Managing International Shipping and Customs for Amazon Sellers

To manage international shipping and customs effectively as an Amazon seller, you can use Amazon’s Global Shipping Program (GSP), which simplifies cross-border sales by handling shipping, customs clearance, and delivery to international customers. You ship your products to an Amazon fulfillment center in your country, and Amazon takes care of the rest, including calculating and collecting customs duties and import taxes at checkout, so customers pay all fees upfront without surprises.

Key steps and considerations for managing international shipping and customs include:

• Enrolling in Amazon’s Global Shipping Program through Seller Central to enable international sales with Amazon handling logistics and customs.

• Understanding import taxes and customs duties: These are based on the destination country’s regulations. Amazon calculates these fees and includes them in the customer’s total cost during checkout, but sellers must comply with export regulations from their own country.

• Preparing proper documentation: When shipping inventory internationally, you must prepare commercial invoices and act as the exporter of record. If shipping directly to Amazon fulfillment centers abroad, shipments must be sent under “Delivery Duty Paid” (DDP) terms, meaning all customs duties and taxes are prepaid to avoid returns or delays.

• Choosing a customs broker: This can be arranged through your carrier or a third party to ensure smooth customs clearance for your shipments.

• Listing products appropriately: Use Amazon’s tools like Build International Listings (BIL) to tailor product details for each marketplace, including language and local regulations.

• Managing returns and customer experience: Amazon handles returns for international orders under the GSP, simplifying the process for sellers and buyers.

If you prefer not to sell internationally, you can disable international shipping options in your shipping templates on Seller Central to avoid complications.

In summary, leveraging Amazon’s Global Shipping Program is the most streamlined way to manage international shipping and customs, as it shifts much of the complexity to Amazon while ensuring customers see all costs upfront. However, if you ship inventory yourself to foreign fulfillment centers or customers, you must carefully manage export/import compliance, documentation, and customs duties to avoid issues.