Micro-Export and ETGB: Order Flow from Turkey Explained

Micro-export is the simplified route for shipping an e-commerce order from Turkey to a consumer abroad. Instead of opening a full export file, the seller hands the parcel to a carrier and the carrier files an electronic customs declaration on the seller's behalf. That declaration is the ETGB. The order flow runs like this: the order arrives, recipient and product data are collected, an invoice is issued in the sale currency, the data goes to the carrier, the declaration is created, the parcel clears customs. This article explains where each piece of data comes from at each step and which parts an integration takes over.

Where micro-export and ETGB fit

If you manufacture or hold stock in Turkey and sell on Amazon, Etsy, eBay or your own store to buyers in the US, EU or Gulf, micro-export is almost certainly the route your parcels take. Its appeal is that it removes the broker file, bonded warehouse and separate declaration a classic export requires. For shipments under certain weight and value limits, the carrier files the declaration electronically with Turkish customs. You prepare the invoice and product data correctly; the rest runs between the carrier's system and customs.

We deliberately give no exact limits, rates or timelines here. Weight and value thresholds, VAT refund conditions and exemptions change. Confirm the current rules and your own situation with a customs broker. The job of integration is not to decide the rule but to have the required data complete and ready whatever the rule is.

You do not file the ETGB; the carrier does. Your responsibility is that the data reaching the carrier matches the invoice, the product and the recipient exactly.

Data collected the moment an order lands

When an order arrives from Amazon, Etsy or eBay, the declaration needs data from four sources, and all of it has to meet in one record:

• Recipient: name, full address, country, phone and, where required, a tax or ID number. Some destination countries require a buyer ID; if the marketplace does not pass it, the record stays incomplete.
• Product: SKU, English product description, quantity, unit weight, country of origin and HS (tariff) code. The HS code is defined once on the product record, not looked up per order.
• Amount: selling price, currency, shipping charge and discount. The invoice is issued in the sale currency, and the exchange rate is recorded at the day's value.
• Shipment: carrier, service type and parcel details.

Integration merges these four pieces at order time. The "single master record" principle from our cross-border marketplace integration guide pays off here: if HS code, weight and English description already sit on the product card, there is nothing left to search for when the order comes in.

Paperwork: the foreign-currency invoice and what goes to the carrier

The invoice is where micro-export most often stalls. It must be issued to the buyer's name, in the currency of the sale, and describe the product in terms customs understands. "Dress" leaves questions; "women's cotton dress, 1 piece" does not. Issuing the invoice from the ERP keeps export sales separate in your books; we cover that link in marketplace e-invoice integration.

What goes to the carrier is the invoice, recipient details, item list and weight. If this is keyed into the carrier's system by hand, typing errors are inevitable across dozens of orders a day. In Bulutegra the order is written to the ERP with customer, line items, carrier and payment details, and the micro-export paperwork, currency and customs data are prepared at the same moment. Shipping and invoicing still follow your own process; the integration carries the data, complete.

The roles of the carrier and the customs broker

Because the carrier files the ETGB, your contract with the carrier decides which countries and service levels you can ship to. When choosing one, look at three things: delivery times in your target countries, how well they communicate when a parcel is held at customs, and how they handle return shipments. Domestic carrier flow is covered in carrier integration in Turkey; for international parcels the same carriers' international arms or express couriers take over.

A customs broker may not be mandatory for micro-export, but working with one for HS classification, VAT refunds and regulatory changes lowers your risk. A short conversation when your product range changes or you open a new country prevents a problem that would otherwise surface months later.

Common mistakes

• The recipient address arrives from the marketplace truncated or incomplete; delivery and customs stall together.
• The invoice is issued in lira while the declaration is in foreign currency; the amounts do not reconcile.
• The product description exists only in Turkish.
• Weight is missing from the product card; the carrier weighs the parcel and bills a different amount.
• The same product gets a different HS code on each order.
• The exchange rate is recorded on the invoice on a different day rather than on the order. See multi-currency pricing and FX management for this one.

What these have in common is data that was not gathered into one record at order time. The return on integration is that none of the six needs to be thought about again on each order.

Order flow checklist

1. Does the product card carry an English description, HS code, origin and unit weight?
2. Are the address fields needed for export enabled on the marketplace account, and does the buyer's phone come through?
3. Is the invoice issued in the sale currency, to the buyer, from the ERP?
4. Does the carrier contract cover your target countries and the micro-export service?
5. Does order data reach the carrier by hand or through the integration?
6. Is the tracking number reported back to the marketplace after the declaration?
7. Is it recorded who to call when a parcel is held at customs?
8. Who monitors regulatory changes, and is there a regular check-in with the customs broker?

Most sellers filling in this list for the first time stop at item one. If the product card is incomplete, the other seven have to be completed by hand on every order.

How it works with Bulutegra

In Bulutegra, an order from an international marketplace appears in the same list as orders from Turkish channels, separated by a channel tab. It is written automatically to your ERP (Nebim V3, Logo, Mikro, SAP) with customer, line items, carrier and payment details, and micro-export paperwork, currency and customs data are prepared at order time. Channel monitoring runs continuously; a channel that goes quiet raises an alert and a notification on your phone. During setup, shadow mode means the system only reads at first, so your first real declaration is created after you have verified your matches. The full module list is under Solutions.

To see the micro-export flow on your own products, fill in the quote form.