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ShipStation's International Settings

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ShipStation's International Settings determine the default behavior for how ShipStation creates customs declarations for your shipments.

ShipStation has two types of international settings:

  • Account level international settings: These settings apply to all orders that import with an international destination.

  • Product level international settings: These settings apply only to orders that contain specific products. Product level settings will override account level international settings.

Account Level International Settings

To access the account level settings:

  1. Go to Account Settings (the wrench icon in the upper right).

    V3 Closeup of Toolbar. Red box highlights the wrench icon for Settings.

  2. Select Shipping and then choose International Settings from the left-hand sidebar.

    Settings Sidebar: Shipping dropdown. Red box highlights International Settings option.

The settings page includes a Default Customs Information section and a Tracking section.

Default Customs Information and Tracking Information options.

Adjusting these settings will affect new international orders when they import into ShipStation. Changes will not affect orders that have already imported.

Default Customs Information & Tracking Settings

Settings

Details

Default Content Type

The content type can be one of five options:

  • Documents

  • Gift

  • Merchandise

  • Returns Goods

  • Sample

For countries that apply an import or VAT tax, this option can affect the taxes or duties charged to your customer.

Non-Delivery Option

Dictates what the carrier should do in the event a package cannot be delivered.

  • Return to sender: The carrier will return the shipment, at your cost.

  • Treat as abandoned: The carrier will destroy the package.

Customs Declarations

Controls how ShipStation will generate customs declarations line items.

  • Create declarations from order items: Will use the quantity, name, and item price imported from the marketplace (unless customs information is defined in the product defaults).

  • Use pre-defined values: Will use the information entered here for all declarations on your international orders. This means the declarations will not be adjusted based on the quantity or cost of items within an order. 

    Use only if you wish your customs declarations to be the same for all international orders.

  • Leave blank (enter manually): No customs declarations will be automatically created for your orders.

    Use this option if you wish to manually create your customs declarations on an order-by-order basis.

Sign Customs As

Allows you to define the name that will appear on customs documentation as the signer. Generally, you want this to be your actual name rather than your company's name.

Would you like to use your ITN/TaxID*, VAT number* or USPS Exemption code for AES?

Allows you to designate a specific ITN/Tax ID or USPS Exemption code for all international shipments.

  • ITN/Tax ID: Allows you to define the ID value, and choose whether it

    applies to all shipments or only shipments valued at over $2500.

    Only applies to Stamps.com, Endicia, Express 1 and UPS shipments.

  • USPS Exemption Code: Choose from a list of pre-defined USPS Exception Codes.

    Only applies to Stamps.com, Endicia, and Express 1 shipments.

Send non-trackable Tracking Numbers to Marketplaces

If enabled, ShipStation will include the non-trackable USPS First Class Mail International tracking numbers when pushing shipment updates to the marketplace.

This setting will also trigger ShipStation to send non-trackable tracking numbers for non-tracked domestic shipping services like USPS First Class Mail using envelope package types. 

This setting only applies to USPS shipments.

Value-Added Tax - also known as a goods and services tax (GST) - is a consumption tax based on the value of goods and implemented as a destination based tax. VAT usually comes into play when shipping internationally to countries that charge customs fees and taxes to recipients on imported goods. VAT may be recovered for commercial shipments only by a VAT registered recipient; VAT ranges from 5% to 25% depending upon country. VAT is generally charged only in the European Union, China, Mexico and Thailand.

Shipments to certain countries are often subject to customs fees/taxes, like VAT. ShipStation does provide the option to have the fees charged to the shipper, instead of the recipient, if the carrier supports that option.

Product Default Customs Settings

The Product Default Customs settings override certain account level customs details on orders that contain that product. This is useful if you want to shorten and simplify your product descriptions and have ShipStation automatically add product-specific harmonization codes.

To set your product customs defaults:

  1. Go to the Products tab.

    Closeup of Toolbar. Red box highlights Products tab.

  2. Open the Product Details screen for a product you'd like to edit.

    To open the Product Details screen, either double-click on the product's line in the grid or click once on the product's SKU.

  3. Click the Customs tab.

    Product Details Customs tab.

  4. Enter the values you want ShipStation to use for the customs declarations.

    • The Description should be less than 50 characters. Avoid special characters like #, $, ?, %, @, !.

    • The Harmonization Code (also referred to as Tariff Code, Customs Tariffs, Harmonized Tariff Codes, and Harmonized System Code) is a standardized code used for tax assessment purposes.

      Once an order reaches an international border, these codes will help the customs office to identify what it is that you are shipping. We recommended to have your Harmonization Codes listed and properly-identified at time of label creation.

      Find a full list of harmonization codes on the Current Tariff Classification page. .

    • The Origin Country refers to the country where the goods originated, i.e., where they were produced, manufactured, or assembled.

  5. Click Save Changes.

    To apply these changes to Awaiting Shipment orders that have already imported into ShipStation, be sure to also check the Apply changes to open orders checkbox as well.

Now, ShipStation will use the information in your Product's Customs tab to fill in the customs declarations for shipments containing this product.

Bulk Update Products

If you have many products you wish to update in this way, use the Product CSV import method to update multiple products at once. Review the Update Products in Bulk section of the Update Products article in this help guide.

Harmonization Codes

The purpose of a Harmonization Code (also referred to as Tariff Code, Customs Tariffs, Harmonized Tariff Codes, and Harmonized System Code) is to expedite the shipping process for international orders. This universal economic language and code system for trade covers most internationally sent goods and merchandise.

Red box highlights field for Harmonization Code at bottom-right.

Once an order reaches an international border, a country's customs office uses these codes to identify and to assess tax for what you are shipping. ShipStation recommends that you properly identify, establish, and list your harmonization codes well before you create labels.

For a full list of Harmonization Codes, go to the,the Current Tariff Classification page from the Australian Border Force.

Adding Harmonization Codes to Orders

ShipStation offers three ways to add the harmonization code to your international orders:

  1. Manually: Open the Order Detail window, or use the sidebar, and manually add or remove harmonization codes to your international orders.

  2. Pre-defined customs values: Set your International Settings to use pre-defined customs values, and designate which harmonization code will appear for all international orders.

  3. Product defaults: Configure your international settings set to create customs declarations based on order items, then you can store harmonization code just like any other product default. The harmonization codes can also be set as product defaults in bulk.  See our article Add Products In Bulk via CSV Import for information on importing products via CSV files.

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