Our store is based in Japan. One of the shipping methods that we started using recently is FedEx. However, compared to DHL, FedEx only allows us to use DDP when shipping to the US. We are having a problem with estimated duties and taxes (and other fees like additional line items) for those packages. We ship a lot of items per box, and having to input all the items when creating the label and doing the same thing when estimating the shipping fee on another app, I think, is not the most efficient way to do it. Many of our invoices are also created from a Draft Invoice with custom items (not the items recorded in Shopify). Do you have any recommendations on how we can do it better? Thank you in advance.
Hey @artsylar . Hope you are doing well!
Yeah, you can connect Shopify directly to the FedEx API to auto-populate order items on labels. Save your custom invoice items as Shopify products so you stop entering them twice.
Do you mean I have to develop an app to do that?
Hey @artsylar ,
Dealing with redundant data entry for high-volume DDP shipments is a massive operational bottleneck, especially when relying on custom draft invoices that bypass standard catalog.
To streamline this, you can use a lightweight middleware script or a dedicated automation tool to intercept your Shopify Draft Invoices and automatically pass the line items, weights, and HS codes directly to both your tax estimation tool and FedEx’s API simultaneously. This removes the secondary app data entry entirely by making Shopify the single source of truth, even for custom items.
How are you currently capturing the weights and HS codes for those custom items when creating the Draft Invoices?
Hi @artsylar
If you’re DDP shipping through FedEx on a regular basis then the I idea is to see if you can get a landed cost/duties calculator that plugs in right into shopify and fedex. These tools can calculate duties and taxes based on order information and help minimize manual input. For draft orders containing custom items, you can standardize product descriptions, HS codes, and values using Shopify metafields or a shiping solution that allows you to reuse customs information between shipments. This streamlines label creation and improves duty estimates as well as eliminating redundant efforts.
Jumping in on this older post to see if anyone has found new apps or integrations that tackle FedEx’s DDP process more efficiently. I’ve been exploring third-party options but wondering if anyone has had success with a particular solution. Also, for those who developed their own custom app, any lessons learned or tips on simplifying the integration process?