Scroll. Watch $30 of "profit"
become $14.77.
One real product: a $10 LED ring light, shipped from Shenzhen, sold in Johannesburg for $45. The left panel is your money. Keep scrolling.
Your margin · live
$45 sell − $15 cost = $30 profit
This is the math in every "winning products" video. Supplier price plus shipping, times three. It feels safe. It's also the last moment this number will look this good.
Customs duty: −$3.00
South Africa applies ~20% duty on the customs value of the goods plus shipping. Every market is different — Kenya runs 25%, Nigeria varies by HS code. Your spreadsheet didn't know that.
VAT on top of the duty: −$2.93
Here's the trap: VAT isn't charged on your product price. It's charged on the value including duty — and SARS adds a 10% uplift first. The percentages don't add. They stack.
Levies and clearing: −$8.00
Clearing agent fees, handling, the country-specific levies nobody mentions — Kenya's IDF and RDL, Nigeria's CISS and ETLS, India's SWS. Flat fees hit small parcels hardest.
Payment fees: −$1.31
2.9% to the gateway on the full selling price. Add marketplace commissions if you sell on Takealot or Jumia — DSI models those too.
Real profit: $14.77 — not $30
Still viable — if you price knowing this. Most sellers don't. They find out when customs invoices them, weeks after committing stock. DSI runs this entire autopsy in ~5 seconds, before you order, for 15 markets.
Run it on my products
