Overview
In this guide, we will explain how you can add HS Code information to your products in Expandly, which will then allow international shipments to be generated for your sales orders.
What are HS Codes?
HS Code is short for Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System. It is a list of numbers (10-digits long) that are used by customs to classify a product and it is with this number that custom authorities all over the world are able to identify the contents of your packages.
Why are HS Codes important?
HS Codes are important as these are used by customs to classify the product being shipped - that was it can accurately calculate taxes and duties and apply any necessary restrictions.
If you don't include the HS code, you risk the receiver paying the wrong tax and could possibly delay the shipment. In some carrier instances, HS Codes are a mandatory requirements when shipping internationality and you will be unable to generate shipments if the HS Code information is not applied to your products.
Where can I find HS Codes?
You are able to obtain HS Codes via your county's government website. Alternatively, you can also use HS Code search tools online, where you can simply type in a details goods description, which will then return the HS Code you need.
Adding HS Codes to a new product
1. Click Products & Listings (left menu) and then click Manage Products:
2. On your Manage Products page click (Top right) and select your preferred method for creating the product on Expandly
3. Add all required mandatory product information to the Product Details tab
4. If you are creating a single product, on the Product Details tab, fill in the product HS Code information within the HS Code field:
Please Note: HS Codes are 10-digit long numbers. When entering HS Code information on Expandly, please do not include any spaces or punctuation marks.
5. If you are creating a variation product, on the Variations tab - within the Variations section - when generating the variations, click to create a HS column/field and then click
6. Once the variation attributes have been generated, in the HS Code field, add the variation HS Code information:
7. Complete any Sales Channel information on your product via the Sales Channel Tab
8. Once done, click and then:
- this will save the product on Expandly for you
or:
- this will allow you to list the product across your sales channels
9. Once HS code information has been added to the SKU, when sales orders are imported into Expandly, the HS code details will be auto assigned to the order, if available on the product within Expandly.
Please Note: HS Code information will need to be available on the SKU within Expandly for this automatically appear on the sales order however you do have the option to add or edit HS Code details at order-level too, should this not have been added to the product already.
Adding HS Code information to an existing single product
1. Click Products & Listings (left menu) and then click Manage Products.
2. Find the product you wish to add a HS Code to, by using the search or filter functions and then click
3. On the Editing Product page, on the Product Details tab, fill in the product HS Code information within the HS Code field:
4. Once done, click and then:
- this will save the product on Expandly for you
- this will allow you to list the product across your sales channels.
or;
- this option will allow you to revise and create the variations on any listings that already exist
5. Once HS code information has been added to the SKU, when sales orders are imported into Expandly, the HS code details will be auto assigned to the order, if available on the product within Expandly.
Please Note: HS Code information will need to be available on the SKU within Expandly for this automatically appear on the sales order however you do have the option to add or edit HS Code details at order-level too, should this not have been added to the product already.
Adding HS Code information to an existing variation product
1. Click Products & Listings (left menu) and then click Manage Products.
2. Find the product you wish to add a HS Code to, by using the search or filter functions and then click
3. On the Editing Product page, on the Variations tab - within the Variations section - click to create a HS column/field and then click
4. Fill in the product HS Code information (this will need to be added to each individual variation SKU) within the HS Code field:
5. Once done, click and then:
- this will save the product on Expandly for you
or:
- this will allow you to list the product across your sales channels
6. Once HS code information has been added to the SKU, when sales orders are imported into Expandly, the HS code details will be auto assigned to the order, if available on the product within Expandly.
Please Note: HS Code information will need to be available on the SKU within Expandly for this automatically appear on the sales order however you do have the option to add or edit HS Code details at order-level too, should this not have been added to the product already.
Adding HS Code information to your products in bulk
1. Go to Settings (left menu) and then click Template Designer:
2. On your Templates page, click (top right).
3. Give your template a Name and select 'Products CSV' from the Template Type drop-down:
4. Complete the template by using the keywords on the left (by clicking the keywords to insert). To ensure that HS Codes can be updated via CSV, please ensure that you include the keyword
Please Note: To ensure product updates are successful, please ensure that the is always applied when creating Product CSV templates.
5. Once complete, click (top right).
6. Once your CSV template to update HS Codes has been created, click Products & Listings (left menu) and then click Manage Products:
7. On your Manage Products page, using the filters available, find the product(s) you wish to add HS Codes to and select using the left-hand tick box:
8. Click Bulk Actions and from the drop-down, select Export:
9. On the Select a Template pop up, select the Format and Template and then click :
10. On the CSV file, make the required changes to the ProductHsCode or VariationProductHsCode column fields and once done, save:
11. On the Manage Products page in Expandly, click Add Product and then from the drop-down, select Upload via CSV Or TXT:
12. On the Upload Products via CSV or TXT page, either drag the updated CSV file to the drop zone or :
13. Once the file has been imported, click to add the file to the queue. Dependant on the number of products you are wishing to update, it can take 10-15 minutes for the upload to complete and for the Sales Channel Stock Level information to update on your products.
Editing HS Codes on your products in Expandly
1. Click Products & Listings (left menu) and then click Manage Products:
2. On your Manage Products page, find the product you wish to edit HS code information on by using the search or filter functions.
3. Add all required mandatory product information to the Product Details tab
4. If you are updating a single product, on the Product Details tab, edit the product HS Code information within the HS Code field
5. If you are updating a variation product, on the Variations tab, edit the variation product HS Code information within the HS Code field
7. Complete any Sales Channel information on your product via the Sales Channel Tab
8. Once done, click and then:
- this will save the product on Expandly for you
or:
- this will allow you to list the product across your sales channels
9. Once HS code information has been added to the SKU, when sales orders are imported into Expandly, the HS code details will be auto assigned to the order, if available on the product within Expandly.
10. If wishing to update HS Code information in bulk, please see the Adding HS Code information to your products in bulk section of this guide
Please Note: HS Code information will need to be available on the SKU within Expandly for this automatically appear on the sales order however you do have the option to add or edit HS Code details at order-level too, should this not have been added to the product already.
Adding, Viewing and Editing HS Code information on your Sales Orders
As explained in this guide, once HS Code information has been added to you single/variation products/SKUs, this information will be automatically available to view on your Sales Orders. This information will also be sent to your shipping carriers, when creating shipments for International Orders.
1. Click Sales Orders (left menu) and then click Manage Sales Orders:
2. Find the sale order you wish to view/edit HS code information on by using the search or filter functions:
3. Click Actions (right hand side) and from the drop-down, select :
4. On the Edit Order page, within the Order Detail section, click the edit icon
Please Note: If a multi-line order, you will see a edit option for each separate order line
5. On the Line Item Details pop up, within the HS Code field, you can view any HS Code information (if available on the product SKU) associated with the order or alternatively, can add or edit (if needed) the HS Code details associated with the order:
6. If adding or editing HS Code information via the Line Item Details pop up, click and then click
(top right) to save the sales order changes
Please Note: Adding or editing HS Code information at order level will not make any changes to the product. If editing this information on the order, the HS Code added to the order will not update or overwrite the HS Code associated with the product in Expandly. If HS Code information has not been added, or is incorrect and needs to be changed, we would recommend that you do this at product-level, to avoid you from having to add or edit the HS Code detail each time at order level.
7. When generating shipping labels, the HS Code information will be taken from the order (if you have edited the HS Code at order-level, so this is now different to the HS Code held within Expandly against the product SKU, this will be the HS Code which is sent across to your carrier)
In instances where HS Code information is not available on the order, the shipment with fail to generate, and you will be required to update the order to ensure you are able to successfully generate and print the label.
Need more help?
If you need a little extra help, no problem. Get in touch and we'll be happy to help.
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