Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

As a Verified Account, you have access to:

• Shipments and label creation
• Manifests (consolidation groups)
• Bulk CSV order upload
• Item Quoter
• Invoices
• Settings (business information, billing, paylater ID, fulfillment centers, team members)

No. Your Zonos Verified Account is free to use. You're billed only for duties and the postal clearance fee on each U.S.-bound shipment.

The postal clearance fee is listed in your Zonos Dashboard under Settings → Billing, in the Plan section.

Open a shipment from Dashboard → Shipments and click Create label. To label multiple orders at once, check them on the list and click Create labels in the page header.

See Creating shipping labels for the full flow.

On the fulfilled shipment row, open the three-dot menu and click Void label. Voiding removes the shipment from its consolidation group automatically.

Void before handing the parcel to Japan Post. Once the manifest is closed, the label is final.

A manifest is the Japan Post Code 61 dispatch slip you hand over with your parcels. You add shipments to a consolidation group when creating labels, then close the group to produce the manifest.

See Closing and printing manifests for details.

Enter the prefecture in Romaji using the standard English form: Tokyo, Osaka, Kumamoto, Hokkaido, and so on. A blank or invalid prefecture will block label creation.

Every fulfillment center used on a Japan Post label needs a complete address: line 1, city, prefecture, postal code, and phone number. Open the fulfillment center from Settings → Shipping → Locations, fill in any missing fields, and save.

The prefecture on the fulfillment center is either blank or not a valid Japanese prefecture name. Open the fulfillment center from Settings → Shipping → Locations and enter the prefecture in Romaji (e.g. Tokyo).

Shipments you create from the Dashboard appear immediately. Shipments imported from Japan Post (for example, orders processed outside of Zonos) appear once Japan Post sends shipment data to Zonos — this can take a few days.

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.

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.

Yes. Letters and documents of no commercial value are not impacted by the requirement.

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. You 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.

Postal operators like Japan 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. Japan Post partnered with Zonos to enable continued service to the U.S. for under-$800 USD parcels.

There are no additional Japan Post fees from Zonos.

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: support@zonos.com

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

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 Japan Post account (BYOA), you should set up a Verified Account with Zonos for your Japan Post paylater ID.
• If your 3PL allows you to use their Japan Post account, the 3PL needs to add your paylater ID to their Zonos Verified Account.

3PLs should not ask merchants to create a Verified Account with the 3PL's paylater ID.

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

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.

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 your HS code is being adjusted, it's often because the description 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.