How do I write a Commercial Invoice?

For those of you that are daunted by shipping, do not despair, it's less complicated than it seems.

What is a Commercial Invoice?

A commercial invoice is a document that is mandatory for all international shipments. 

This document is designed to explain to customs officials what the contents of the package are and if an additional duty or tax needs to be levied. It is very important that these documents are 100% accurate.

It is also important that your commercial invoice is filled in correctly on the outbound shipping documentation as this will ensure that you do not incur any additional charges for any artworks that might be returned. You can read more about this here: Who pays for returns and will I be charged anything?

As the UK is no longer part of the EU, shipments between the two also require a commercial invoice. Our EU-based artists will need to include a commercial invoice in order to ship to the UK and vice versa. 

For shipments within the EU (i.e. Spain to France), a commercial invoice is not needed, however, for all other international shipments please do ship with a commercial invoice. 

What information do I have to include?

Some couriers, such as FedEx or DHL, will also have a template for you to follow, but there is some key information you have to include if you are preparing your own invoice. Here is a list of critical information:

• Sender's address & contact number
• Recipient's address & contact number
• The package's tracking number & carrier
• A full description of the contents, including;
  • Basic description of artwork, quantity, materials, date, value, weight etc.
  • Harmonised code
  • Reason for export/intended use
  • Country of manufacture + statement of origin
• A signed & dated declaration that everything on the invoice is true

Selling on Artfinder is a commercial venture, and therefore you should not be sending any packages as a gift - these should be shipped appropriately as commercial goods. For international shipments, you will need to include a commercial invoice with the appropriate harmonised code/tariff. Failure to ship correctly can lead to extra charges for customers, issues in transit, and parcels being destroyed or returned to sender.

What is a harmonised/commodity code?

A commodity/harmonised code is a number allocated to goods to classify international imports. Every item will fall under a commodity code – and this commodity code dictates your duty rating, as well as alerts you to any import or export restrictions.

You need to use commodity codes to classify your goods when you're importing and exporting them so our artists will need to know them (and the Artfinder team as well for arranging return shipments). You include a commodity code on your commercial invoice (or import or export declarations).

Here are the main commodity/harmonised codes for art (executed entirely by hand, excluding antiques of an age exceeding 100 years  - these have separate commodity codes) developed by the World Customs Organization (WCO):

• 9701.9100 - Paintings, drawings and pastels (executed entirely by hand, excluding antiques of an age exceeding 100 years)
• 9701.9900 - Collages 
• 9703.9000 - Sculptures 
• 9702.9000 - Original engravings, prints and lithographs
• 4911.9900 - Printed pictures and photographs

Please note that we provide the above as examples of current harmonised codes for each category, however, we always encourage you to check these yourself as they may periodically change.

Here is an example of a commercial invoice

Now, bear in mind, certain countries (such as the USA and Canada) will have their own export criteria, such as AES/ITN/EEI, which will need specific research in order to make the appropriate declaration.

For imports into the EU and UK, you will need to have an EORI number which will need to be included on the commercial invoice. You may also be required to include a Sales VAT invoice however our Team will reach out for any orders on which this is applicable. You can find more about this at New VAT rules change for EU/UK imports.

Each courier will also have help articles to guide you in filling out these forms, you can find FedEx's guide here and DHL's guide here.

If you ship with DHL, they will create a commercial invoice for you as part of the shipment booking process. However, if they don't, you will be able to use this tool.