A reference for other international options & forms, including a list of forms that are not available in ShipStation.
ShipStation includes a few other options for international shipments, including setting taxes and duties to be paid by the payor of shipping charges and generating a UPS High-value report.
By default, any applicable taxes and duties are billed to the recipient of an international shipment. Once customs officials determine the taxes and duties due, the recipient will be contacted to pay any charges so that the shipment can continue to move toward its destination.
For carriers that support it, you can request that the payor of the shipping charges be billed for taxes and duties instead of the recipient (this is also called DDP or Delivered Duties Paid). This is helpful if you prefer to absorb these costs so the recipient doesn't face additional charges.
In ShipStation, the following carriers allow selecting DDP:
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UPS
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FedEx
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DHL Express
For DHL Express, DDP is only available for directly connected DHL Express accounts, not when using DHL Express through ShipStation Carrier Services.
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USPS
DDP is only available for First Class, Priority, or Priority Express International shipments from the US to Canada under 4 lbs. These shipments will automatically receive Global Advantage Program (GAP) labels, which have a domestic sorting facility address. Please review our help article about GAP for more details.
The method of billing may differ depending on your carrier. For balance-based carriers, the fee will be deducted when you purchase the label. For post-billed carriers, any duties and taxes applicable to the shipment could be added to your invoice or you may be contacted by the carrier to be billed separately.
To enable the Delivered Duty Paid or Bill duties and taxes to payor of shipping charges option:
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Go to the Other Shipping Options section in the Orders tab or Order Details Sidebar.
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Check the box for Bill duties and taxes to payor of shipping charges.
You must have a valid service selected for the shipment before this option will be available.
Please note: If your account language setting is set to an option other than Engish (US & CA), this option will read Delivered Duty Paid (DDP).
That's it!
ShipStation will display the selected options in the Other Shipping Options section heading.
Combine with Third-Party Billing
This feature can also be combined with the Bill To Third-Party feature so the third-party account will be responsible for the duties and taxes assessed by the customs agency.
For Platinum plans or higher, ShipStation integrates directly with a number of international consolidators. These include:
To add one of these consolidators, follow the same steps for connecting a postage provider.
ParcelGuard is available for international shipments under certain conditions. ParcelGuard will not insure certain types of items, like currency or perishables. There are also certain products, such as cell phones, televisions, and laptop computers, that ParcelGuard will insure only when certain conditions are met.
Review the ParcelGuard Terms and Conditions for details about item or country restrictions, as well as any requirements for specific types of items.
Review our ParcelGuard help article for details on how to insure your shipments with ParcelGuard.
US-based Accounts in New Layout Only
Currently, ParcelGuard is available only to US-based ShipStation accounts using the most recent version of ShipStation. ParcelGuard is not available in ShipStation Legacy. If you are using ShipStation Legacy, you can insure your shipments with Shipsurance instead.
Available for US-based ShipStation Legacy Only
Shipsurance is only available when using the Legacy version of ShipStation in accounts based in the US. If you are using the newer version of ShipStation, you can insure your shipments with Parcelguard instead.
Shipsurance is available for international shipments under certain conditions. Certain types of items, like currency or perishables, cannot be insured. There are also certain products, such as cell phones, televisions, and laptop computers, that can only be insured when certain conditions are met.
A full list of excluded items, special insurance conditions, and more details on destination countries can be found in the Shipsurance Terms and Conditions.
Shipsurance does not provide coverage for the following commodities:
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Accounts
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Bills
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Currency
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Cash in transit
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Evidence of debt
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Checks
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Money orders
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Cash on delivery (C.O.D.) payments
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Coins (collectible coins are not excluded)
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Securities and other negotiable papers
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Tickets
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Deeds
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Notes
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Gift cards
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Manuscripts
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Documents
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Neon Items
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Hazardous material (per UPS Hazardous Materials list)
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Perishable cargo or similar property
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Eggs
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Any stone or ceramic slabs
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Automobiles
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Motorcycles
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Live animals
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Flowers
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Plants
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Seeds
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Cigarettes/Cigars
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Cotton
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Tobacco
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Windows
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Plate glass
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Stained glass
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Float glass
Jewelry (includes necklaces, earrings, watches, rings, bracelets, broaches, etc.)
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If valued at $500.00 or more, must be sent with the direct or adult Signature Confirmation Service provided by the carrier (must be signed for at delivery). This service is available by most carriers, often at an additional expense to their core shipping service.
Laptop computers (including tablets, computers, iPads, and similar electronics)
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Must be sent with the direct or adult Signature Confirmation Service provided by the carrier (must be signed for at delivery). This service is available by most carriers often at an additional expense to their core shipping service. If a signature confirmation service is not available from the carrier, these items cannot be covered. Shipments sent without a carrier- provided signature confirmation service are excluded from coverage in their entirety.
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Coverage for laptop computers (including tablets computers, iPads, and similar electronics), when shipped International via the USPS, can be covered only if sent via USPS Priority Mail Express International service. International shipments sent via the USPS or a consolidator (APC, Globegistics, Smart Post, or similar) without this service are excluded from coverage in their entirety.
Mobile telephones (including cell phones, smartphones, messaging phones, Android phones, iPhones, Blackberry phones, and similar)
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Must be sent with the direct or adult Signature Confirmation Service provided by the carrier (must be signed for at delivery). This service is available by most carriers often at an additional expense to their core shipping service. If a signature confirmation service is not available from the carrier, these items cannot be covered. Shipments sent without a carrier-provided signature confirmation service are excluded from coverage in their entirety.
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Coverage for mobile telephones (including cell phones, smartphones, messaging phones, Android phones, iPhones, Blackberry phones, and similar), when shipped International via the USPS, can be covered only if sent via USPS Priority Mail Express International service. International shipments sent via the USPS or consolidator (APC, Globegistics, Smart Post, or similar) without this service are excluded from coverage in their entirety.
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Coverage for mobile telephones (including cell phones, smartphones, messaging phones, Android phones, iPhones, Blackberry phones, and similar) has a maximum of $5,000.00 per package and $25,000.00 per conveyance.
Coverage is provided worldwide when shipments originate from the United States, except to the following destinations:
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Afghanistan
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Angola
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Bolivia
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Burma
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Congo
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Cuba
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Iran
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Iraq
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Ivory Coast (Cote d'Ivoire)
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Liberia
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Nigeria
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North Korea
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Paraguay
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Sierra Leone
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Somalia
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Sudan
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Syria
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Venezuela
In addition, coverage is excluded to any location that would be in violation of any U.S. economic or trade sanctions, including OFAC Restricted Countries.
For shipments to Russian and other Commonwealth of Independent States countries (includes Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan) coverage ceases upon touchdown of the aircraft at the airport of destination or upon discharge from the overseas vessel at the destination discharge port. This means that if a package is scanned into these countries, coverage ceases.
When shipping carrier-insured packages with UPS that are valued greater than or equal to USD $1,000, you will also need to print a High-Value Report. This document, sometimes called a "Control Log," serves as proof that UPS has picked up your high-value shipment.
The High-Value report will look similar to this:
Two copies of this receipt must be printed along with your label(s). Provide one copy to UPS and ensure the other copy is signed by the UPS Driver or a UPS Customer Center representative and returned to you. The signed copy of this receipt is your proof that UPS has accepted the package(s), and this report will be required to submit a claim should the shipment become lost or damaged.
UPS will return the High-Value Report to ShipStation automatically, along with the label and any required customs forms.
In ShipStation, the High-Value report prints with the UPS Commercial Invoice (customs forms).
To print your High-Value Report you simply need to print the shipment's customs forms, which you can do in any of the following ways:
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Enable either the Forms or Custom Forms column in the Shipments grid, then click the form icon
that appears in that column and print.
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Select the shipment and choose Customs Forms from the Print menu in either the Shipments grid or Shipment Details screens.
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Select the order and choose Customs Forms from the Print menu in the Orders grid.
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Select Print Customs Forms from the action menu for the selected order in the Order Details shipping sidebar.
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Select Docs > Other Forms from the Shipment print menu for the selected order in the Order Details shipping sidebar.
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Select Other Docs > Other Forms from the Batch Status screen to print the High-Value report.
If you need to print a High-Value Report for a domestic shipment, do one of the following:
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Enable the Forms column in Shipments grid, then click the
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Select Docs > Other Forms from the Shipment print menu for the selected order in the Order Details shipping sidebar.
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Print the High-Value Report from the Batch Shipping Status screen under Other Docs > Other Forms.
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High-Value Reimbursement Maximum: The maximum value UPS will cover on high-value shipments can vary depending on how UPS comes into possession of the package.
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UPS has a USD $50k maximum when a UPS driver picks up your package at your scheduled pickup location or you drop it off at a UPS customer center. In both of these instances, the High-Value form is signed by a UPS employee.
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UPS has a USD $1k maximum if you drop off your package at a UPS Access Point location, like a CVS or UPS Store. In this instance, the High-Value form would be signed by an employee of the access point, not a UPS employee.
Review the Declared Value for Carriage section of the UPS Value Added Services for more details.
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If you create a multi-package shipment for an order, High-Value Reports will only be generated for the individual packages that have a declared value of USD $1000 or more.
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If the shipment is international, the High-Value Report will be included with any customs forms or commercial invoices the carrier sends to ShipStation. They will appear and print after any commercial invoices included in the forms PDF.
There are forms that ShipStation does not receive from the carrier that you may wish to include with your shipments. These forms must be created and printed outside of ShipStation at this time.
These forms include (but are not limited to):
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USMCA Certificate of Origin
The USMCA replaced NAFTA on July 1st, 2020. For details and links to forms you may need, please visit the U.S. Customs and Border Protection USMCA website.
FedEx Commercial Invoices
For qualified shipments between USMCA countries, FedEx will include the Certificate of Origin with their commercial invoice forms, which you can print directly from ShipStation.