International shipments have different requirements from domestic shipments. Most countries and regions, like the EU and US require accurate, detailed Goods Descriptions, or orders may be turned away at the border.
One of these pieces of information that helps with customs clearance and duty calculation is the Goods Description.
Important: Goods Description must contain an accurate description of the goods/item being shipped.
It should not be a generic term.
Acceptable Goods Description
ReadyToShip support team is unable to advise on the right or accepted Goods Description. It is recommended that you speak with your carrier or check the customs requirements for the Country or region you are sending to.
Here are a couple of examples that may help.
Shipping guidelines for the EU may help you work out a good description for an item. https://taxation-customs.ec.europa.eu/system/files/2021-03/guidance_acceptable_goods_description_en.pdf
The image below is from DHL and provides some examples of what is and isn't acceptable.
Where to set your Goods Description
By default, our app will use the Item Title as the Goods Description component when the default Carrier setting is blank.
You can set the Goods Description in ReadyToShip by:
Value by Sku
Default value by Store
Value per SKU / Product
You can also set a unique Goods Description per SKU/Product. Expand an International order, and edit the Goods Description by clicking on the 'world' icon next to each line item in the order.
ReadyToShip can cache this value and use it the next time this Sku (product) is added. Find out more about Prioritising cache values here.
Default value per Store
ReadyToShip allows you to set a default value of 'Goods Description for International Consignments' in each of your Carrier settings.
This value, when set, is automatically applied to each and every SKU that is imported in an order into our system. Therefore, it should only be used when all your items are the same, eg swimwear.
Leaving this option blank/empty will force our app to use the Item/SKU Title as the Goods Description.
To change this, go to Settings > Carriers and edit the store settings.
