Some of our values come from customs declarations, some are calculated. We explain the difference honestly, because trust starts with methodology.
Some shipments have a declared CIF value in the customs record: the price of the goods together with freight and insurance. This is the most accurate public number, and where it exists, we use it.
Where no value exists, we calculate an estimate: the shipment weight times the category's typical dollars per kilogram. In our reports we always note how much of the total is declared and how much is estimated: the reader must know what they are looking at.
The category's average price per kilo is a blunt tool for a single shipment, but at the level of a buyer's annual volume the errors even out: in practice our estimates stay in the same order of magnitude as comparable public figures. For the decisions these numbers are used for, whether a market exists and roughly how large a buyer is, that accuracy is more than sufficient.
What we do not promise: the exact contract price down to the cent. No database in the world knows that.
The market sells data whose methodology is never disclosed, and numbers that are prettier than life. Our choice is the opposite: rather a conservative number with an explanation. Clients who truly work with data appreciate exactly this.
The first consultation is free: together we'll see who in the US already buys your product and how to reach them.