Canada Post and Zonos
Summary: musicyouneed shared detailed insights about the integration of Zonos and Shopify for shipping with Canada Post, emphasizing the need to pre-pay duties for US shipments. They highlighted the partnership between Canada Post and Zonos, which streamlines processes for Shopify users, removing the need for separate Zonos accounts. The conversation unfolded with various participants discussing their experiences and opinions, including concerns about fees, integration issues, and the effectiveness of Zonos. Some users found it beneficial, while others pointed out potential problems. phc64 reported mixed results using Zonos for tariff calculations but noticed recent changes eliminating fees on tariff-free items. The discussion also touched on alternatives like Purolator and concerns about the financial implications of these new systems for sellers.
I came across this info, this person deals with shopify but a lot of good info.
What this means for your business on Shopify
To continue shipping with Canada Post, duties must be pre-paid. You can choose to either absorb these duties or enable duty estimates to US customers at checkout and have the customer pay.
Canada Post & Zonos Partnership
UPDATE (2025-08-27): Looks like it should be all integrated within Shopify. They just posted updated guidelines: Looks like Shopify is going to be handling it all on their end: https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/fulfillment/fulfilling-orders/shipping-labels/shipping-carriers/canada-post
UPDATE (2025-08-28): I'm now able to print Canada Post labels with duties prepaid... sort of. The option shows up in the label creation interface, now, but the label itself has no indication at all of the duties being prepaid. Imgur
However, I don't have Zonos yet so that's likely why, maybe? I don't know why it would let me buy DDP labels without it. Still lots up in the air...
UPDATE (2025-08-28): Shopify Support seems to know what's going on, now. They informed me that Shopify store owners DO NOT NEED a separate Zonos account, and that everything is handled on the backend. Of course if you're generating your labels outside of Shopify shipping, you will need one.
UPDATE (2025-08-28): I've been in direct phone conversation with a Zonos account executive. He's explained the following:
You do not need a Canada Post or Zonos account to generate labels in Shopify. Basically, Shopify registered for a Zonos account directly, just like any other person would.
You can and should still create a Zonos account using https://zonos.com/canada-post because you're gonna need it if you ever want to ship anything via canadapost.ca or at a post office or postal counter, but you do not need it to ship with Shopify. The Zonos account will also have tools to help with selecting an HS code, etc.
He was quite surprised that there was no Declaration ID on the label. He asked for screenshots of my workflow, which I provided.
He does not know why duties appear as $0 to the customer regardless of country or origin or HS code for a product. Our best guess is that because de Minimis is still in place, it remains $0 for now. I confirmed this is likely true by adding a $5000 test item to my store with a country of origin of Brazil. It came out to $15 shipping and $1854.50 in duties. So that should explain that.
UPDATE (2025-08-28): CUSMA does not apply to postal shipments (meaning Canada Post), regardless of value. That means ALL SHIPMENTS are subject to 35% duty.
I just confirmed with Zonos, who cited the FAQ here https://www.cbp.gov/trade/basic-import-export/e-commerce/faqs
"USMCA preference cannot be claimed for postal shipments subject to Section 3 of Executive Order 14324 (July 30, 2025)." Section 3 being international postal shipments.
So for all of those folks who said you don't have to worry if you're CUSMA compliant... yeah, you do.
UPDATE (2025-08-28): Shopify support now says that the labels not having a Declaration ID is a "known limitation", whatever the hell that's supposed to mean. I assume that means "bug" and they're actively fixing it?
They also said "If the Zonos declaration ID is required on the physical label and is not printed automatically, you may need to add it manually after printing or coordinate with your fulfillment provider or carrier to include this information." I don't know what this is supposed to mean. My fulfillment provider is Shopify. I don't even have a Canada Post account. They need to clarify...
Hey everyone. Anyone in Canada who has a Canada Post business account likely saw the email that was sent out yesterday regarding the suspension of the "duty-free de Minimis threshold" for all countries on August 29.
I've been doing a lot of research and talking to brokers and others in the industry and wanted to condense the information I've received into a post.
First, let me address the comments saying things like "if your products are CUSMA compliant, you're fine", which... sure, as far as duties to be paid by your customers, that may be true. One important distinction is that you are going to want to have proof of that, and probably include a Certificate of Origin with every package. If you want to REALLY be sure, you request an Advanced Ruling for each of your products from the US CBP and keep that on file.
If your items are not CUSMA compliant, then obviously you'll need to pass those costs on to your US customers either as a separate fee or included in the item price, one way or another. I don't have a ton more information on that side of things because my business happens to only sell CUSMA compliant products (again... as far as I believe - I still need to request an Advanced Ruling).
Next, let's tackle the part of the issue that those posting those kinds of comments are missing: Even if CUSMA compliant, you still must have the shipment pre-cleared and a Declaration ID generated and attached to your package. No more Delivered Duty Unpaid (DDU) packages will be accepted by Canada Post - period. The only Delivered Duty Paid (DDP) option integrated into Shopify is DHL Express, which is obviously not feasible for small business selling inexpensive items. The shipping cost would be higher than the item price, in my case. So now what?
Well, as you saw in the Canada Post email, they have partnered with Zonos to handle this pre-clearance and Declaration ID generation. I went to the Zonos site to sign up and was floored: The Shopify integration costs $4000 USD per year! I pretty much figured my business was toast at that point. But I hopped on a chat with their AI chatbot and it provided some pretty important information. Let me summarize:
Canada Post will be sending out a link to business customers to create a Zonos account next week
If you register with that special link, the Zonos membership fees are waived completely
Do not register until Canada Post sends the special link out, as the fee waiver only applies with the link
Neither the customers, nor you, will pay any additional fees beyond the standard item+tax+shipping costs, plus any duties (again, CUSMA compliance makes that part $0)
You will need to link both your Canada Post account and your Shopify account to your Zonos account
So all in all, it actually seems like it won't be that big a deal for CUSMA compliant packages after all. So I suppose those "its fine if you're CUSMA compliant" folks were right, though accidentally so.
Of course there are other options. I'm still looking into sending inventory to a US fulfillment centre. I'm not sure if a shop as small as mine makes sense for that, but it can't hurt to look into.
Anyway, that's what I have. Hopefully that helps, and takes some of the worry away. I know I was up all last night trying to figure out what I was going to do!
"USMCA preference cannot be claimed for postal shipments subject to Section 3 of Executive Order 14324 (July 30, 2025)." Section 3 being international postal shipments.
rebellos00
·10 months agoypdc_dennis
·10 months agoI would be contacting Zonos for a cost breakdown since that's way too high according to what they have on their website for service fees .... base cost ($2/$4) + 10% of duties, taxes, and fees
dinomitesales
·10 months agoI ran this transaction through Zonos myself.
On a $735 pair of slippers (HTS code 6405.20.90.15, Made in China) you should be paying 30% tariffs for Chinese goods ($220.50). Plus Zonos' clearance/processing. On my app it's properly calculating the Duties at $220.50, but its saying there is $41.78 in clearance/processing fees.
I would expect there to only be $25.04 in clearance/processing owing (10% of the duty = $22.05 + $2.99 processing fee), so I don't know where the additional $16.74 is coming from. The Zonos Prepay app doesn't break the fees out any more than that. There must be some additional fee being charged - my chats with the AI customer support chatbot on Zonos.com suggests it's some sort of carrier charge being implemented by Canada Post.
I sent an email to Zonos asking if there was a page that explains how clearance and processing fees are calculated. They responded promptly with "Thank you for reaching out! If you would like clarification on these fees, we would recommend reaching out to Canada Post directly." lol. I've sent the same question to Canada Post and I'll see what their response is (I don't have high hopes).
I also have no idea how you were getting a $286 fee with a breakdown of $147 duty and $139 fees.
dinomitesales
·10 months agoUpdate to my previous post:
Canada Post wasn't responding (they probably won't respond until Monday), so I reached back out to Zonos and was like "hey, here's a direct screenshot of what I'm seeing, why do the fees not match what is advertised by Canada Post?".
Sure enough, Zonos said it was a bug 🙄
It's been fixed now. When I run the same transaction I'm getting the correct clearance/processing fees of $25.04 on the $735 slippers.
So... basically anyone that used Zonos in the last few days (or more?) was paying more than they were supposed to. Good luck getting that money back. Ugh.
@rebellos00 I would reach out to Zonos if you paid more than you should have. The transaction should be saved in the "Order History" in the Account section of the app.
To confirm: the fees should always be ONLY 10% of the duty PLUS the processing fee ($1.99-3.99 depending on how you're completing the Zonos transaction).
phc64
·11 months agoZoros also has a new note, "CUSMA cannot be claimed for postal shipments."
phc64
·11 months agoAs of this morning, before Zonos calculates the tariff, you have to check a box that says, "I confirm that the above information is to the best of my knowledge true and correct." That box was not there yesterday.
(Why both 'true and correct'? Can something be false and correct? Or true and incorrect?)
ypdc_dennis
·11 months agoThe "true" is required. The "correct" is to remind people to double check what they entered for any mistakes.
pansy19
·11 months agoIs there any Information about Return Items on CP statement ?
Ebay distance itself from CP & Zonos.
CP doesn't cover Returns.
How Sellers going to handle Return?
Is lost of money on Sellers pocket ?
Thank you
byto253
·11 months agoThe original post refers to a Canada Post sending out an email to sign up. Has any one seen something like that?
musicyouneed
OP11 months agoNot yet.
ypdc_dennis
·11 months agoNo. But then I haven't bought shipping to the USA through Canada Post in over a year -- I had been buying the tracked packet labels through ebay. I suspect those invites will go to shippers who bought their USA labels directly from Canada Post first, then rolled out to everyone else....
pansy19
·11 months agoI find out that Purolator Flat Box is cheaper than CP flat box.
They offer $40% off to Membership . It's best solution to ship inside Canada for me .
Extra Small Flat Box from CP cost almost $ 23.00 from Otawa to Toronto.
To send Parcel to BC and Alberta cost me $ 85.00 - $ 120.00 for 4kg parcel using CP.
I use Purolator Ground to send to USA for Items over $ 1000 . Never disappointed.Arrives in 3 days.
Used Express Mail from CP takes longer that Expedited , cost for Insurance ,Tax, Fuel.... is almost the same as Purolator charges.
Here is some Information from Purolator Inc.
flipistics
·11 months ago@pansy19 There's no world where you should be paying $85 to $120 for a 4kg parcel to BC or Alberta (at least not for anything that would fit in a normal flat rate box and isn't going to an air stage only community). I can take a terrible case of sending a 15x10x6 (inches) box weighing 4kg from northern Ontario to a fairly remote community in northern BC and the eBay labels cost is $32.19 for CP and $43.03 for UPS. I can ship that same box with Canpar for $18.83 + tax or Purolator for $28.20 + tax through Click Ship or $27.20 + tax through Sendle. To areas that are less remote, the prices would obviously be much less.
I was under the impression the Purolator flat rate boxes were discontinued August 31st though. Is that not the case? If they are still available, the Purolator flat rate boxes are nice to have in your tool kit, especially for the largest size. I was told a while ago that you don't have to actually use their boxes. As long as your box will fit in the flat rate dimensions you can get the flat rate price.
pansy19
·11 months agoYes , I paid.
I don't live in Northern Ontario .I don't use Flat Box for $ 1000 value .
I don't use online labels neither apps.
You have different options, you are in Northern Ontario.
flipistics
·11 months agoIf you're in Ottawa (that's what your listings say anyway), you should have far more cheap options than what I do. You can certainly do whatever you feel makes sense for your business, but you really should consider using some of the online options. You have some nice inventory. Getting your shipping costs down would likely be a game changer for you and would also decrease the eBay fees you pay.
pansy19
·11 months agoThank you very much .
Yes, I need to start to use online options.
I was looking for Chit Chat destination and find out that we have in Ottawa .
I Have to wait until CP set all to use app.
mrdutch1001
·11 months agowell, I would be interested in the sizes of the Purolator flat rate boxes so that they could be compared to size and price of those for Canada Post BEFORE I'd be jumping over to Purolator. The flat rate boxes would have to be same/very very similar size to be able to make a proper comparison.
flipistics
·11 months agoSmall is apparently 8x8x8 and 6lbs
Medium is 12x10x7 and 15lbs
Large is 18x12x10 and 19lbs
mrdutch1001
·11 months agoThanks for the size information on the Purolator Flat Rate boxes.
Canada Post has 4 sizes all with a limit of 5 Kg
Canada Post: Extra Small : 9-1/2 X 6-1/2 X 3-1/2 inches//Small: 10-3/8 X 14 X 2-1/8 inches//Medium:15-3/8 X 10-1/4 X 4-3/4 inches//Large:15-3/4 X 11-13/16 X 7-1/2 inches
The sizes Not really directly comparable...
For myself I mostly use the Canada Post Flat Rate Extra Small and the Small box sizes, have never really had the need to use larger sizes, never need over 5 Kg weight, and I rarely ship anything within my own province plus the CP outlet where I purchase the boxes is a 5 minute drive from my home; whereas the nearest Purolator location is located further away in a not so easy to access commercial/industrial area and not worth the inconvenience. However, I do appreciate knowing there is an alternative if ever needed.
flipistics
·11 months ago@mrdutch1001 It's kind of the same with me. The nearest Purolator retail outlet is an hour drive away. They do have drop spots in a lot of Home Hardware, Staples, and other stores, but you can't use those for the flat rate boxes. It's nice to have the option to use them though. Every once in a while they actually are the cheapest option.
hold.your.own.media
·11 months agoDespite signing up for Zonos, the app says 'Couldn't find your account' so I can't so anything right now.
pansy19
·11 months agoJust came from CP , wasn't able to send Orders.
Zonos app doesn't works !
The Clerk said provide ID and pay Customs for orders , this is ONLY option to ship from CP.
I went home , Refund Payments to Buyers,send them sheet from CP Office what they wrote .Put my Store on vacation.
This is the end of Canada Post.
dinomitesales
·11 months agoWhat exactly wasn't working when you tried to use the Zonos app? Can you provide more information? Maybe we can help you troubleshoot the issues you were experiencing.
I get your frustration, but it's difficult to blame Canada Post in this situation. There are lots of things to blame Canada Post for, but this isn't one of them. This is a problem for every postal service on the planet, not just Canada Post.
pansy19
·11 months agoIt is CP problem, they implement that .
The app can't start .
CP shoud set alll to work , then put in front of Customers !
3 PO Clerks saying * I don't know"!
Shoud Cutomers know how to fix that mess they created?
Manager said you have to instal Zonos up , even I showed that doesn't works .
phc64
·11 months agoHere's an encouraging update. Please don't take it as gospel from me quite yet, but there is reason to believe that within the last few hours Zonos dropped their fee for tariff free items.
This morning, I was charged the $3.99 fee even though the item was tariff free. But now while experimenting with their app, I described the item as 'compact disc' and the country of origin as Canada. Not only did Zonos give the tariff as $0.00, the 'clearance and processing' fee was $0.00.
Furthermore, they now seem to be correctly calculating the tariff on phonograph records as $0.00.
Just to make sure that this wasn't a glitch (and Zonos was erroneously not charging the fee on anything), I tried 'shirt' at $100.00, and it did calculate the tariff at $35.00 and the fee as $7.49 ($3.99 plus 10% of the tariff).
phc64
·11 months agoAfter conducting a number of experiments on the Zonos app, I became confident enough that Zonos was correctly calculating the tariffs on compact discs (HTS 8523.49.30.00) as $0.00 to turn shipping to the US back on for compact discs only. Because of the C$3.99 Zonos fee (even on tariff-exempt goods), I increased my shipping rate to the US by C$3.00.
I had my first US sale overnight. Everything went smoothly on the Zonos app. I paid the $3.99 fee and got my Declaration ID. (On the 'confirmation page', there is a 'cancel order' link. So if you (or Zonos) make a mistake, you can immediately cancel it.) Apparently the only receipt you get from Zonos is a QR code on the confirmation page. (Since I have never owned a smart phone, that may be a bit of an issue.)
Because US-bound Canada Post shipping labels cannot currently be purchased on eBay, I had to go to the Canada Post site. On the 'customs' page, you are asked to enter the Declaration ID. (Until you get to the 'customs' page, there are no indications anywhere on the Canada Post site that there are any new burdensome requirements to ship to the US). Because for me the Canada Post 'small business' discounts are nowhere near the eBay discounts, the shipping label cost me $11.03 vs. about $7.50 on eBay.
One curious thing is that when you print out the shipping label, the Declaration ID does not appear anywhere on it. The Canada Post website did not ask for the country of origin, so that field was blank on the label.
I usually drop small parcels into the mailbox outside my local post office, but I decided to drop it off inside to make sure everything had been done correctly. The postmaster immediately said she would have to scan the QR code from Zonos, which I didn't have (I did have the Declaration ID but she didn't need that). I asked her to scan the shipping label's barcode, and since no alarm bells went off, it appeared to have been accepted. We then concluded that if you get the shipping label at a postal outlet, the clerk needs to scan the Zonos QR code, but that this is not the case if you get the shipping label online. I asked the postmaster whether the blank 'country of origin' field on the label was a concern and she said it was not.
So in spite of my raising my US shipping rate, my net costs were about $4.50 higher to ship the item than it would have been last week.
Zonos still appears to be erroneously applying tariffs on phonograph records (HTS 8523.80.10.00). Phonograph records are exempt from tariffs for the same reason compact discs are.
ilikehockeyjerseys
·11 months agoThe QR is likely a JPEG. If needed, you could print it out and affix it to your package the same way that you affix the label.
I appreciate you taking the time to share how it all went down. Hopefully, since Shopify already has integration, maybe that's a sign that eBay will have it soon.
Worst case scenario, I plan to turn on US shipping next week after we get an idea of how this all works purely to ensure my items arent buried in the best match on eBay.com (I suspect some Canadians browse through that portal). If I have to charge small business rates for Tracked Packet rather than eBay rates, I do not expect to get any sales, but that wouldn't be the point of putting it on.
cottagewoman
·11 months agoWouldn't hold my breath for eBay to integrate CP/Zonos if they're launching an eIS program - but maybe it could happen since many sellers on ebay.ca are seasoned and willing to take the risks with this kind of solution. Would be nice to have options for sure.
mrdutch1001
·11 months agoI believe on Etsy the Zonos fees are $3.99 CAD for processing plus 10 per cent...IMHO, it matters not what eBay or any selling site does there are going to be added costs and fees for the seller and it all boils down to whether the end result is still worth it...For myself, it is not ... I will no longer sell to the USA. Eff Trump Tariffs!
easoss
·11 months agoDeath by a thousand cuts. Little dink and dunk fees that'll come out of the sellers pocket. I'm with you in not falling for this.
vintage_america
·11 months agopansy19
·11 months agoYou pay a fixed remittance fee (e.g., $3.99 CAD) and a processing fee (e.g., 10%) to Zonos, which handles the duty collection and remittance to U.S. Customs.
ilikehockeyjerseys
·11 months agoThey should integrate it. The eIS is going to be limited eligibility at first with not every seller enrolled.
Not having direct integration ASAP with Canada Post rates and Zonos would be negligent. A big upside of direct integration is that for those who use it in their shipping policy, eBay could plaster some sort of DDP badge or indication on the listing to market to US buyers that they will not receive extra charges.
I fully understand that a large sample of items will not be marketable to the US with the extra costs, but that's not an excuse to not have direct integration of Canada Post+Zonos for those who need it.
mrdutch1001
·11 months agoMy understanding is that Zonos was to be integrating with Canada Post here on eBay...Guess that may be a wait and see...the process is already underway on my other selling site (Etsy), where Canada Post is integrating with Zonos on Etsy and NO, there is no sign up fee/no yearly fee if done so through the link that is provided for the Etsy-Canada Post-Zonos integration.
chicweb
·11 months agoThat mean eBay can (and hopefully will soon) offer that same kind of mechanism.
reallynicestamps
·11 months agoHow much of Zonos is owned by Trump Enterprises?
vintagenorth
·11 months agoDon't think he owns any of it. It's a privately owned company. 😀
easoss
·11 months agoIt's a private company based in Utah. I would be confident a lot of lobbying went into them becoming the chosen one to handle this. I can't believe how willingly people are signing up for this. My spidey-sense is tingling. It's always a good idea to have patience with new technology systems.