There are four key components for deciding on the cost to ship your products internationally. All four contribute to how effectively you’ll ship around the world.

Packaging

Before you ship anything, you’ll need to get packaging supplies. You may need a few sizes of boxes to accommodate different sized shipments. You might also need cushioning, like bubble wrap or stuffing. You can get your packaging both online and at post offices or office supply stores.

International shipping: consider your packaging

In general, it’s best to keep your packaging sturdy but simple. No one wants to deal with three boxes of varying sizes when getting a single product from your business.

Trying to strike this balance of sturdy packaging and low cost may require some homework. Look for deals where you can. For example, if you use USPS as a business, you can order boxes for free.

Working the cost of packaging into your total product cost should be pretty straightforward. Depending on the size and quality, most packaging should cost somewhere around $1.00 – $5.00 each.

Cost of shipping

Building the cost of shipping into your pricing approach is an essential part of correctly setting your prices. You don’t want to lose money on shipping or overcharge your customers. To make sure your approach works, think through these steps:

Consider and compare

Do you ship a lot of similarly sized products? Or maybe a few sizes or weights of packages? This difference, naturally, affects how you’d price a shipment.

Here’s one way to find the costs of shipping internationally:

  1. Using a rate calculator for the carriers you’ll use, take your average domestic order and price it out as if you were shipping internationally.
  2. Then use the rate calculator for your smallest domestic sale.
  3. Now run the costs for your largest domestic sale.

With these three figures in place, you’ll have a sense of pricing for international shipping. It’ll also help you determine which shipments may cost more than others.

If you’re in the US, see how much it will cost to ship internationally with Shopify in our shipping calculator.

For reference, here’s a list of shipping calculators for some major carriers.

Here are two examples of this approach:

Merchant A

  • Smallest domestic sale cost $5.33 to ship internationally
  • Average domestic sale cost $15.47 to ship internationally
  • Largest domestic sale cost $124.55 to ship internationally

Merchant B

  • Smallest domestic sale cost $1.33 to ship internationally
  • Average domestic sale cost $2.75 to ship internationally
  • Largest domestic sale cost $3.25 to ship internationally

Merchant A has a broader range of shipping costs to cover. And Merchant B’s range is relatively narrow. Merchant A may be selling heavier and more varied products, while Merchant B’s offerings seem more consistent in size and cost.

Once you’ve determined your range, you’ll need a pricing structure that’s a good fit for you and your customers.

Structure your pricing

There are three main pricing structures when shipping around the world: Free shipping, carrier rate shipping, and flat rate shipping.

  1. Free shipping: Free shipping is an excellent option for customers. If your profit margins allow for international orders to be shipped for free, consider offering it. If you’re not sure, check out this post on calculating order thresholds for free shipping.
  2. Carrier rate shipping: Shopify already integrates with a few carriers (like USPS, DHL Express and UPS in the US, Canada Post in Canada, and Sendle in Australia) and gives customers shipping options and real-time pricing. Carrier calculated shipping can be very friendly since it allows your customer to choose and does the math for you. Plus, your customer will be charged the same rate that it will cost you to ship their order with Shopify Shipping.
  3. Flat rate shipping: If your international shipping is consistent, in both the size/weight of your packaging as well as the cost of shipping (like Merchant B above), it may be worthwhile to consider flat or manual rate shipping.

Handling charges

Along with the cost of your packaging and materials, consider adding a handling charge.

International shipments pass through many more additional facilities than the typical domestic order. You should be packaging these shipments with more care, and that’s included in your handling. To determine your handling charges, ask yourself:

  • What’s your minimum hourly wage when preparing and packing shipments?
  • How long does it take you, on average, to prepare an order for shipment (from reviewing the order to sending it out)?

Now you can determine your handling costs. Here’s an example:

It usually takes 10 minutes to prepare an order for shipment. And at $11/hour to prepare these packages, you would add a $1.83 handling charge to cover the cost.

(10 min/60 min) x $11 = $1.83 is the handling cost

Again, adding in a handling cost is entirely up to you, and you need to do what’s best for your business. Keep in mind that international orders are typically a bit more expensive, and international customers usually expect to pay a bit more for quality shipping. A big part of a quality shipment is how it’s handled and packaged.

Duties and taxes

International shipping: duties and taxes

International shipments can be subject to duties and taxes depending on a number of factors. It’s important to do your research and factor any duties and taxes into your pricing strategy especially for any key international market you are targeting. You can use this duty calculator to get an idea what duties and taxes may apply to your products per destination country.

Taxes are based on a fixed percentage per destination country (and sometimes state or province). Duties, on the other hand, depend on a number of factors such as: 

  • The value of the items being shipped.
  • The country of origin or where items were manufactured.
  • The type of the items being shipped and attributes such materials used to make them.

By default, the importer (i.e your customer) is responsible for any taxes or duties on the shipment and will need to pay them before they can receive their order. This is called Delivered Duty Unpaid (DDU) or, more officially known as, Delivered At Place (DAP). It’s very important to be transparent with the buyer about additional fees to manage their expectation and avoid returns and chargebacks. Make sure to set up a clear return policy on your website.

To provide a smoother and surprise-free buying experience to your customers, you can choose to be responsible for paying these fees, this is called Delivered Duty Paid (DDP). In this case, you need to collect these fees upfront. 

From a logistical standpoint, you will buy the appropriate shipping label DDU/DAP or DDP and include customs documentation with your international shipment. Check with your domestic postal service as a local resource to make sure you know which documents you need to ship internationally. They’ll typically have these documents for you.

When you buy your shipping labels through Shopify Shipping, you’ll be provided with the necessary customs documentation needed to fulfill international shipments.

The correct customs paperwork required for an international shipment can vary by country. But typically these two documents will be required: a commercial invoice and an export packing list.

Commercial invoice

This is the bill for the shipped product from the seller to the buyer that helps prove ownership and payment. Used to determine the true value of the product(s) being shipped, this document helps the country assess customs duties and taxes. Here’s some essential information that should be included:

  • The merchant and customer’s names and addresses
  • The price, descriptions, and quantity of the products included
  • How the sale was made and the terms of the payment 
  • Shipping method

Depending on the carrier you are shipping with, the customs information may be embedded in the shipping label. DHL Express provides Paperless Trade to most countries, reducing the need for extra printed documents.

Export packing list

The typical detail on a packing list is on this form (buyer, seller/shipper, invoice number, date of shipment, etc.) but it also includes more extensive information like:

  • The mode of transport
  • Carrier info
  • Weight and dimensions of the packages (usually in metric measurements)
  • The type and quantity of packages
  • Package marks