RateTell is an app for Shopify merchants who sell across borders. It estimates duties, taxes, and shipping at checkout so customers see the full landed cost before they buy.
International shoppers abandon carts when the price changes after they pay. A customer sees a product price and shipping at checkout, then gets a separate customs bill from the carrier days later. The order arrives more expensive than expected, and the merchant gets the chargeback, the refusal, or the support ticket.
RateTell exists to close that gap. Merchants connect their carrier accounts, approve an HS code for each product, and RateTell shows an estimated duty, tax, and shipping total at checkout. The customer pays one number. There is no customs invoice at the door.
Classification starts with AI: RateTell reads each product's title, description, and images and proposes an HS code from the Harmonized System. Merchants review and approve the result, because the merchant is the importer of record and remains responsible for the final classification.
Duty and tax estimates are then calculated from the approved HS code and the destination country's published tariff schedule, VAT or GST rate, and de minimis rules. Shipping rates come from live carrier quotes through the merchant's own FedEx, UPS, DHL, or postal accounts.
These are estimates, not legal or customs advice. Tariff schedules and trade rules change, and a customs authority can assess a different amount than any calculator predicts. Merchants should treat RateTell totals as a close, consistently applied estimate, not a guarantee. If you find a rate that looks wrong, tell us and we will check it against the current schedule.
RateTell is built and maintained by the RateTell team, a small group of e-commerce and logistics engineers. The same team handles the classification pipeline, the tariff data, and the Shopify checkout integration, so merchant feedback reaches the people who can act on it. We publish how the product works in our documentation rather than leaving it to support tickets.
See how the tools work with the import duty calculator and the HS code finder, or read the DDP shipping guide to see how upfront duties change the international buying experience.
Questions, corrections, or a rate that looks off? Email support@ratetell.com.