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Set up COGS and landed costs for Amazon profit

To set up Amazon COGS and landed costs with AI, the assistant needs live access to your catalog and the costs already in Nova, and Nova's MCP connector gives Claude, ChatGPT and other assistants that access plus a previewed import into Nova. Through Nova, the assistant finds the products you sell with no cost, matches your file to the right SKUs, shows you the changes, and imports only after you approve.

Updated

Connect your AI Copy the playbook

The playbook

Every step calls a Nova tool that reads or updates your cost data in Nova, so paste this into Claude, ChatGPT or any assistant connected to Nova's MCP server, with your cost file attached (CSV or spreadsheet: SKU or ASIN, unit cost, and the date each cost starts if you have it).

This needs an assistant connected to Nova. Start the 14-day free trial, then connect your assistant.

Use Nova to set up the product costs (COGS) behind my Amazon profit, from the file I attached.

1. See what is missing. Call Nova's get_setup with domain "cogs". For each region, give the SKUs sold with no cost (soldSkusMissingCogs) and the valid region codes. Say that profit on those products is too high until they have a cost.

2. Read the current costs. For each region that needs work, call Nova's get_cogs_worksheet, with missingOnly true first, then without it for the SKUs in my file. It lists every catalog product with its current cost and cost periods.

3. Match my file. Match each line of my file to the worksheet by SKU first, ASIN second. List the lines you could not match and the SKUs still without a cost after the match. Ask me about anything unclear before going on.

4. Choose the cost type. Use "fixed" costs by default: one cost per period, with periodStart when a cost changed on a date, or no date when one cost applies to all history. Use "fifo" only if my file lists purchase batches with quantities, and then send the full batch list for each SKU. If my file splits product, freight and duties, send them as manufacturingCost, freightCost and dutiesCost: they add up to the landed cost.

5. Preview. Call Nova's import_cogs for one account at a time, mode "merge", WITHOUT commit. Show me the warnings and the diff: which SKUs change, from what to what.

6. Wait for my approval. Only after I say yes, call Nova's import_cogs again with the same rows, commit true and the confirmationToken from the preview.

7. Verify. Call Nova's get_setup with domain "cogs" again and give soldSkusMissingCogs before and after. Then call Nova's query_metrics for the last 30 days with netProfit and netProfitMargin and say how profit moved now that costs are in.

Rules: never use mode "replace" unless I ask for a full restatement of a region. Never invent a cost: a SKU missing from my file stays missing. A cost of 0 is a real value, so only send 0 when I mean it. Relay every notice Nova returns. You cannot change anything on Amazon.

Raw markdown

How Nova customers use this

Real requests from Nova customers, names removed.

  • “Compare our cost sheet with Nova's COGS and add any sold SKU that is missing a cost.”

    What the assistant did

    A recurring daily run: it reads the COGS worksheet page by page, previews the missing rows, commits them under the seller's standing approval, then checks those SKUs no longer show as missing.

    Nova tools used (3)
    1. get_cogs_worksheet
    2. import_cogs
    3. list_cost_inputs

  • “Import this month's costs from our ERP export as a new COGS period, without touching earlier periods.”

    What the assistant did

    It checked regions, current coverage and missing COGS, matched the file rows to real SKUs, and previewed a dated period per region before the seller confirmed.

    Nova tools used (3)
    1. get_setup
    2. get_cogs_worksheet
    3. import_cogs

  • “Add my landed costs for these product lines, then cover the low-selling SKUs that still have no cost.”

    What the assistant did

    It previewed each batch for the seller's approval, then found the remaining SKUs without COGS and applied the costs the seller had already given for the same products.

    Nova tools used (4)
    1. import_cogs
    2. get_cogs_worksheet
    3. query_metrics
    4. list_metrics

How to read the result

Many sold SKUs with no cost

What it usually means

Profit is overstated on those products

What to do

Fill the biggest sellers first

Lines in your file that did not match

What it usually means

SKU spelled differently, or an old SKU

What to do

Fix the file or match by ASIN

A cost changed on a date

What it usually means

Your supplier price moved

What to do

Send it with periodStart so older sales keep the old cost

Profit drops after the import

What it usually means

The real cost was missing before

What to do

Read the losing products playbook next

A Canada or Mexico region inherits from the US

What it usually means

Costs follow the US unless you set them

What to do

Leave it, or import a region of its own

Limits

  • Writing costs needs the OAuth connection and the owner role in Nova.
  • One account per import call, up to 2,000 rows per call.
  • Vendor Central costs are the vendor's own product cost, period-based only.
  • Nova never writes product costs to Amazon.