If you have a Zonos account, you can integrate it directly with your Shippit account. Zonos is a cross-border commerce solution that automates landed cost calculations, ensuring accurate duties and taxes at checkout. This means no surprise fees for you or your customers.
This article covers how you can use Shippit with your own Zonos account. If you don't have a Zonos account, get in touch with your Shippit account manager and ask them about the different options available to you.
For more information about shipping internationally, including incoterms, and calculating duties and taxes, see the international shipping collection.
Why use Zonos?
You can use a Zonos account with Shippit to help you expand your business into new countries without needing to set up new warehouses or carrier integrations. Shippit partners with Zonos to help you handle the complexity of international shipping, from calculating duties and taxes to managing customs documentation.
Our Zonos integration helps you offer a transparent checkout experience with no hidden fees, and ensures compliance with international shipping regulations.
Is Zonos right for me?
Zonos is a good fit for you if you:
Want to offer flat rate shipping to your customers
Want to offer pricing to your customers that includes the duties and taxes, but avoid paying duties on top of that price
Need the flexibility to use your chosen carriers, at Shippit partnered rates
Using Zonos to ship with DDP and DAP/DDU
When you ship internationally, you'll need to decide how duties and taxes are handled. The two most common options are DDP and DDU.
Delivery Duty Paid (DDP): You (the seller) take responsibility for all customs procedures and pay any import duties and taxes on behalf of your customer. This creates a smoother, faster delivery experience with no surprise costs upon arrival. DDP is now a requirement for all shipments to the United States. Our Zonos integration supports DDP shipping for all international destinations, backed by a landed cost guarantee, ensuring you can meet these requirements easily. Check with your carrier to make sure they offer DDP as a shipping option.
Delivery Duty Unpaid (DDU or DAP): Your customer is responsible for paying any import duties and taxes. While this can be a more cost-effective option for low-value goods, it means your customer will be contacted by customs to pay any fees before their order is delivered.
For more information about DDP and DAP/DDU, see the understanding incoterms article.
What checkout options do I have?
You can configure your Zonos account to choose how to display duties and taxes at checkout.
If you use Shopify, you might like to offer fixed-price shipping to your customers. This allows you to present a simple, all-inclusive shipping cost at checkout. While your customers see a single price, you will still have visibility of the complete breakdown of shipping costs, including duties and taxes.
You can also choose to:
Break down duty and tax at checkout: This option shows your customers the full cost of their order, including shipping, duties, and taxes.
Include tariffs in the product price: This option hides the complexity of duties and taxes from your customers.
How are duties and taxes calculated and paid?
Shippit partners with Zonos to provide a landed cost guarantee. Here’s how the billing works:
At checkout, Zonos calculates and displays the total landed cost, including the product cost, shipping, duties, and taxes to your customers. You can show these as separate amounts, or include duties and taxes in your shipping or product costs as a flat fee.
When you book the order in Shippit, the guaranteed duties and taxes are shown alongside the shipping cost. Depending on how your Zonos account is set up, this guaranteed amount is billed as part of your regular Shippit billing cycle, or billed by Zonos.
The carrier pays customs. For DDP orders, the carrier pays the duties and taxes to customs. If this amount is different from the guaranteed cost you paid, Zonos covers the difference.