"commercial invoice"

[mail22]

Customs 2014: Combine all requests for fixes (actually government requirements) to Customs forms (both Commercial Invoices and the 3 possible Certificate of Origins) so that they are completely system generated within ShipStation. currently there are about a dozen different requests to all focused on the incomplete customs forms generated out of SS. if you cant API to our existing complete and customs compliant forms from FedEx or UPS, please allow us a template to merge out SS shipping info onto. for any export orders over $2600, the failure of SS to go out to census.gov to get and print the required Electronic Export Information (EEI) requires us and others to leave SS and login into FedEx/UPS/etc and use their systems to get the complete shipping paperwork generated.... please gather up all the Customs forms requests into one omnibus request for internal fulfillment or API to the established solutions we all been using as workarounds - thanks

[gsolano]

My company needs this option! UPS and FedEx makes a sloppy invoice that does not fit our needs. If we can customize this option it would be awesome!!

[yatrit]

Not having this option is extremely detrimental to our business. We don't/can't do things electronically for various reasons and not being able to print 4 copies of a customs invoice kills our int'l shipping ability. It's been 3 years, guys.

[bfowler]

Commercial invoices are available through ShipStation! Go to "Shipments" tab after completing the shipment and find that particular order. There will be a "Other Forms" image beside the green cart and envelope. Click it. You're welcome!

[josh51]

Brian - that is true, but it's an awfully inefficient way of handling something that is a requirement for shipping intl. This is especially true when you have 80-100 intl orders going out with 500-600 domestic every day. It needs to be automated, or at least have the option for automation.

[sales456]

Completely agree. There is a way to do it but it's hard to find and annoying to have to keep finding it for multiple DHL orders.

[julia5]

It's staggering that this system cannot generate Commercial Invoices - this is a fundamental, universal requirement. No, I cannot click in the "Forms" column in my Shipments view, because there aren't any forms there. When I submitted a support ticket about this, I was told "We don't generate commercial invoices when you use USPS - you don't need them because we put all the info on the USPS labels." This is utter nonsense - many countries require multiple copies of a separate commercial invoice with every shipment. And hey, sometimes my customers would like to have an invoice too! At times I think the ShipStation team has never actually been in a business that involved shipping anything outside the USA.

[feedback]

Hey @Julia, thank you for adding your comments here. I found documentation with USPS that says what required forms are needed by each service: http://pe.usps.com/text/imm/immc1_009.htm#ep1000983 I only see Commercial Invoices applicable to Global Express Guaranteed, a service we don't support today (although there is an idea in this forum if you'd like to add your support for it!). I understand each country might have different requirements but it's my understanding that the required information for shipping will be present in the labels printed. As for a copy for your users, have you looked into using your packing slip as an invoice? I've seen other shippers modify their templates as a sales receipt or invoice. What kind of information are you looking to provide to your customers?

[julia5]

This is the second time that USPS outgoing shipping recommendations/requirements have been presented as an argument that commercial invoices are not needed. What's being ignored is that regardless of what USPS says they want at the sending end, commercial invoices ARE required by (or at least helpful at) pretty much all customs agencies at _destination_ countries. Just try shipping something to Poland, Slovenia, China, Brazil, Germany, Romania, and many others without a commercial invoice. USPS can't even track a package once it gets to destination customs half the time, do you really think they care about getting destination country documentation requirements right? A Packing Slip is not an invoice. It says "Packing Slip" at the top, whereas an invoice says "Invoice" at the top. Invoices also have numbers; the SS Packing Slip doesn't have numbers. I can't understand why there is such resistance/pushback from ShipStation on a feature requested by quite a number of users, for something that is and has been standard procedure in shipping since clipper ship days, and which is offered by pretty much every one of its competitors.

[kyle11]

Julia is right about the fact that regardless of what a carrier says is needed, the actual customs departments of certain countries still want a paper copy of an invoice. You can create a custom "packing slip" in ShipStation that's really an invoice that contains all the information customs wants. Still, you ShipStation folks should know that most of us look for something that says "invoice" and ShipStation does not have that. A custom packing slip is a workaround but you guys should look at making a more prominent commercial invoice option.

[feedback]

Thank you @Kyle and @Julia for clearing that up! My apologies for misunderstanding. As it stands today, there is no dedicated document for commercial invoices, but using a custom packing slip will allow you to easily have order information applied to a document. You can change the title from "Packing Slip" to "Invoice" (or whatever your needs are) by going to Templates > Packing Slip Templates > Copy the default template. In line 5 of the "Order Header" section, you'll see "Packing Slip"--this is the title of the document. Simply replace this with anything you'd like. Hit "Download Sample" to see your changes. We’ll look into adding this standalone document, and any helpful information you can provide with your own international shipping experience will help the product team understand this issue better. How often are you shipping internationally (as a percentage)? And how often do you or your customer notice a shipment is being held up in customs due to a lack of information?