eCommerce Guide to Selling and Shipping to Puerto Rico

Shipping to Puerto Rico is a great business opportunity for eCommerce entrepreneurs. Whether it’s FedEx shipping to Puerto Rico, UPS shipping to Puerto Rico, or anything else in between, many major couriers ship to the U.S. territory, making it a prime business opportunity for savvy online sellers.

Market Insights

Although Puerto Rico is not a state of its own, it’s an unincorporated United States territory that is mostly made up of a major island several other smaller islands. The population of Puerto Rico is approximately 3.5 million, with its capital city being San Juan. Before exploring the cheapest way to ship to Puerto Rico and the like, let’s look at the key statistics for the United States territory.

Statistics show that in 2016 alone, approximately $43.32 billion worth of products were imported to Puerto Rico. Although the territory’s population has declined in recent years, it remains a key market for online merchants.

Shipping to Puerto Rico

Online merchants looking into shipping to Puerto Rico need to keep a number of specifics in mind. Many sellers may get caught up about the cost to ship a package to Puerto Rico early on, but there are several items that are restricted or prohibited from being shipped into Puerto Rico that every online seller should know about. Online merchants should also thoroughly research available courier options to get the best rates and delivery timeline possible.

Some of the restricted or prohibited items that you can’t ship to Puerto Rico include but aren’t limited to:

• Live animals
• Pornographic material
• Explosives
• Food and beverages that require refrigeration
• Weapons and firearms
• Used hypodermic needles and syringes
• Gambling devices
• Human or animal embryos
• Cremated human remains
• Coins and other currency

Apart from UPS shipping to Puerto Rico, you can choose several other shipping options in sending items to your customers. All the courier service providers have their own unique advantages and disadvantages that set them apart from others and the particular courier you choose depends on your product, timeline of delivery, budget, and other critical factors.

Most of these major courier companies also take it upon themselves to tackle some of the required paperwork, including the Automated Export System (AES) filing. While they generally offer you the fastest way to ship to Puerto Rico, local delivery services are also available to ship to and from the U.S. territory.

Is shipping to Puerto Rico the same as the U.S.?

Many eCommerce business owners have always found the exact rules of shipping to Puerto Rico complex and confusing, sometimes not being sure if it’s an independent country or not. Puerto Rico is actually an unincorporated United States territory and being so, shipping to Puerto Rico from the U.S. is rated as a domestic and not an international shipment.

This means that you’re able to ship your products to this region without having to deal with international regulations and import taxes, as it’s the same as shipping within the U.S. and therefore, duties don’t apply.

However, eCommerce merchants are required to pay a 5.5 percent sales tax while municipal sales taxes between 0 percent to 1.5 percent also apply to shipping to Puerto Rico. You should also expect to file an Electronic Export Information (EEI) through AES Direct.

Is shipping to Puerto Rico expensive?

Shipping to Puerto Rico costs varies depending on your choice of courier, size, cost of the package being shipped, and other key factors. If your business can find a courier that doesn’t charge extra fees for repacking to help reduce unnecessary shipping weight or airplane fuel, then you can surely ship at a lower cost and ultimately save your business money.

Shipping to Puerto Rico can be done simply and at a fair price, as Easyship offers your company straightforward pricing and discounts that can help your business save roughly between 20 and 70 percent on every shipment. With our online shipping calculator, you’ll be able to effectively calculate the cost of shipping to Puerto Rico via USPS and other couriers, adding transparency to the shipping process for both you and your customers.

Conclusion

Puerto Rico is a sometimes overlooked yet lucrative market for online merchants. Easyship stands ready to offer your business full support when it comes to shipping products to Puerto Rico, as our dedicated staff can help guide you through the whole process on how to ship to Puerto Rico and tap into the U.S. territory’s robust eCommerce market.

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