GlobalPost delivers a helping hand to international shippers

As part of the Auctane company, GlobalPost International is an international and domestic shipping carrier for small to medium-sized businesses. The carrier provides delivery and fulfillment services to 50,000 merchants that sell internationally on marketplaces such as Amazon, eBay, and Etsy. Through integrations with the Auctane family of shipping technology platforms including Stamps.com and ShipStation, GlobalPost helps sellers expand into new global markets.  

Vice President of GlobalPost Shea Felix has built up the company since its start in 2016. He says many retailers who use GlobalPost to ship their products internationally for the first time don’t understand the complexities of cross-border compliance.

“Our sweet spot is very small, entry-level international shippers. An incredible amount of customers ship once internationally and never again. That speaks to the friction point of international shipping. People know they can make money. They know they can grow their business. But if the overhead cost or complexity of doing it is too much, then they go back to domestic shipping,” says Shea.  

Customs duty and tariffs often cause confusion for both sellers and buyers. When a seller ships Delivered Duty Paid (DDP), the buyer prepays duty rates and taxes upfront and can make an informed decision about their purchase. 

When shipping DDP, it’s important for sellers to identify the contents of each shipment with country-specific Harmonized System (HS) codes. Without a simple and effective way to provide the correct tariff codes, merchants may lose money because packages are rejected at customs. However, if a seller doesn’t ship DDP, the buyer may be surprised that additional costs are required to accept the package and reject it when it arrives.

“If the taxes aren’t known, there’s a high rate of rejection. Then the package has to come back at a cost. We wanted a way merchants could educate themselves on how to navigate shipping internationally,” says Shea. 

GlobalPost came to Avalara through an acquisition. Shea knew the president and CEO of a company acquired by Avalara, and his company provided a solution that had been adopted by U.S. government agencies and prominent private sector organizations. 

Shea’s decision was driven by a need for simplicity, speed, and cost efficiency — all of which Avalara Self-Serve Tariff Code Classification provides. “Accuracy and ease of use were our top priorities, and this tool delivered exactly what we needed,” says Shea. 

Merchants who visit the GlobalPost website are able to use Avalara Self-Serve Tariff Code Classification to look up HS codes needed to categorize goods for international export. Shippers can easily search for a product description, such as “smartphone” or “cotton T-shirt”, and the tool uses AI to generate mandatory universal 6-digit or country-specific 10-digit codes. 

“Once you get the tariff code, we allow you to cut and paste that tariff code into the duty tax calculator to get the duty calculation. It works seamlessly together,” explains Shea.