How It Works
Understand how RateTell calculates landed cost at checkout
How It Works
When an international customer reaches checkout on your Shopify store, RateTell estimates the full landed cost — duties, taxes, and shipping — in real time.
The Checkout Flow
Here's what happens behind the scenes when a customer checks out:
- A customer starts checkout with items from your store
- RateTell picks the best shipping rate using your carrier accounts, custom flat rates, and smart packing — all based on your configuration
- Duties and taxes are added (if you've enabled DDP) based on your approved HS code classifications
- The total is shown at checkout — your customer sees one clear price
It all happens in real time, so your customer's checkout experience stays fast and smooth.
Key Components
Smart Packing
Before calculating rates, RateTell determines how your customer's items fit into shipping boxes using a cartonization algorithm. This ensures accurate dimensional weight and shipping costs.
You can define your box profiles in Packaging and map specific products to specific boxes. Read more in Smart Packing.
Rate Sources
RateTell can collect rates from two sources:
Custom Flat Rates: Define per-destination flat rates through Shipping Zones. Set prices, delivery time estimates, and conditions (minimum/maximum order value or weight). Great for merchants who want simple, predictable pricing.
Live Carrier Rates: Real-time rates from UPS, FedEx, and DHL. Requires API credentials from each carrier. See Carrier Rates for setup instructions.
Rate Selection Strategy
Choose how RateTell picks which rate to show at checkout in Configuration:
| Strategy | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Best Value | One cheapest rate per speed tier (Economy, Standard, Express) |
| Cheapest | Lowest price always wins |
| Fastest | Quickest delivery time wins |
| Carrier Priority | Preferred carrier listed first, others as backup |
| All Rates | Show all qualifying rates, customer chooses |
Landed Cost (DDP)
When DDP is enabled, RateTell adds estimated duties and taxes to the shipping rate before displaying it at checkout. Estimates are based on:
- Product HS code classification
- Destination country tariff schedule
- Declared product value
- Carrier shipping rate
Read more in Landed Cost & DDP.