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International Selling & Shipping

International shipments involve additional shipping requirements to ensure each buyer receives their order as quickly as possible. As a seller who ships music internationally, it is your responsibility to ensure tax information is clearly accessible to couriers, postal services, customs, and other officials on all of your cross-border shipments.

Where to Start

step one

Adjust your Shipping Policies

Shipping Policies are a requirement for every seller. They allow you to manage the shipping guidelines, coverage, and costs for your Discogs store. You control which countries you’re willing to ship to and set rates for each region while also letting Discogs calculate the total item cost for buyers upfront.

step 2

Start small and scale up

Identify one or two countries that you want to start shipping to. Learn their tax requirements, calculate the shipping costs, and update your Shipping Policies with the information you learned. Starting small means that you can easily add more countries once you get comfortable with the process.

Three

Research regional demand

Tracking where your inventory will be more in-demand can be complicated. Using the “Ships From” filter in the Marketplace to search for active listings in different countries is the best place to start. If you’re looking to grow your business further, reach out to Discogs for more information.

Optimize Your Options

One

Offer tracking

Providing tracking upfront to your customers ensures that orders can be followed by both you and the buyer. This option will not only help keep customers from asking for shipping updates but will also provide clarity in the case of disputes.

Two

Respond quickly

Close communication is key for avoiding conflicts over delayed or undelivered shipments. You can prepare a templatized statement to copy and paste when discussing long deliveries. You can also notify buyers if there’s a huge delay in their country before processing the order.

Three

Utilize Seller Terms

If your country is experiencing delays, you can add the current postal situation in your Seller Terms for customers to see. You can also add a link to recent updates from your regional postal service provider.

Know Your Tax Requirements

Some countries charge different taxes for goods being shipped from other regions. As a seller who ships items internationally, it is your responsibility to ensure tax information is clearly accessible to couriers, postal services, customs, and other officials on all of your cross-border shipments. Discogs is required to collect many types of import taxes on orders when the buyer is located in a different country to the seller, including UK VAT, EU VAT, New Zealand GST, and Australian GST.

These tax laws vary by country, but Discogs is here to help you navigate those requirements. Visit the Help Center for more detailed information by region and explore the overview of UK and EU VAT on Discogs.

Shipping Labels

Postal services and customs agencies often rely on digitally submitted tax information to verify that tax has been paid, especially tax charged by marketplace facilitators like Discogs. This information is often submitted at the time of purchasing a shipping label. When purchasing a shipping label from your courier or postal service, ensure that you fill out all fields related to the HS tariff codes, tax information, and Discogs’ tax number. Sellers located in the United States can use Discogs’ own shipping label service.

Commercial Receipts

The commercial receipt, also referred to as a commercial invoice, is proof that the buyer has paid the appropriate taxes for the order. Many international customs agencies are looking for proof that tax has been paid on items arriving in their country. They may also look for the Discogs IOSS number, which will also appear on the commercial receipt. As a seller, you must print and attach the commercial receipt to any package you send to a country where Supply of Goods tax is applicable. This is now a legal requirement that impacts sellers on all platforms, not just those on Discogs.

Discogs’ commercial receipt indicates who is responsible for taxes. If Discogs is responsible, you will see tax charges on the commercial receipt. When the buyer is responsible for taxes, Discogs’ commercial receipt will not include any tax charges.

We suggest using a clear packing envelope to attach the commercial receipt to the outside of the package. These can usually be found at your local postal service or office supply store. For smaller packages, use your print settings to shrink the size of the receipt to fit. Alternatively, you can fold the receipt to fit on the package — just be sure that the buyer’s shipping address and Discogs’ tax number (such as Discogs’ iOSS, OSS, UK EORI, or GST, number) are clearly visible.

Country Shipped ToInformation Required
European UnionDiscogs’ iOSS number and EORI number for orders totaling €150 and below, except where buyer is VAT-registered and provides a valid EU VAT ID.

The HS tariff code for the items in the order.
United KingdomDiscogs’ UK VAT number and EORI number for orders totaling £135 and below, except where buyer is VAT-registered and provides a valid UK VAT ID.
The HS tariff code for the items in the order.
AustraliaDiscogs’ Australia GST number for all orders, except where buyer is GST-registered and provides a valid AUS GST ID.
The HS tariff code for the items in the order.
New ZealandDiscogs’ NZ GST number for all orders, except where buyer is GST-registered and provides a valid NZ GST ID.
The HS tariff code for the items in the order.

Shipping Updates

2024 Shipping Rate Adjustments

Domestic and international shipping rates are expected to increase in 2024. If you will be affected by rate hikes, you may need to update your shipping policies and inform your customers about pricing changes. To help you remain competitive, Discogs has compiled an overview of the changes happening in 20 key regions.

December 15, 2023

See the overview

Essential Resources

Resources

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