Instant Duty Calculating Web Service

  • Web service to quickly estimate all the charges for a buyer
  • Easy billing system
  • Highly scalable solution
Expertise
eCommerce
Business Intelligence
Verticals
Retail
Logistics

Our client, BundleTech, an IT consulting company run by former Google and eBay executive, came up with an idea of developing a simple to use solution for buyers to calculate import duties on foreign goods.

Calendar
3
Duration
Years
Gears
126
Efforts
Person-months

Context

Buyers are often confused by the amount of operations they have to do to find out what their purchase from a foreign seller will finally cost (including the import duties). Our client, BundleTech, is a cutting-edge IT consulting company run by former Google and eBay executive specializing in shipment process improvement. The idea that the Customer came up with was to make import duties clear and accessible for the people who by foreign products online.

Solution

The solution is represented by a web service that is to be embedded into online marketplaces and procurement systems. The Customer’s idea was to monetize it by charging users for on-demand operations or selling subscription plans to stores and networks. The software is compatible with a range of eCommerce solutions to get quick results.

Iflexion developed a mapping tool to connect sellers’ product names and international commodity coding system as well as classifications of importing country. A custom tool automatically finds and links the relevant item name with the proper category in the classification of a particular country duty rates.

The billing mechanism of the solution is a business-critical module that automates calculations whether the user employs pay-per-transaction model or periodic subscriptions. A smart billing system created by Iflexion is clear and transparent for administrators and subscribers. The bills are generated on a monthly or weekly basis (depending on users’ preferences). The stores that work with the solution choose the services to configure their own billing methods.

Another feature that the solution boasts is a documentation generation tool that is necessary for issuing invoices and creating packing lists. Users can also find all the related documentation and links to official sources in case they have any questions related to import operations.

Technologies

The major technology of the project is LAMP. There are HTML/Javascript widgets that can be embedded into the product page. Thus one can see the calculation results without leaving the seller’s website. The combination of frontend widgets with the product mapping tool ensures that the solution can be easily integrated with almost any e-commerce solution.

eBay was the first marketplace that integrated DutyCalculator API. Over 100,000 categories of products offered on eBay were mapped to work with the solution. This portal is one of the most popular online services that integrated DutyCalculator API. There are two possible ways to calculate eBay items duty and VAT taxes:

  • DutyCalculator API integrated into eBay portal
  • API developed for eBay integrated into DutyCalculator service

DutyCalculator API is a major part of duty and taxes verification process on eBay portal. Users can review applicable duty for the products they choose depending on their price and quantity.

A special API for eBay was developed to employ a different approach to duty and taxes verification. It offers an option of going to DutyCalculator website and check duty and taxes by entering the product’s eBay ID.

Results

As a result of the cooperation, the Customer got a comprehensive solution that assists online buyers in receiving import duty and VAT calculations in a click of a button.

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