Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

As a Verified Account, you have access to:

• Item Quoter
• Shipment Quoter (coming soon)
• Invoices
• Shipments (shipment history)
• Settings (including business information, billing information, your account key, and team members)

No. Your Zonos Verified Account (and its tools) are free to use. You will only be billed for duties and processing/clearance fees per shipment you send to the U.S. using your Verified Account. The cost of the processing/clearance fee is listed in your Zonos Dashboard under Settings → Billing, in the Plan section.

You can use any of the same systems you use today. Australia Post will send shipment data to Zonos so Zonos can bill you for duties and processing/clearance fees.

Your Zonos Verified Account (and its tools) are free to use. There is no subscription cost and no cost for using Item Quoter or Shipment Quoter. You will only be billed for duties and processing/clearance fees per shipment you send to the U.S. using your Verified Account. The cost of the processing/clearance fee is listed in your Zonos Dashboard under Settings → Billing, in the Plan section.

Your shipments will appear in Dashboard once the post sends the shipment data to Zonos. This can take a few days from when you ship your parcel.

While it is beneficial to confirm you have an account key, the integration with Australia Post does not require you to enter your Account Key anywhere. We use your MLID, APCN, or APBCN to link your Verified Account to your Australia Post account.

There are a couple of reasons you may not see your Account Key:

• Your Account Key won't appear until you have added your billing information to Dashboard. Please ensure you have added billing information, then it should appear in Dashboard → Settings → Integrations (if you do not have a payment method on file, you will be prompted to add one).
• The other common reason you may not see your Account Key is if you have an existing Zonos account that is not a Verified Account. Contact our support team at support@zonos.com and we can switch your account to a Verified Account.

No. Shipments over $800 USD follow the same process they did before the recent executive order. Your Verified Account should only be used for postal shipments under $800 USD.

For the first six months (effective August 29, 2025), U.S.-bound postal shipments are subject to IEEPA duty rates only; MFN rates do not apply to postal clearance.

Not an issue. With a Verified Account, Zonos collects and remits duties to CBP for eligible Australia Post shipments, even if another tool produced the duty estimate. You’ll be invoiced by Zonos for the assessed duties.

Duties are calculated per item based on country of origin and aggregated for the shipment total. The total appears on your Zonos invoice once postal shipment data is received.

Gifts valued over 100 USD are dutiable. Zonos calculates duties on the total gift value and bills your Verified Account accordingly.

For gift shipments with mixed origins, Zonos calculates duties per item by origin and sums them for the total duty, which is then billed to your Verified Account.

Yes. Letters and documents of no commercial value are not impacted by the suspension. However, you must still declare a value (minimum AUD$1.00) when lodging.

Bona fide gifts valued under USD$100 are not impacted by the suspension. These items must comply with declaration requirements.

CBP defines a bona fide gift as an item previously owned by a donor and given outright without compensation. Items acquired by purchase, barter, or as bonus items are not considered bona fide gifts.

• Individual to individual: The parcel should be clearly marked as a gift. CBP generally recognizes gifts not exceeding USD$100 in value.
• Business to individual: CBP generally does not recognize these as bona fide gifts. However, if it is a true gift, the parcel should be marked as such and include a statement.

To send a bona fide gift, select the Gift category on the customs declaration.

Yes. Customers can continue using a 6-digit HS tariff code.

A 10-digit HTS code will not be required until 28 February 2026.

Goods with a U.S. Country of Origin (COO) are not subject to IEEPA tariffs. In the Zonos dashboard, U.S. COO items will show 0% tariff for the postal channel.

Yes, but you do not need to go through the registration process again. You'll create a second, connected Dashboard account for your Verified Account.

To do so:

1. Log into your Zonos Dashboard, then click the Integrations tab.
2. Click Connect an account in the top right.
3. Select Australia Post in the list of available integrations.
4. You'll be prompted to enter your Australia Post shipping number (MLID or APBCN).
5. Click Setup integration to create the second Verified Account.

This second Verified Account will be connected to your existing Zonos account. Any orders placed via your ecommerce website using Zonos' integration will only appear on the ecommerce Dashboard account that you are used to. If you ship other orders (for example, through another selling platform not integrated with Zonos) with your AusPost business account, they will appear on your Verified Account Dashboard.

You can toggle between accounts by clicking your account name in the top right corner of Zonos Dashboard.

Postal operators like Australia Post must work with an approved third-party to comply with U.S. CBP requirements.

Zonos is one of the first qualified third parties approved by U.S. authorities. Australia Post partnered with Zonos to enable resumption of services to the U.S. as soon as possible.

There are no additional Australia Post fees.

Business customers with a Zonos Verified Account are invoiced directly by Zonos for:

• Duties (based on country of origin)
• Postal clearance fee (varies by post and can be viewed in Dashboard under Settings → Billing, under Plan)

There are no subscription or hidden charges.

No. The postal clearance fee is applied per parcel, not per individual item.

Contact the Zonos support team for assistance:
:e-mail: APsupport@zonos.com

According to CBP, U.S. returns are not duty-free and require duties to be paid.

There are a couple of exceptions where returns are exempt from duty:

• Undeliverable items with the original U.S. S-10 barcode and the package intact
• Refused items with the original U.S. S-10 barcode and the package intact

• If your 3PL allows you to bring your own Australia Post account (BYOA), you should set up a Verified Account with Zonos for your Australia Post account.
• If your 3PL allows you to use their AusPost account, the 3PL needs to add your shipper identifier (MLID, APCN, or APBCN) to their Zonos Verified Account via Settings → Australia Post shipper identifier.

3PLs should not ask merchants to create a Verified Account with the 3PL's MLID, APCN, or APBCN.

In your Zonos Dashboard, go to Settings → General. Scroll to the Danger Zone section. From there, you can choose to Archive organization to make your dashboard read-only, or Deactivate organization to remove access for all users. Follow the on-screen prompts to confirm your choice.

If your product description doesn’t align with the HS code, customs authorities may reclassify your shipment based on what they think it is. This can cause duty and tax adjustments, clearance delays, or even returns to sender.

Always use a straightforward, accurate description (for example, “leather men’s wallet” instead of “premium accessory”) to ensure your HS code stays correct.

See this guide for more details.

If you’re noticing your HS code being adjusted, it’s often because the description provided doesn’t match the code. Customs reviews shipments for coherency between the description and code—and when they don’t line up, they’ll correct it.

To avoid reclassification, use detailed, factual wording that clearly defines the item, its material, and its purpose.

See this guide for more details.