Arta’s import cost estimates service is a set of API endpoints that provide accurate, upfront costs for duties, taxes, and fees on international shipments. Tailored to meet the unique needs of auction houses, art marketplaces, galleries, and other sellers of collectible and valuable items, this feature helps maintain buyer confidence during cross-border transactions, particularly for high-value items.

Buyers often face unexpected duties, taxes, and fees when their purchases arrive at customs — adding substantial amounts to the final cost and creating frustrating customer experiences. With import cost estimates, Arta can help you provide your customers precise breakdowns for import-related expenses at the point of purchase.

Access during public preview

Import cost estimates is in a public preview release. Contact your account manager or sales to get started.

Key Benefits

• Enhanced Buyer Experience – Provide transparency and predictability in cross-border transactions by showing all costs upfront
• Increased Conversion – Reduce cart abandonment by eliminating surprise costs at customs
• Simplified Integration – Consolidate shipping and customs calculations through a single API integration
• Global Coverage – Support for commercial carriers and white-glove specialists shipping services worldwide

How It Works

Through a simple API integration, you can obtain detailed breakdowns of expected import costs by providing:

• Transport details (cost and service level)
• Object details (value and HS code)
• Origin and destination
• The preferred currency you would like to receive the estimates in

The import cost estimates API supports multiple objects and can build estimates for shipments serviced by Arta or the following common carriers:

• UPS
• FedEx
• DHL

The API also accurately calculates duties, fees, and taxes for “resale” and “not-for-resale” end-use transactions. For the following example, we will use the USD currency. You can also use other currencies such as EUR, GBP, HKD, etc.

> curl --location 'https://api.arta.io/import_cost_estimates' \
--header 'Authorization: ARTA_APIKey s0e1t2e3c4a5s6t7r8o9n10o11m12y' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--data '{
    "import_cost_estimate": {
        "currency": "USD",
        "objects": [
            {
                "reference": "ceramic-vase-maria-lundqvist",
                "value": "10869.45",
                "value_currency": "USD",
                "hs_code": "691390"
            }
        ],
        "destination": {
            "country": "US"
        },
        "origin": {
            "country": "FR"
        },
        "transport": {
            "amount": "635",
            "amount_currency": "USD",
            "service_level": "dhl_express_worldwide"
        }
    }
}'

The response will be in JSON format, containing an estimate with line items and a summary of import costs for the shipment. You can use this information to present more accurate cost estimates for cross-border transactions for your customers.

{
    "created_at": "2025-03-17T16:03:20.791233",
    "currency": "USD",
    "destination": {
        "city": null,
        "country": "US",
        "postal_code": null,
        "region": null
    },
    "end_use": "for_resale",
    "estimate": {
        "line_items": [
            {
                "amount": "652.17",
                "description": "duty",
                "subtype": "item",
                "type": "duty"
            },
            {
                "amount": "37.65",
                "description": "United States Merchandise Processing Fee (MPF)",
                "subtype": "other",
                "type": "fee"
            },
            {
                "amount": "17.00",
                "description": "DHL United States Duty Tax Receiver Fee",
                "subtype": "advancement",
                "type": "fee"
            }
        ],
        "summary": {
            "duties": "652.17",
            "fees": "54.65",
            "taxes": "0.00"
        }
    },
    "id": "fd559ea7-42ab-494f-a8fa-33b5a037666b",
    "objects": [
        {
            "country_of_origin": null,
            "hs_code": "691390",
            "quantity": 1,
            "reference": "ceramic-vase-maria-lundqvist",
            "value": "10869.45",
            "value_currency": "USD"
        }
    ],
    "origin": {
        "country": "FR"
    },
    "reference": null,
    "shortcode": "DEMO-I391B6",
    "status": "success",
    "transport": {
        "amount": "635.00",
        "amount_currency": "USD",
        "service_level": "dhl_express_worldwide"
    },
    "updated_at": "2025-03-17T16:03:20.791233"
}