Zonos Prepay for Japan Post shippers

Download the app

The Prepay app is available for iOS and Android devices. It is free to download—there are no subscription fees. To download the app, click the links below:

• Download for iOS
• Download for Android

Create an account

Once downloaded, set up your Prepay account:

1. Tap Create an account.
2. Sign in with your Google or Apple account, or enter your email address and a password.
3. You will receive an email with a 6-digit verification code. Enter this code to finalize your account setup.

Important: Each box being shipped to the U.S. requires an individual declaration of contents and payment of customs duties. No refunds of customs duties and fees will be made after the shipment has been sent from Japan to the United States.

1. In the Ship tab of the Prepay app, select your package type. Standard package is selected by default. For less common shipment types, select Gift, Document, or Return.
2. Optionally, select the country where your items were made. Japan is shown as a quick-select option, or tap Select to choose another country. If you do not know the country of origin, select I am not sure or leave this field blank. The app will use your item photo to predict the country of origin.
3. Confirm that Japan Post is selected as your postal carrier at the bottom of the screen, then tap Continue.
4. Tap Add by photo and take a photo of the items you are shipping. You can include all items in one photo, or take multiple photos. The app uses Zonos Vision to automatically identify your items, estimate their value, and predict the country of origin.
5. Review the item details on the Shipment screen.
   • Tap Edit item to update any details (photo, description, country of origin, HS code, value, quantity, or unit weight). You can also set a Non-Dangerous Goods Reason from this screen. This field will be required when creating your shipping label. Options: Not Applicable, Without lithium battery, Lithium battery contained in equipment, Alcohol content of 24% or less, Without Gas, Without Oil, or Others (free-form text field). If you edit an item, click Save item to update the item details.
   • Tap + Add another item to add additional items.
   • Once all items look correct, check the box confirming the information is true and correct, then tap Calculate duties.
6. Review the duty calculation.
   • Duty amount shows the total duties owed. Tap Duty breakdown to see how duties are calculated.
   • The Clearance and processing fee is shown separately.
   • The Total reflects duties plus the clearance and processing fee.
7. Tap Pay [amount] JPY to proceed to payment. Payment methods include credit or debit card (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover), Link for 1-click checkout, or Scan card. Once you pay, you will receive an email confirming your duty payment and Declaration ID.

What is a Declaration ID?

A Declaration ID is a code that proves you've completed your customs declaration and paid the required duties.

Why it's required:

• Under U.S. regulations, parcels entering the country by mail must have duties prepaid
• Without a Declaration ID, your parcel won't be accepted for shipping into the United States

To create your shipping label, tap Create shipping label from the payment confirmation screen.

If you're returning later, go to Account → Order history and tap the order you'd like to create a label for. If you don't create a label within 5 days, the Declaration ID and card authorization will expire and the funds will be returned to your bank account. If this happens, you will need to create a new Declaration ID and then create a shipping label.

Important: All sender and recipient information and shipment data must be entered in English (Roman/Latin) characters only. Japanese characters (kanji, hiragana, katakana) cannot be processed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection's automated systems and will cause clearance failures or delays. Item descriptions in the app will appear in your native language, but the customs description on your shipping label will always be in English.

Sender address:

• Full name (required), Company name (optional), Phone number (required), Postal code (required), Street address (required), City / Town (required), Prefecture (required)
• Country/Territory — set to Japan
• Check Save address to save for future shipments. You can add a name for this address (e.g. "home" or "work").
• Tap Continue.

Recipient address:

• Full name (required), Company name (optional), Email (optional), Phone number (optional), Street address (required), City / Town (required), State (required), Postal code (required)
• Country/Territory — defaults to United States of America. If you are sending to a U.S. territory, select the Territory from the dropdown instead.
• Tap Continue.

1. Select shipment type — Choose the Japan Post service level for your shipment. Tap the tab below for details on your specific service.

1. Enter package information.

• Weight (g) (required)
• Content type (required) — Sale of Goods, Commercial Sample, or Others
• Terms of payment (required) — Commercial or Non Commercial
• Insured value (JPY) (optional, defaults to 0)
• Other Mailing-Related Information (optional) — Fields for commercial shippers who need to attach trade document references (e.g., import licenses, VAT numbers, or invoice numbers) to their customs declaration. Individual senders can leave these blank. Includes: License Number, Certificated Number, TAX-code / VAT-number, Pay Condition, Invoice Number, Sender's Reference Number, and Remarks.

1. Check the Confirmation of Dangerous Goods box to confirm your shipment does not contain dangerous goods.

2. Tap Continue.

For each item, confirm the customs description and select a Non-Dangerous Goods Reason:

• Not Applicable
• Without lithium battery
• Lithium battery contained in equipment
• Alcohol content of 24% or less
• Without Gas
• Without Oil
• Others (free-form text field).

Your selection is appended to the customs description on the label (e.g. "Plastic collectible figure (Without lithium battery)").

Tap Continue.

Verify all information: sender/recipient addresses, shipping date, service type, item details, package details, and invoice information. If everything looks correct, tap Create label. If you need to make changes, tap Go back.

After the label is created, the confirmation screen will display Label created and show your tracking number.

1. Tap View shipping label to open your shipping documents. Your label will automatically include "DDP - [Declaration ID]" (e.g. DDP - 0pvt93kr51xp6) at the top of the label. This informs the postal clerk that duties have been prepaid for your U.S. shipment and they can process your shipment.
2. Print all documents and attach them to your package.
3. Bring your package to a post office designated by Japan Post.
4. At the post office, place the shipping label and related documents into the pouch provided
5. The postal clerk will then scan the shipping label, collect postage, and process your shipment.

If a shipping label is not created within 5 days of duty payment, the Declaration ID will be automatically canceled and the funds will be returned to your bank account. If this happens, you will need to create a new Declaration ID and create a new shipping label.

Gifts valued under $100 USD are duty-free. For these shipments, you do not need to use the Prepay app. Continue creating labels through any Japan Post application as you normally would.

For gifts valued at $100 USD or more, duty will be charged. Use the Prepay app and select Gift as the package type to ensure duties are calculated correctly.

If you are not sure what is considered a gift, see our commercial invoice guide.

Duties do not apply to documents (e.g., legal papers, certificates, diplomas) shipped to the U.S., and a Declaration ID is not required. You can ship documents through Japan Post without using the Prepay app.

1. Tap the Calculate icon in the bottom left of the app.
2. Tap the Ship from dropdown and select the country you are shipping from.
3. Tap Take a picture and photograph the items you want to estimate duties for.
4. Review the item details on the Shipment screen. Tap Edit item to adjust any information, or tap + Add another item to add more items.
5. Tap Calculate duties to see the duty amount and breakdown per item.
6. To run a new calculation, tap Get a new quote.

Tap Order history to view details for all previous orders. Each order displays the total amount paid, date and time, and Declaration ID. Tap any order to view the full confirmation details.

From an order in your history:

• If a shipping label has already been created, tap View / Print shipping label to access and reprint your documents.
• If a shipping label has not yet been created, the confirmation page will show a Create shipping label button where you can complete your shipment, or a Cancel order option if you no longer need to ship.

The Manage addresses section allows you to view, add, edit, and delete saved sender addresses. Saving your address speeds up label creation so you don't have to re-enter your information each time you ship.

• To add a new address: Tap the + button in the top right corner. Enter your full name, phone number, postal code, street address, city/town, and prefecture. Optionally add a company name and an address label (e.g. "home" or "work"). Tap Save.
• To edit an address: Tap an existing address to open it and make changes. Tap Save when done.
• To delete an address: Tap an existing address to open it, then tap the trash icon in the top right corner.

1. Tap the Account icon in the bottom right of the app.
2. Select the color theme of your app. You can select Light, Dark, or System. System will use your device's default theme.

The app supports 15+ languages. By default, the app will display in the language that you have your phone settings configured to.

To adjust your preferred language:

1. Tap the Account icon in the bottom right of the app.
2. Tap the dropdown box showing your current language.
3. Scroll through the list of available languages.
4. Tap your preferred language to select it.

Enable biometric authentication (Face ID or fingerprint) to sign in faster. To enable, tap Biometric Sign-In in the Security section of your account settings.

To remove biometric authentication, tap the 3 dots next to the Biometric Sign-In option in the Security section of your account settings and tap Remove.

When you take a photo of your items, the app uses Zonos Vision—our AI-powered item detection tool—to quickly identify them, estimate their value, and predict the country of origin in just seconds. You'll always be able to review and edit the details before confirming payment.

After taking a photo of your items, you'll be able to review and edit all details before confirming and getting a duty calculation.

Your duty payment is only finalized once your Declaration ID is linked to a postal tracking number. If you do not create a shipping label within 5 days, the charge will expire and the funds will never be taken from your bank account. If you don't want to wait 5 days for the declaration ID to expire, you can also manually cancel the payment from the confirmation page.

To cancel the payment, tap Account → Order history → tap the order you want to cancel → scroll to the bottom of the page and tap Cancel order.

If you have already linked your Declaration ID to a tracking number, you can still cancel your order and receive a duty refund as long as Japan Post has not processed your shipment at the postal counter. Once the shipment has been processed by Japan Post, duty refunds are no longer available.

If your gift is valued at $100 USD or more, duties are required—even for personal gifts.

Duties include both MFN (what you think of as your standard duty rates) and tariffs applied via executive action—a breakdown is available in our 2025 tariff guide. Since the U.S. de minimis was removed, postal services collect Section 122 tariff rates (a flat 10% surcharge effective February 24, 2026) but not MFN rates.

Japan Post shipments are charged Section 122 tariff rates only (a flat 10% surcharge effective February 24, 2026). MFN rates do not apply to postal clearance. Previously, IEEPA tariff rates applied—but the U.S. Supreme Court struck down IEEPA tariffs on February 20, 2026, and Section 122 replaced them. Private carriers are subject to both MFN and Section 122 duties.

For postal shipments into the U.S., free trade agreements are not applied during duty calculation, even though every item is assigned an HS code in the app.

Here's why: U.S. Customs does not currently require HS codes for postal shipments. Because HS codes aren't required, the operational infrastructure for postal clearance isn't set up to process FTA claims. Claiming an FTA benefit requires verified classification, certificates of origin, and a formal entry process that postal shipments don't go through. Without this operational infrastructure, FTAs cannot apply to postal shipments in practice.

Currently the only exemptions that can be applied to postal shipments (without additional infrastructure) are for "informational material". Zonos assigns an HS code to determine whether your item qualifies for this exemption, then calculates the duty if not.

This reflects how U.S. Customs currently processes postal shipments, not a limitation of the Zonos calculation.

Yes, some items are duty-free such as documents, informational material, or gifts under $100 USD. For these shipments, you do not need to use the Zonos Prepay app to pay duties. Continue creating labels through any Japan Post application as you normally would.

Yes. When using Prepay, enter the contents for each box one at a time. If your shipment has 3 boxes, you'll need to enter the contents for box 1, pay for its duties, and get its Declaration ID before repeating the process for boxes 2 and 3.

According to CBP, U.S. returns are not duty-free. If you are returning a package to the U.S., you must pay duties using the Prepay app and obtain a new Japan Post label before shipping.

A Declaration ID may not work if it has expired (IDs expire after 5 days if not linked to a tracking number), was already used, or was canceled. You won't be charged duties or fees for expired or canceled Declaration IDs. Use the Zonos Prepay app to create a new one.

Mail being sent to U.S. territories is first sent to the United States to be cleared by CBP and then is shipped from the U.S. to the territories. Since these shipments enter the U.S. domestic mail stream, CBP assesses duty on these shipments.

Zonos is in the process of launching a web version of the Prepay app that can be used on computers. Until this is ready, a mobile device is required. If you are using a Mac computer, you can download the Prepay App on the Apple App Store for Macs.