International shipping is where parcels most often go missing or arrive late. Longer routes, more carrier hand-offs and customs checks all add risk, and filing a claim across borders is slower. Protect international orders with tracked services, insurance on valuable shipments, clear duties at checkout, and shipping protection priced by country.
For the basics of coverage, see our shipping insurance guide.
Why is international shipping riskier?
- More hand-offs: a parcel may move between two or more carriers.
- Customs: inspections, holds and returns when paperwork or duties are wrong.
- Longer transit: more time for loss or damage, and customers wait longer to report problems.
- Harder claims: the destination carrier may need to investigate, which takes time.
What insurance options are there?
- Carrier cover: international services include varying amounts of liability or insurance; check each service before relying on it.
- Shopify Shipping insurance: on eligible US labels bought in Shopify, international coverage costs $1.29 per $100, up to $5,000 per shipment, administered by Shipsurance. Claims can be filed up to 120 days from the shipping date.
- Third-party insurance: policies covering many shipments, often useful for higher volumes.
Insure parcels whose value would hurt to lose, and keep proof of value for each one.
How do you avoid customs problems?
- Describe items accurately with the right tariff codes and values.
- Make duties clear: either collect duties at checkout or state that the customer pays them on delivery.
- Say what happens if duties are refused: who pays return shipping and whether you refund.
- Use tracked services with end-to-end tracking where possible.
How should you price shipping protection for international orders?
Look at your claim rate by destination. If international orders have more problems, either charge more for them or exclude high-risk destinations from protection.
- Price bands by order value keep the fee fair across cart sizes.
- Country rules let you show protection only where you are comfortable covering it (on Sam, show/hide by country is on the Plus plan).
- Clear policy wording for customs: protection usually covers loss and damage in transit, not refused duties.
Our guide on how much to charge for shipping protection explains the math, and the shipping protection calculator lets you model a different claim rate for international orders.
Example
A US store ships a $320 jacket to Canada. It buys a tracked service, adds Shopify Shipping insurance for the full value (about $4.13 at $1.29 per $100), collects duties at checkout, and the customer adds a protection fee priced for international orders. The parcel is lost in transit: the store reships the same day and files the insurance claim to recover its cost.
What should your claim process ask for?
Tracking from both carriers, photos of any damage, and for “delivered but not received” claims, the local delivery confirmation. Give international customers a longer filing window that matches transit times.
To set up protection with country and value rules, see Sam Shipping Protection and the shipping protection guide.
Frequently asked questions
Does Shopify Shipping insurance cover international shipments?
For US stores buying labels in Shopify, yes: Shopify's Help Center lists international coverage at $1.29 per $100, up to $5,000 per shipment. Check that your service and destination are eligible.
Should I charge more for shipping protection on international orders?
If your claim rate is higher abroad, yes. Price bands or country rules let you charge a fee that matches the risk, or hide protection for countries you do not want to cover.
Who pays if a parcel is held or returned by customs?
That depends on your terms and whether duties were prepaid. State clearly at checkout who pays duties and taxes, and what happens if a customer refuses to pay them.
Sources
Part of our guide: Shipping insurance →