Every parcel leaving the country needs a customs declaration, and getting one wrong means a rejected label or a parcel stuck at the border. BookRouter™ builds the declaration from the order itself, so in the ordinary case there is nothing for you to fill in. This article covers what it puts on there, what you can change, and the handful of decisions that are genuinely yours.
Shipping labels are being rolled out gradually. If the Buy-Label window is not on your orders yet, the Shipping and tracking card tells you so, and the rest still applies whenever you buy postage elsewhere.
What goes on the declaration
Each line of the declaration comes from a line of the order: what it is, how many, what it is worth, and what it weighs. Around that, these fields are filled in from your settings, with a sensible default if you have never touched them:
| Field | What it is | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Contents | Why the parcel is being sent | Merchandise (a sale) |
| Signed by | Who certifies the declaration is true | Your store name |
| Tariff code | The HS code customs classifies the goods by | 4901.99, printed books |
| Country of origin | Where the goods come from | Your store's country |
| Declared currency | The currency your values are in | Your trading currency |
| If it cannot be delivered | What the carrier should do | Return it to you |
| Who pays duty | You or the buyer | Buyer pays on delivery (DAP) |
Setting your defaults
Go to Settings › Store Settings › Shipping & Fulfillment and open International customs. A short readiness checklist there shows which of the four things worth setting are done: your signer, your country of origin, your tariff code and a tax registration.
None of them are compulsory. The defaults ship correctly. Setting them just means the declaration says exactly what you would have said.
Correcting a single shipment
Everything above can be overridden for one parcel in the Buy-Label window, where each line shows its description, quantity, declared value and tariff code.
The value column is the line total, not the price of one copy. Two copies of a 40 dollar book is 80 dollars on that line. This is the single easiest thing to get wrong on a customs form.
If you edit the declaration after rates have been fetched, Buy & Print disables itself and asks you to re-rate. That is deliberate: the declaration is attached to the shipment when it is priced, so buying without re-rating would print the version you just edited away. Re-rating takes a moment and releases the button.
Who pays the duty
Two choices, per label, from Who pays duty:
- Buyer pays duty on delivery (DAP). The default, and what every label bought before this feature existed did. Your buyer settles duty and any carrier handling fee before the parcel is released.
- I prepay duty and taxes (DDP). Billed to your carrier account. Your buyer receives the parcel with nothing to pay.
USPS cannot do DDP. Postal items are delivered duty-unpaid by definition, so choosing to prepay on a USPS rate is refused rather than warned about: the promise could not be kept. FedEx, UPS and DHL Express can prepay duty.
If you ask for DDP and the DDP-capable carriers drop out of your rate list, that is usually your carrier account rather than a fault. Some accounts are not enabled for duty billing, and some lanes have no service. The message names which carriers on offer can prepay, if any can.
For EU destinations specifically, see EU customs duties on orders 150 euros or less.
Tax numbers
If you have an IOSS, VAT or EORI number, put it in Store Settings under International customs. It travels with the parcel so customs can see the tax position and does not delay it. If you do not have one, nothing is sent and nothing breaks; you will simply see a note when shipping to the EU pointing out that you have none on file.
Shipments over 2,500 dollars
US exports above 2,500 dollars need an export filing, and BookRouter enforces it because a label without it is rejected.
- The limit is measured per tariff line, not per parcel. Five 600 dollar books all under the books tariff code are over the limit together; the same five books under five different codes are not.
- Under the limit, the standard exemption is declared for you and there is nothing to do.
- Canada is exempt at any value. A 5,000 dollar book to Toronto needs no filing.
- Over the limit, file with AES yourself and enter the ITN it gives you. The box appears when it is needed. The format is an X followed by 14 digits; a leading "AES" and any spacing are accepted.
- A small number of sanctioned destinations cannot use a value exemption at all, and those shipments are refused.
What the warnings mean
Before you buy, BookRouter checks the shipment and shows you anything it finds, in two tiers.
Blocking means the label would be illegal or is certain to be rejected, so the purchase is stopped: a missing value or weight on a line, an embargoed destination, a shipment over the filing limit with no ITN, contents marked Other with no explanation, or DDP on a carrier that cannot do it.
Advisory means it is your call, and nothing is stopped: a line with no tariff code, an EU destination explaining who will be billed, an EU destination with no tax number on file, a UK destination noting that books are zero-rated, or a missing phone number.
These checks run again on the server when you press Buy, so a shipment cannot slip through by way of a browser.
What is left to you
Two things BookRouter deliberately does not decide:
- Cultural property and endangered materials. Books over 100 years old can need an export licence in some countries, and pre-ban ivory or tortoiseshell bindings engage CITES. A tariff option for antiques is offered and nothing more. This is your judgement, not ours.
- Destination-specific prohibitions. Where a carrier declines a shipment, the reason it gives is shown with the rate rather than second-guessed.