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  3. International Shipments

Other International Options & Forms

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.

Bill Taxes & Duties to Payor of Shipping Charges Option

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 Delivery Duties Paid). This is helpful if you prefer to absorb these costs so the recipient isn't faced with additional charges.

In ShipStation, the following carriers allow selecting DDP:

  • UPS

  • FedEx

  • DHL Express

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 bill duties to payor option:

  1. Go to the Other Shipping Options section in the Orders tab or Order Details Sidebar.

  2. Check the box for Bill duties and taxes to payor of shipping charges.

    V3 Orders tab Sidebar, Other Shipping Options section, red outline around Bill duties and taxes to payor option

    You must have a valid Service selected for the shipment before this option will be available.

That's it!

ShipStation will then display any select options under the Configure Shipment Widget next to the Other Shipping Options heading.

V3 Orders tab sidebar, red arrow points to Bill To Payor indicator below configure shipment widget

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.

Shipsurance for International Shipments

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:

  • Accounts

  • Bills

  • Currency

  • Cash in transit

  • Evidence of debt

  • Checks

  • Money orders

  • Cash on delivery (C.O.D.) payments

  • Coins (collectible coins are not excluded)

  • Securities and other negotiable papers

  • Tickets

  • Deeds

  • Notes

  • Gift cards

  • Manuscripts

  • Documents

  • Neon Items

  • Hazardous material (per UPS Hazardous Materials list)

  • Perishable cargo or similar property

  • Eggs

  • Any stone or ceramic slabs

  • Automobiles

  • Motorcycles

  • Live animals

  • Flowers

  • Plants

  • Seeds

  • Cigarettes/Cigars

  • Cotton

  • Tobacco

  • Windows

  • Plate glass

  • Stained glass

  • Float glass

Commodities With Restrictions

Jewelry (includes necklaces, earrings, watches, rings, bracelets, broaches, etc.)

  • 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)

  • 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.

  • 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, smart phones, messaging phones, Android phones, iPhones, Blackberry phones, and similar)

  • 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.

  • Coverage for mobile telephones (including cell phones, smart phones, 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.

  • Coverage for mobile telephones (including cell phones, smart phones, messaging phones, Android phones, iPhones, Blackberry phones, and similar) has a maximum of $5,000.00 per package and $25,000.00 per conveyance.

Restricted Countries

Coverage is provided worldwide when shipments originate from the United States or Canada, except to the following destinations:

  • Afghanistan

  • Angola

  • Bolivia

  • Burma

  • Congo

  • Cuba

  • Iran

  • Iraq

  • Ivory Coast (Cote d'Ivoire)

  • Liberia

  • Nigeria

  • North Korea

  • Paraguay

  • Sierra Leone

  • Somalia

  • Sudan

  • Syria

  • 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.

Generate a UPS High-Value Report

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.

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 anything happen.

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 (i.e., customs forms).

To print your High-Value Report you simply need to print the shipment's customs forms, which can be done in a few different ways.

  • Enable the Forms or Custom Forms column on Shipments tab, then click the icon that appears in that column.

  • Select the shipment and choose Customs Forms from the Print menu in either the Shipments grid or Shipment Details screens.

  • Select the order and choose Customs Forms from the Print menu in the Orders grid.

  • Select Print Customs Forms from the action menu for the selected order in the Order Details shipping sidebar.

  • Select Docs > Other Forms from the Shipment print menu for the selected order in the Order Details shipping sidebar.

  • Select Other Docs > Other Forms from the Batch Status screen to print the High-Value report.

    V3_Batch_Status_OtherDocuments-MRK.png

High-Value Report for Domestic Shipments

If you need to print a High-Value Report for a domestic shipment, do the following:

  • Enable the Forms column on Shipments tab, then click the SHP_Forms_Doc_Icon.png icon that appears in that column.

  • Select Docs > Other Forms from the Shipment print menu for the selected order in the Order Details shipping sidebar.

  • Print the High Value Report from the Batch Shipping Status screen under Other Docs > Other Forms.

The High-Value report will look similar to this:

UPS High Value report sample

Printing the High-Value Report in ShipStation Legacy

If you are using ShipStation Legacy, the High-Value report will not print automatically. Instead, to print this report:

  1. Go to the Shipments tab.

  2. Click the form icon Form icon, resembles paper sheet with folded corner. in the Forms column.

  3. Select your print option or download to print later.

Notes About High Value Reports

  • 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.

  • 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.

International Forms Not Available in ShipStation

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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