping quote itself).

5. CARM and a bond

To import commercially into Canada you deal with the CARM system, and my broker recommended enrolling in a yearly RPP surety bond instead of posting cash each time. Ask about it early — it affects your cash flow.

The real landed cost

Once you add product + freight + 14–17% duty + GST + brokerage, my true landed cost was meaningfully higher than the supplier invoice — enough that pricing “product cost times two” would have lost me money. Always calculate landed cost before you set a retail price.

Before you pay any overseas supplier, run them through my free Supplier Due Diligence Checklist. This post shares my experience and is not customs or tax advice — always confirm HS codes and duties with a licensed customs broker.