Australia Post allows a maximum of 20 line items on international customs declarations.
If an order contains more than 20 SKUs, you must group similar items together in ReadyToShip before creating the shipping label.
Items will only group together when their HS Tariff Code, Goods Description, Country of Origin, Unit Price, and Weight are the same.
Problem
You may see an error when creating an international shipping label if the order contains more than 20 line items (products).
Australia Post limits international shipments to 20 items on the customs declaration, so the label cannot be generated until the order is reduced to 20 line items or fewer.
Solution
Reduce the number of line items by grouping similar products together.
You do not need to group every item — only enough to reduce the order to 20 line items or fewer.
How grouping works
Items will automatically group together only when all of the following fields match:
HS Tariff Code
Goods Description (or item title if the Goods Description is empty)
Country of Origin
Unit Price
Weight
If any of these values are different, the items will remain as separate line items.
If your items are not grouping, check that their price and weight are exactly the same. Even small differences can prevent grouping.
This commonly happens when:
product variants have different prices
product weights are slightly different
What you will see when an order exceeds the limit
If an order contains more than 20 line items, you will see an error when attempting to create the shipping label.
To review the items:
Expand the order by clicking the down arrow.
Scroll to the bottom of the order items list.
A message will appear indicating that the order exceeds the 20 line item limit and requires grouping.
As you group items, this message will update to show your progress.
How to group items
Look for similar items in the order that can share the same description.
For example, you might have several soaps with different scents.
To group these:
Click the World icon next to each item.
Change the Goods Description to a consistent but accurate description, such as “scented bath soap.”
Click Save.
If the items also share the same HS code, country of origin, price, and weight, they will automatically group together into a single line item on the customs declaration.
Example
Before grouping
Lavender Soap
Lemon Soap
Rose Soap
Mint Soap
Sandalwood Soap
After grouping
Scented Bath Soap (5 items combined)
This reduces the number of line items on the customs declaration.
When grouping is complete
Once the order contains 20 or fewer line items, the warning message will disappear.
You will then be able to successfully create the shipping label.
Important
You are responsible for ensuring that all customs information is accurate.
Make sure that:
HS Tariff Codes are correct
Goods Descriptions accurately describe the products
Country of Origin is correct
Item values match the customer invoice
Incorrect customs declarations may result in delays, customs inspection, or returned shipments.
Having trouble with grouping? Visit our troubleshooting article here.