Free Goods Gamer
Free goods ship in with the order, so their true cost is supplier COGS. No freight, no excise, no FOB margin. Build the price once, then game the free cases, the funding split, and watch all three tier margins move together.
How the math works ▾
Build the price first. Pick a state and beverage type and the excise loads automatically. Distributor landed cost is FOB plus freight plus excise. The price to the retailer is landed lifted by the distributor margin. Base MSRP is the shelf price of one sellable pack, the trade cost per pack lifted by the retailer margin.
Then game the deal. For each scenario you type a purchase quantity, a target shelf price, the number of free cases, and the share of those free cases the supplier funds. The tool recomputes the retailer, distributor, and supplier margin at that target price, and the real dollars each tier puts on the table.
Key rule. Free goods cost is supplier COGS per case. Supplier outlay is the funded share of that. Distributor outlay is the rest. One hundred percent supplier funding keeps the distributor whole. Lower it to shift dollars onto the distributor and watch both margins move.
1
Build the price
Fills size and bottles per case. Pick Custom to set your own.
Units in a sellable pack. Leave at 1 for a single bottle
Units per case: —
$
True cost of one free case
$
$
$
Optional. Leave blank for auto
%
%
Excise per gallon—
Gallons per case—
Excise per case—
Distributor landed / case—
Case cost to trade—
Base MSRP / pack—
2
Game the free goods
| Qty (cases) | Target MSRP / pack | Free cases | % supplier funds | Retailer margin | Distributor margin | Supplier margin | Free goods cost | Supplier outlay | Distributor outlay |
|---|
Yellow cells are yours to type. Everything else recalculates the instant you change a value.
Free goods ship in with the order, so their true cost is supplier COGS per case. No freight, no excise, no FOB margin. That is the cost split between the tiers.
Supplier outlay equals the funded share times free cases times COGS. That is the real dollars the brand spends on the deal. Distributor outlay is the rest.
One hundred percent supplier funding keeps the distributor at base margin. Lower it to shift dollars onto the distributor and watch both margins move.
These tools are illustrative. Excise figures are loaded from a national reference table for planning only, and some states tax certain classes or higher ABV products differently. Verify the excise class for your product and market before you commit a deal. Built for the Beverage Broker Network by BevAssets and Frontline Beverage.