How we calculate the real total cost

Crossave compares the same product across stores and countries and ranks it by the real total cost — not the sticker price alone. Here is exactly what goes into that number, and what we do when a piece of it is unknown.

1. Item price

The price shown by the store, converted to your chosen currency at the current exchange rate. If the listing has a valid discount code we can detect, the total reflects the discounted price.

2. Shipping

The shipping cost to your destination when the store states it. When the source does not declare shipping, we show “n/a” and the total is marked as a minimum, not the final cost — never a zero pretending to be a real figure.

3. Import duty and VAT (estimate)

For purchases from outside your customs area we add an estimate of import duty and VAT. The thresholds are real and country-specific:

European Union: no import duty below €150 of goods value (a bridge measure in force until July 2028); above €150, a category duty plus import VAT at the destination country's rate (e.g. 22% in Italy).
United Kingdom: no duty up to £135; VAT (20%) still applies. Above £135, duty plus import VAT.
United States: the $800 de minimis exemption has been suspended since 29 August 2025, so a category duty may apply even to low-value parcels.
Switzerland: import VAT (8.1% standard, 2.6% on books), not collected when the VAT due is 5 CHF or less.

These figures come from our duty estimator and are updated with their sources. Purchases within the EU pay no import duty or VAT — the total for an intra-EU order is not inflated with taxes that do not apply.

4. What the total does not include

The carrier's customs clearance fee (typically around €15–30 per parcel for private extra-EU shipments) is charged by the courier, varies, and is not a state tax: where relevant we flag it separately rather than baking an invented number into the total.

Why we say “n/a”

When a store does not publish shipping, or a duty cannot be estimated with confidence, we write “n/a” instead of guessing. A missing figure and a zero are not the same thing, and we never treat one as the other. This is also why the results are ordered strictly by the lowest real total cost, and never by any affiliate commission.