For novice cross-border sellers, “customs declaration” is the “first pass” for goods to leave the country. Many people think that once they hand over the goods to the Courier, it’s done. However, due to incorrect filling of customs declaration materials or lack of understanding of the process, the goods get stuck at the airport and cannot leave the country. This not only delays the delivery time but also incurs additional losses such as return warehouse fees and modification document fees. In fact, customs declaration is the “starting point” of cross-border logistics. Once a mistake is made, the whole process will be lost. However, a reliable freight forwarder can help you turn this complex step into a “worry-free operation”.
I, understand: What exactly is customs declaration?
In simple terms, customs declaration refers to the legal process where the consignor or their agent submits declaration materials to the customs when goods enter or exit the country, and the customs inspects, levies taxes and releases the goods. In simple terms, it means informing the customs “what kind of goods you are sending, where they come from, where they are going, and how much they are worth”. Only after the customs reviews and confirms compliance can the goods be legally exported.
The core of customs declaration lies in “authenticity of information and compliance of product categories”, mainly involving three types of key documents:
- Commercial invoice: It indicates the name, quantity, unit price, total price, etc. of the goods and serves as the basis for customs to determine the value of the goods.
- Packing list: Detail the packaging method, quantity, weight, volume, etc. of the goods, and match the actual situation of the goods.
- Customs declaration form: Filled out and submitted by the customs declaration agency, it includes core contents such as the consignor and consignee information, the HS code (Customs commodity code) of the goods, and the mode of trade.
For beginners, the “pitfalls” in customs declaration are hidden in the details: for instance, mistakenly choosing the HS code of “plastic toys” as “plastic products”, leading to incorrect classification. The declared value deviated too much from the market situation, and was suspected by the customs of “underreporting and tax evasion”. If special certificates for sensitive goods such as “battery products” are omitted, it will be directly determined as “inconsistent declaration”. These problems range from delays of 3 to 7 days to the detention of goods in severe cases. For cross-border businesses that rely on timeliness, the losses are incalculable.
II. Why can’t Beginners do without Freight forwarders?
For beginners handling customs declaration alone, it’s like “getting a driver’s license from scratch”, while freight forwarders, with their professional qualifications and experience, can provide all-round empowerment from “customs declaration compliance” to “logistics optimization”, solving three core pain points:
Professional customs declaration, eliminating “declaration errors” from the source
The freight forwarder has cooperative professional customs declaration agencies and is familiar with the customs’ requirements for different types of goods: it can accurately match HS codes (for example, distinguish the code differences between “ordinary clothing” and “functional sportswear”), avoiding classification errors. Guide beginners to fill in commercial invoices and packing lists to ensure that the “goods, documents and certificates” are consistent. For sensitive goods (such as beauty products and electronic products), it is recommended to prepare special documents such as “MSDS Certificate” and “3C Certification” in advance to meet the requirements of customs supervision.
More importantly, freight forwarders can pre-review the materials in advance. After a novice submits the materials, the freight forwarder team will first check for any omissions or errors, such as “the weight of the goods does not match the declaration” or “incomplete recipient information”, and promptly correct them before submitting to the customs, minimizing the failure rate of customs declaration.
- Complete qualifications, avoiding the embarrassment of “no right to declare customs”
According to customs regulations, individuals or enterprises without import and export rights cannot directly declare customs. They need to entrust qualified customs declaration agencies to handle it. If beginners find a customs broker by themselves, not only will the charges be high, but they may also experience process delays due to “poor communication”. The freight forwarder comes with its own customs declaration resources and can help novices handle customs declaration at bulk cooperation prices, reducing costs by 40% to 60%. Moreover, the entire process does not require novices to deal with customs, which is both worry-free and cost-effective. - Integrated customs declaration and logistics to avoid “disconnection of links”
When novices ship goods alone, they often have to contact customs brokers, domestic express delivery companies and international logistics companies respectively. Once there is a problem in any of these links (such as a delay in customs declaration causing the express delivery to miss the flight), each link will shirk responsibility from one another. Freight forwarders offer a “one-stop service” : domestic warehouse collection of goods, professional customs declaration, connection with international logistics channels, and full-process logistics tracking. All links are uniformly coordinated by freight forwarders. For instance, after the customs declaration is completed, the goods can be loaded onto the machine immediately to avoid wasting time due to “connection gaps”, which is especially suitable for beginners dealing with “time-sensitive” products.
III, reliable freight forwarders are great partners for beginners in “customs declaration + logistics”
Among numerous freight forwarders, Smartdropping understands the customs declaration pain points of novice cross-border traders:
- Full customs declaration agency service: We offer a full-process service of “document template + pre-review + submission”. Novices only need to fill in the basic information according to the template and do not need to understand professional terms.
- No worries for sensitive goods: For special categories such as batteries and beauty products, we will assist in advance with preparations and connect with customs declaration channels recognized by the customs to ensure smooth exit from the country.
- Cost transparency: All fees such as customs declaration fees and logistics fees are listed in advance. There are no hidden charges like document modification fees or expedited fees, making the budget controllable for beginners.
- Real-time tracking: The customs declaration progress and logistics trajectory are updated simultaneously. Novices can see “Whether the goods have been released” and “whether they have been loaded onto the machine” by opening the background, providing peace of mind throughout the process.
For beginners in cross-border business, customs declaration is not a “technical job”, but an “experiential job” – it’s better to leave professional matters to professional teams than to fall into traps and pay tuition fees by oneself. Let it handle all the links of customs declaration and logistics for you. You just need to focus on product selection and operation, and easily take a crucial step in cross-border business.
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