COGS Glossary
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| COGS | Cost Of Goods Sold -- the total cost to produce, ship, and prepare one unit of your product for sale. Used to calculate profit and margin. |
| Unit Cost | The expense associated with manufacturing a single product item, which can be entered directly or derived by dividing total expenditure by unit quantity. |
| Cost Period | A defined time range during which a specific unit cost applies. Start and (optionally) end dates determine the valid window for applying that cost. |
| Start Date | The first day a particular cost is valid. Required for all cost entries. |
| End Date | The last day a cost applies. Optional -- leaving it blank makes the cost period open-ended. |
| Cost Element | A specific component of the total unit cost, such as manufacturing, shipping, or packaging. Not tracked individually in SellerLegend -- for your own context. |
| Simple View | A COGS input mode requiring only Unit Cost and Date Range. Ideal for speed and straightforward costing. |
| Detailed View | A COGS input mode supporting extra fields like Units, Total Paid, Currency, Exchange Rate, Provider, and Notes. |
| Currency | The 3-letter ISO code (e.g., USD, GBP, EUR) representing the currency in which the cost was paid. |
| Exchange Rate | Conversion rate from the original currency to the marketplace's currency. Optional in Detailed View. |
| Units | The number of units included in a shipment or cost batch. Used to derive unit cost from Total Paid. |
| Total Paid | The total amount paid for a batch of units. Used in combination with Units to auto-calculate unit cost. |
| Provider | (Optional) The supplier or vendor who fulfilled the cost period. Used for traceability. |
| Notes | (Optional) Additional free-text context about the cost period -- e.g., shipment ID, discount received, promo reasons. |
| Bulk Upload | A method of entering or updating multiple COGS entries via Excel or CSV file, instead of one-by-one in the UI. |
| Propagation | Copying a COGS configuration from one EU marketplace to another. Does not auto-convert currencies. |
| Open-ended Period | A cost period without an End Date. SellerLegend treats it as "currently active" until another period starts. |
| Overlap | When two cost periods for the same SKU have intersecting date ranges. This is not allowed and will cause upload failure. |
| Gap | A time range between two cost periods where no cost is defined. SellerLegend will assume $0 cost and overstate profit during that time. |