How can I navigate shipping and taxes when selling from Canada to the US?

[projectquirk]

I currently sell my products only in Canada but have been toying with the idea of selling in USA as well.

I am however a little confused with Shipping, Delivery & taxes. Here are my questions:

1. Shopify shipping only gives me the option of Canada post - Is that the best option?

2. Apart from the shipping costs, should I also charge my customers anything else like Duties, taxes etc?

3. What exactly is handling fee?

4. Is there any other legal aspect to selling in US from Canada?

Thanks,

Tracy

[Victor · Accepted solution]

Hi Tracy,

Thank you for getting in touch! I'll do my best to answer your questions below.

1. If you're based in Canada you will only have the option of using Canada Post through the Shopify Shipping service, which allows you to buy and print labels directly from the admin. However, if you're able to find cheaper rates from other couriers (e.g. FedEx, Purolator) then you can opt to use these services instead of Canada Post, and either buy labels directly from the courier or via a third-party app that integrates with your Shopify store.
2. Shipping duties are typically paid by the customer on delivery if applicable, I believe, but some shipping couriers allow the merchant to pay for the duties instead. This would allow you to incorporate the cost of any duties or taxes into the price of your products. If you leave the duties to be paid on the customer's end, you can add import information to your products ahead of time and use third-party duty calculator apps to show international customers duty estimates at checkout.
3. A handling fee can charged for any number of reasons and would typically be added on top of the order and shipping prices, but are not mandatory or necessary in most cases. You can incorporate handling fees into the price of your shipping fees if you deem it to be necessary.
4. Shopify cannot advise directly on the legal aspect of selling internationally, although I believe it would be relatively straightforward for you to sell from Canada to the USA. If you have any sort of physical presence in the United States (e.g. an office, warehouse or employees), or start selling a large amount to specific states (typically $100,000+ or 150-200 orders per year), then you may be deemed as having a tax nexus in a state and may need to register your business with the state-level tax authorities. However, if you are just starting out, you likely won't need to worry too much about this for some time.

I hope I've been able to answer your questions and offer some guidance here, but please let me know if you have more questions!

Kind regards,

Victor | Shopify Social Care

[projectquirk]

Hey Victor,

This is some great feedback. So all in all I guess I can start selling in the US and might just do it as a Pilot.

Thanks a lot for all the help.

Tracy

[Victor]

Hi @projectquirk,

My pleasure! I'm glad I could help. Please feel free to reach out again if you have further questions.

Kind regards,

Victor | Shopify Social Care

[Marc_Levesque1]

Does Shopify have it's own in-house app for Canadian stores. Canada Post is just not cutting it... 

Looked at 3rd party apps but don't know how stable they are! What are the top 3 apps on Shopify.. this way i can gauge whom has spent the time to develop their product.

Looking for a plug and play.. wish Shopify would include some embedded process for other than just Cda Post.

Marc

[Victor]

Hi @Marc_Levesque1,

Shopify offers a built-in integration with Canada Post for shipping labels and rates, but we do not have such an offering with other carriers or shipping providers. There are a number of popular and widely-used apps that offer more options, which can be found on the Shopify App Store. We do not have a ranking of apps, per se, but you can learn more about their reputability based on their rating and the number of their reviews. I'd recommend checking out the following:

• ShipStation
• Shippo
• netParcel
• ClickShip

All of these apps offer shipping services for Canadian merchants and are not limited to only Canada Post.

Kind regards,

Victor | Shopify Social Care

[mauiswim57]

Why doesn't Shopify allow the creation of return labels from Canada to the US, if we have Canada listed as a shipping zone?

I'm struggling with how to handle returns from our Canadian customers. How do other stores handle this?

[Victor]

Hi @mauiswim57,

As per our documentation on this topic, return labels bought through Shopify by US-based merchants can only be used for domestic orders. This means return labels cannot be generated within Shopify for orders sent to Canada (or anywhere else outside the United States). I would recommend checking out a dedicated returns app such as AfterShip Returns, or you could pivot to using a shipping app such as Shippo to manage your shipping, including managing your returns. 

Kind regards,

Victor | Shopify Social Care

[SF23]

Hi,

Looking for some help with adding 3rd party shipping rates to my shopify store. 

Apparently when you have  switched to annual billing you can get access to Third-Party Calculated Shipping Rates.   I would like to make this switch.

How does someone get access to this after making the switch?

Thank you,

Saida

[Victor]

Hi @SF23,

Yes, if you change your subscription to an annual billing cycle then you will be able to use Shopify's carrier-calculated shipping feature for free. You can change your billing cycle in the Shopify admin, although please be aware that if you do switch to an annual cycle, you are in effect paying for the year up front and cannot receive a refund during that period if you cancel. Once you have changed to an annual cycle, you then just need to contact our support team so that you can be authenticated on the store and the shipping feature can be enabled from our end.

Kind regards,

Victor | Shopify Social Care

[Marc_Levesque1]

Thanks Victor, looking for something that is plug/play and does not require us opening accounts with multiple providers and independent negotiation on rates...we do not ship a great volume but Cda Post just does not cut it.

We do enjoy the Cda Post interface on our store, would like to see Shopify offer more shipping options embeded into the shipping module... till then a 3rd party app will have to be looked at... though again..want a single billing stream and not multiple accounts with Purolator, FedEx, UPS etc...

Know of an App that does this?

[Victor]

Hi @Marc_Levesque1,

Thank you for clarifying that. I believe many of these shipping apps offer the functionality you're looking for, and help make the process of buying shipping labels as easy as possible. For example, Shipstation offers merchants the opportunity to use their own discounted rates with shipping suppliers, as opposed to the merchant using their own account with the supplier (although this option is available). Using a third-party app does mean that you are likely going to be billed for label purchases through the app, rather than have the charges appear directly on your Shopify invoice like with Shopify Shipping, but if you want access to shipping providers other than Canada Post this is the best option available to you at this time.

Kind regards,

Victor | Shopify Social Care

[vwayne]

This discussion thread is interesting. I will be launching my store soon. My store is based in Canada. I have a .com account. I want to set my store prices in US dollars because my target market is the US. And since I leave 10 minutes away from the border, I want to use the US postal service and courier services for my shipping to customers in the US to avoid customs fees for them. And use Canada post/Canadian courier services for Canadian customers. Is this possible? Is it feasible? My store set-up address is a Canadian address. Can I still set my prices in US dollars for it to be paid into a Canadian account? And can I set up shipping across the border?

[Victor]

Hi @vwayne,

Thank you for getting in touch and for detailing your situation. As you're based in Canada but are mainly targeting the US market, it certainly makes sense to set your default currency to USD, and Canadian merchants are permitted to accept payments in USD through Shopify Payments. However, please be aware that in order to accept process payments and accept payouts in USD, you will need to provide a full USD-denominated checking account provided by a Canadian or American financial institution when setting up your Shopify Payments account. You will also be able to sell your products in CAD to your Canadian customers via our multi-currency feature.

In terms of shipping your products, you can buy shipping labels directly via the Shopify admin, however for merchants in Canada you can only do this for Canada Post labels. Only merchants based in the United States are able to buy USPS and UPS labels directly via Shopify. You can still ship items over the border from Canada to the US, but you would need to buy shipping labels from a third-party if you did not wish to use Canada Post when shipping internationally. There are a wide variety of shipping apps that will integrate with your Shopify store and allow you to buy shipping labels from a number of different couriers.

I am no customs expert but believe fees will still apply if you are shipping from Canada to the US, even if you are close to the border. I would recommend checking out our blog post on shipping internationally to learn more about the considerations you'll need to make when doing so.

I hope this has helped, but please let me know if you have further questions.

Kind regards,

Victor | Shopify Social Care

[Mountbatton]

Looking to sell face cream in Uk

[Victor]

Hi @Mountbatton,

Thank you for reaching out. Are you based in the UK, or do you live in another country and are wanting to sell to the UK? Have you sold your face cream in the past and are looking to move to Shopify, or are you starting out for the first time?

If you're new to the platform, I would recommend checking out our Getting Started with Shopify on Compass, our learning tool. This is a great starting point for new merchants and covers much of the basics that apply to most businesses. Beyond that, you can leverage our Help Center to learn more about the platform and start working on your store.

If you have any specific questions about the Shopify platform, please let me know and I'd be happy to answer them here.

Kind regards,

Victor | Shopify Social Care