There is no fixed amount for collecting geolocation data, and any provider who quotes you one is basing it on an average from a situation that is not yours. What actually determines costs is a limited set of factors: how many suppliers and parcels you have, which countries they supply from, what type of data the regulation requires for your situation, and whether you do the work yourself or receive support.
The largest cost item is usually not the technology, but the time it takes to obtain the correct data from each supplier. A trader with five regular suppliers in one country faces a different process than an importer sourcing cocoa or coffee from dozens of small parcels across multiple countries.
What drives up the costs
The number of parcels is the first factor. Larger parcels often require only a polygon, while smaller parcels may be adequately represented by a point location; which form applies depends on the area and is set out in the regulation itself. More parcels mean more data to request, organize and verify.
The second factor is the country of origin. Suppliers in countries where land registration is well-organized typically provide usable coordinates faster than suppliers in areas where parcels are managed informally. This difference is not reflected in a tariff, but in the number of conversations and follow-up requests needed before the data is complete.
The third factor is the product type and the associated risk classification of the country. A higher risk classification generally requires more supporting evidence per parcel, affecting both the time you spend and the documentation you must then retain for five years. How countries are classified and what this means for your file can be found in the knowledge base with explanations per topic.
Do it yourself or receive support
Anyone who handles this themselves pays mainly in hours: contacting suppliers, checking coordinates for plausibility, maintaining organized files, and repeating the process whenever a supplier changes or a parcel is modified. This is certainly manageable, especially with a limited number of suppliers, but it is an ongoing task, not a one-time action.
Anyone who prefers to structure the work with support pays for bringing together and validating data in one file per product stream, rather than managing separate spreadsheets and email exchanges. What this concretely costs and what is and is not included can be found clearly on the page with rates and what that entails. Important to know: a platform structures and validates data, but does not relieve you of the legal risk assessment obligation. That remains with you as a market participant or trader.
An ongoing cost item, not a one-time expense
Geolocation data is not a form you fill in once and then forget. Whenever a supplier changes, a parcel is modified, or you add a new country of origin, you must request and validate the data again. Do not treat this as a one-time cost at the start, but as an ongoing part of your procurement process, comparable to maintaining other supplier information.
This ongoing nature is also why many companies opt for a standardized process rather than collecting data ad hoc with each shipment. How such a process works in practice and what steps it involves can be read on the page that shows the process step by step.
What the costs do not include
No amount you pay for collecting or structuring geolocation data covers the substantive assessment of whether a plot actually meets the requirements of the regulation. That assessment is and remains the responsibility of the market operator, possibly with support from a lawyer or the competent supervisory authority. Services that structure and validate data can make that work considerably easier for you, but never declare themselves that a product is deforestation-free.
If you do not yet know precisely what role you have and what data that entails, that is the first question to answer before you start estimating costs. You can do that free and without obligation via the role check that maps your situation in a few questions, after which you will have a better picture of what is actually needed for your products and suppliers.