As the merchant, you may not want to hit your customer with surprise fees on an international delivery. If you would like to cover the cost of customs duties, taxes, and fees for the shipment, you'll need to enable the Delivery Duty Paid (DDP), previously known as Bill Int’l Duties to Payor of Shipping Charges, option during label creation. For accounts outside of the US and Canada, the option is listed as Delivered Duty Paid.
There are a few things to know about DDP:
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Merchant Responsibility: The merchant is responsible for all costs associated with shipping, customs clearance, and duty assessment.
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Carrier Compatibility: Not all carriers or services support DDP billing options, but many do.
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Global Scope: DDP applies to any international shipment sent to a destination country outside your account's base country.
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Pre-Paid Duties & Taxes Guarantee: For US, Canada, and UK-based accounts using supported ShipStation Carriers, ShipStation offers a guarantee on duty costs calculated during label creation.
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For US, Canada, and United Kingdom (UK) Based Accounts using supported ShipStation Carriers we offer a Pre-Paid Duties and Taxes Guarantee when using DDP. This means ShipStation will guarantee the cost of duties for these shipments during label creation. Supported carriers vary by country, please see Pre-Paid Duties and Taxes Guarantee for more info.
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For US, Canada, and United Kingdom (UK) Based Accounts when shipping with supported Your Carrier accounts, you may see Duties and Taxes (Estimated) as an additional line item in the Cost Review pop-up. This qoute is indicative only and the final cost, which may vary, will be invoiced directly by the Carrier.
The option to bill duties to the payor is only available when shipping with supported carriers based on your account's region:
If a carrier supports DDP, the option to use it will appear in ShipStation in the Configure Shipment Widget , under Label Options. If this option is not present in the Other Shipping Options section after you have selected a service, this means that the carrier does not support DDP.
🇺🇸 US & 🇨🇦 Canada Carriers:
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DHL Express
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DHL Express from ShipStation
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FedEx
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FedEx from ShipStation
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Purolator (Canada only)
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UPS
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UPS from ShipStation
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USPS (US to Canada only, via GAP or Duties/Taxes drop-down menu)
DDP is only available for First Class, Priority, or Priority Express International shipments under 4 lbs from the US to Canada. 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.
For USPS international shipments to Canada, use the Duties/Taxes drop-down menu to pre-pay duties instead of the Bill Duties to Payor option.
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GlobalPost Plus Smartsaver (subject to eligibility)
GP+ is DDP by default, so there is no need to enable the Bill Duties to Payor/DDP option in ShipStation. However, your Stamps.com account must first be enabled for GP+. Contact Stamps.com to inquire about eligibility and enable on your account.
🇬🇧 UK Carriers:
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UPS
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UPS from ShipStation
🇦🇺 Australia Carriers:
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DHL Express
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FedEx
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StarTrack
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UPS
Follow these few steps to set up and activate DDP in your ShipStation account:
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Set Delivery Duty Paid (DDP) as your default option to use the Guaranteed Duties & Taxes Prepaid feature.
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Go to the Duties & Taxes tab, then select how to pay DDP when shipping with your own carrier account.
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Use ShipStation Balance to pay duties and taxes to pay the final cost for duties and taxes upfront at the label purchase, or
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Use my carrier account to pay duties and taxes to receive an invoice from your carrier.
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Initial Setup: Review and agree to the terms and conditions to use Duties and Taxes.
The terms and conditions will show only when you choose the Use ShipStation Balance option, and if the account was created before October 2025, and if you have not yet used Guarantee Prepaid Duties and Taxes.
ShipStation gives you the flexibility to pay duties and taxes via your carrier invoice directly from Order Details. While these fees may change during customs processing, ShipStation provides an estimate as soon as you select your carrier account.
Follow these steps to see DDP applied to international shipments in Order Details:
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Open the Order Details screen by clicking the order number or by double-clicking the order record in the Orders Grid for the international order you wish to open.
ShipStation will show you an estimate for duties and taxes when your carrier account is selected.
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Change this option to ShipStation Balance to pay a guaranteed amount for duties and taxes at label purchase. This will be your final cost for those fees, with no further adjustments.
Label fees will still be invoiced by your carrier.
This indicator shows you that the feature has been applied to your label purchase and your duties and taxes costs are guaranteed.
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Click Cost Review to open the Cost Review popup.
Here you can view the estimated cost for duties and taxes. Final cost may vary and will be invoiced by your carrier
In ShipStation, you can enable DDP on all international orders by default in your international settings. Also, you can manually apply DDP to individual orders, or you can create an automation rule that will automatically do it for you.
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Select a supported carrier from the Service dropdown under Configure Shipment section.
This example shows FedEx International Ground as the selected service.
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Tick the box to select Delivery Duty Paid that now appears in the Other Shipping Options section.
Please note: If your account language setting is not set to English (US & CA), this option will read Delivered Duty Paid (DDP).
Bill Int’l Duties to Payor of Shipping Charges is one of the actions available for automation rules. You can set up your criteria based on the destination country, carrier, customer, or other necessary limits.
This automation rule will enable the Bill Duties to Payor/Delivered Duty Paid (DDP) option for a shipment automatically when qualified orders import into ShipStation.
When using DDP, charges are billed across two separate channels:
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Shipping Costs: Billed directly to your carrier account (or standard carrier invoice).
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Duties & Taxes: Debited directly from your ShipStation Carriers balance at the time of label creation.
Note on Estimates vs. Final Billing
Amounts displayed as estimates during label creation and in the Cost Review window are indicative quotes. The final, reconciled duty and tax amounts will appear on your end-of-month carrier statement or account invoice.
If you generate a DDP label that is ultimately not shipped:
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Standard Voiding Process: For any unused DDP labels, you should void them directly in ShipStation using the standard label-voiding workflow to handle postage and duty/tax balance adjustments.
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Refunds & Adjustments: Once the void is processed, both the postage amount and the held duties/taxes will be credited back according to standard carrier and wallet refund timelines.