In the Products List, locate the row with the product you want to enter COGS for
Click on the COGS value under the ‘COGS’ header for the product you want to update the COGS
A COGS Entry form will then appear
If no COGS exist yet for this product,
i.e. this is the first time you enter COGS for this product,
an empty COGS entry form will appear like this:
The ‘From’ and ‘To’ date for the empty cost period are set to infinity.
Since this is your first and only Cost Period for this product, it is fitting that this cost applies from as early as possible to as late as possible, so that the product has a COGS value that applies at all times.
Click on Add Cost Element, and enter a cost element data (Cost Element Name, and Element Cost)
Continue adding Cost Elements until all the elements participating in the cost of the product are entered
Click on Save to commit the date
If there was already an existing COGS for this product
A COGS entry form will appear filled with all the COGS details on record for the product
You can edit the COGS details, add and delete cost elements, alter COGS values at will or change the ‘To’ and ‘From’ dates of the cost period
Click on Save to commit the data
If you have more than two cost periods, the cost period(s) in the middle will have a finite date range but the first cost period will an infinite starting date and the last cost period will have an infinite expiration date.
If you delete a Cost period, you will get a popup with the following message
You will now have the option to either extend forward, backward, leave the cost period empty or delete anyway
We recommend you use the option to Extend the start and end dates and leave it to SellerLegend to automatically adjust the dates
Having said that, you still MUST verify he date to make sure you are happy with these
Switching COGS entry Views (Simple/Detailed)
You can switch the COGS entry mode From Detailed view to Simple View and vice versa, at will and without loss of data.
All that is required is to click on the message ‘Click here to switch to the [Simple|Detailed] view’ at the bottom right of the screen
Creating Cost Elements Within The Cost Period
First cost element name (mandatory field) under the ‘Cost Element’ heading will be Flat cost
Enter the name of the provider/manufacturer/supplier for that cost element under the ‘Provider’ heading (optional field)
Enter any notes about the cost element which may be of use to you as a reference, under the ‘Notes’ heading (optional field)
Enter the amount relating to that cost element, in the currency of the product’s marketplace (mandatory field)
If you create a new cost period, the cost elements with their respective amounts will be copy pasted in the new cost period, you can always change these values as you deem fit.
Entering The COGS Amount
The COGS must be expressed in the currency of the Marketplace for the Product
You can enter COGS amounts by
Cost Per One Unit
Enter price for one unit under the ‘Total Paid‘ column and tab away from the column
Notice SellerLegend defaults the number of ‘Units‘ column to show 1
SellerLegend will automatically calculate the price for one unit
Cost For A Number Of Units
Enter invoice price paid for all units under ‘Total Paid‘
Enter the number of units in the ‘Units‘ column and tab away from the column
SellerLegend will automatically calculate the price for one unit
Cost Per Unit/Number Of Units in a foreign currency, with an exchange rate
Use either one of the methods described above ( price for one unit or price per multiple units)
In the ‘Conversion Rate‘ column, manually enter the conversion rate from the foreign currency to the marketplace currency
SellerLegend will automatically calculate the price for one unit
Happy With An Rough Product Profit Estimate?
Notice that you do NOT need to use historical COGS Cost Periods if you don’t care too much about profit precision
Say your GOGS has been fluctuating between $3.52 and $4.06 per unit over a dozen shipments.
IF you are happy to settle for a rough profit estimate, instead of meticulously entering 12 periods with their precise details, you could just enter 1 period with the cost per unit at the midpoint between $3.52 and $4.06 [($4.06 – $3.52) / 2 + $3.52], or $3.79.
Then set your start date to the date of your first unit sale from your first shipment and set the end date to years in the future from today and you are done.
Tips And Tricks!
There is a shortcut to enter the COGS for a product for the first time
Rather than going the long way via the ‘Actions‘ drop-down box, you can click on the empty COGS column in the products list and enter your COGS directly in the column cell
This will automatically create the first Cost Period, with a single Cost Element with its name defaulted to Manufacture
VERY IMPORTANT : Do NOT enter Cost Elements to account for Inbound Shipments to Amazon when using one of Amazon’s Preferred Partnered Carriers.
While this cost is indeed part of your COGS, Amazon is already charging that cost through your settlement account as a one-time cost
As SellerLegend automatically captures all Settlement Account transactions, that cost will already be accounted for against your profit in the Profit And Loss screen.
In the Notes field of the Cost Elements, if you enter a URL starting with ‘http://’, the URL is changed into a hyperlink.
So you can, for example, use this hyperlink to point at a Google Sheets or Excel-for-the-Web document.
