Paperwork is not optional
A missing field on the customs declaration is not a delay of a day — it's a box held at the border or sent back, because nothing behind that field can be inferred by the carrier.
International
How does international shipping work?
Five things decide whether a box lands cleanly on someone else's doorstep: what it costs, what paperwork travels with it, who gets billed for the duty, how many days it takes, and what happens if the form doesn't match the box. SMKlog sells self-service labels to four countries — Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany and Australia — so the walkthrough below runs on that live checkout end to end rather than a generic script. Every figure was captured 2026-08-31 for a 0.9 kg box, 20 x 15 x 10 cm, from Berkeley Heights, NJ 07922.
Live checkout, 4 lanesCustoms form built inDDU on every lane
One form, four steps
Quote, customs declaration, duty billing, transit — the same checkout carries a box through all four.
1Get a quote
Enter the destination address and the box gets priced the same way a domestic one does, except more than one carrier usually answers. The table below is what SMKlog's own checkout returned for the identical test box on each of the four lanes it sells — the cheapest option and the fastest, not the full list of services offered.
| Lane | Cheapest returned | Fastest returned |
|---|---|---|
| US to Canada | UPS Worldwide Economy DDU $25.61 · 8 business days | FedEx International Priority $35.67 · 1 business day |
| US to United Kingdom | UPS Worldwide Economy DDU $30.13 · 8 business days | FedEx International Priority Express $45.73 · 2 business days |
| US to Germany | FedEx International Connect Plus $39.41 · 8 business days | FedEx International Priority Express $48.38 · 2 business days |
| US to Australia | UPS Worldwide Economy DDU $40.05 · 8 business days | DHL Express Worldwide $59.09 · 3 business days |
USPS is not in any row above — it returned no international rate on any of the four lanes when this quote was run. Germany is the one lane with no UPS option at all on this account; its live rates come back FedEx and DHL Express only. Type an actual box and address into the calculator for the same live comparison against the weight and destination you have.
2File the customs declaration
A parcel crossing a border carries paperwork a domestic one never needs, and the description has to agree everywhere it appears: on the label, on the customs form, and inside the box. SMKlog's checkout collects that information as part of buying the label rather than as a separate errand — a description of the contents, a declared value, the country where the item was made, and an HS tariff number once the shipment is large enough to need one — then builds a signed customs document from those fields before the label prints. A commercial-invoice pack goes out by email after purchase.
“Your package must have a complete and computer-generated customs form.” USPS, First-Class Package International Service, usps.com, read 2026-08-31
Which exact form applies, and at what value it changes, is a deeper question than one section can hold — the full paperwork ladder lives on the documents for international shipping page.
3Who pays the duty: DDU or DDP
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| DDU — Delivered Duty Unpaid | The recipient pays any duty and tax the destination assesses, collected on delivery |
| DDP — Delivered Duty Paid | The shipper pays it upfront, so nothing is collected at the door |
SMKlog's checkout runs DDU on all four lanes, and it shows up right in the data: one of UPS's own live services is named, literally, Worldwide Economy DDU, and it was one of the rates returned for Canada, the UK and Australia on 2026-08-31. The price shown at checkout is the shipping charge — what customs assesses on the contents is a separate bill the recipient sees when the box arrives, not a number this checkout estimates against a specific parcel today. Tell the recipient a duty bill may be coming before the box ships, so it isn't a surprise at the door. Why that bill exists, and how it's roughly calculated by country, is its own page: why international shipping costs more.
4Transit time and delivery
| Lane | Fastest returned | Slowest returned |
|---|---|---|
| US to Canada | 1 business day | 8 business days |
| US to United Kingdom | 2 business days | 8 business days |
| US to Germany | 2 business days | 8 business days |
| US to Australia | 3 business days | 8 business days |
The slow end on every lane is the same kind of product: an economy tier that trades days for a lower price. Once a parcel clears customs, delivery runs the same as a domestic package from there — tracked door to door, with the transit window starting from pickup rather than from when the customs form was completed. A hold at the border is the one thing that can push a shipment past any of these numbers, and it isn't something a rate quote predicts in advance.
Where an international box differs from a domestic one
The carrier that answers changes by country
Canada, the UK and Australia each return a UPS option on this account. Germany's live rates come back FedEx and DHL Express only — ask for a UPS quote there and none exists to give.
Duty is a second bill, not a markup
The shipping price and the duty bill come from two different places at two different times. Confusing the two is the most common reason a recipient refuses a parcel at the door.
Where these statements come from
- SMKlog's own checkout, live quotes for a 0.9 kg box, 20 x 15 x 10 cm, from Berkeley Heights, NJ 07922, to Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany and Australia — every price, service name and delivery-days figure on this page. Captured 2026-08-31.
- SMKlog's own checkout logic — confirms the landed-cost calculation runs on a DDU basis and stores a customs declaration (description, value, origin country, HS tariff number) against every international shipment. Read 2026-08-31.
- USPS, First-Class Package International Service — the customs-form requirement quoted above. Read 2026-08-31.
cbp.gov's own pages on mail imports and internet purchases returned an access-denied response when checked on 2026-08-31, so nothing on this page is sourced from CBP directly. Carrier rate tables and duty rules change without notice; the figures above reflect what was live on the date shown.
Common questions
How does international shipping work, step by step?
Four steps, in order: get a quote for the box and destination, file a customs declaration describing what is inside and its value, find out who pays the duty when the box lands, and track it against the transit window the carrier quoted. SMKlog's own checkout, live to Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany and Australia, runs all four from one form.
What does the customs declaration actually require?
A description of what's inside, its declared value, the country where it was made, and above certain thresholds an HS tariff number. SMKlog's checkout stores those fields against the shipment and builds a certified customs form from them before the label prints — see the paperwork breakdown for which document travels with which parcel.
What is the difference between DDU and DDP?
DDU (Delivered Duty Unpaid) means the recipient pays any duty and tax when the box arrives. DDP (Delivered Duty Paid) means the shipper covers it in advance so nothing is collected at delivery. SMKlog's checkout runs DDU on every lane it sells — UPS states it outright in the service name itself, Worldwide Economy DDU, one of the live options returned to Canada, the UK and Australia on 2026-08-31.
How long does an international parcel take to arrive?
It depends on the service picked more than the country. SMKlog's live checkout returned transit windows of 1 to 8 business days to Canada, 2 to 8 days to the UK, 2 to 8 days to Germany and 3 to 8 days to Australia for the same small parcel, quoted 2026-08-31 — the short end is a priority air product, the long end an economy tier.
Which countries can I actually buy an international label for on SMKlog?
Four: Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany and Australia. USPS returned no rate on any of the four when quoted 2026-08-31; UPS returned Standard and Worldwide Economy DDU to Canada and Worldwide Economy DDU to the UK and Australia; Germany's live rates came back FedEx and DHL Express only, no UPS. Every other country still routes to a person through freight review.