August is behind us - and with it, the calm before the Holiday peaks. September marks the beginning of Q4 preparations, when creative energy meets peak sales. But this year, we’re not just prepping for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas - there’s a new curveball in town:
Let’s talk US customs duties on Etsy
Yep. If you're a non-US Etsy seller, you’re probably already feeling the pinch. The new import policy and the removal of the "de minimis" exemption means every package headed to the US could now carry up to a 15% customs duty.
But before you panic - take a breath. If you’ve been selling to the EU, this is nothing new - you are already paying ~20% VAT and the new US duties are more or less matching this. Now, whether the new fees get baked into your prices or paid by your customers at delivery - that’s a choice with real consequences. So let’s break it down and walk through your options.
1. Option 1: Offer DDP (Delivered Duty Paid) - e.g. handle duties on your end when shipping your Etsy orders.
This means you pay the duty, but customers experience a seamless, duty-free delivery.
This is also the route Etsy recommends - it’s better for customer experience and can reduce abandoned carts or bad reviews from confused buyers stuck dealing with customs.
There are two main questions here - how to cover this financially and how to do it.
First of all, if you’re selling to the EU, you’ve already been here. The 15% import duty to the US mirrors the ~20%-ish VAT that EU countries are charging. And for EU sellers this is the norm - so this US duty situation isn’t as dramatic as it first appears.
So one way to do this is - absorb the fee (for now = and yes, it’s basically the same as EU VAT)
And in fact, if you’re unsure how your buyers will respond - and noone knows how the economy will adjust to this new situation over the coming weeks - the “wait-and-see” approach gives you time to monitor reactions, test price sensitivity, and make smarter decisions over time.
Remember that this isn’t about finding the perfect solution overnight - it’s about easing into a long-term pricing policy that fits your niche, product type, and keeps you competitive.
The second way - increase prices
You can accommodate the duties into your pricing through:
- Full 15% price hike
- Split it: ex. 10% added to product price, 5% in shipping
- Absorb part of it into your margin and split the rest between product price and shipping
After the news we heard for 150-250% duties in the spring, 15% is reasonable and you can certainly fit this into your pricing through a small price hike if needed.
2. How should you handle DDP orders on Etsy?
If you decide to go for DDP orders, an increasing number of shipping carriers, and soon even postal services will be able to help you handle the duty payments.
Here is the up-to-date page with Etsy's recommendations about managing international orders and a list of carriers that already offer this as a service.
Keep in mind that most shipping carriers will charge what they call "customs duty collection fee". This can range from as low as 1% of the order value (e.g. $1 for a $100 package) to as high as $30 per package.
In the first weeks, it's likely that some carriers will be abusing the amount of this fee. In most cases this is a completely automated process so these fees are arbitrary. If you feel you are getting overcharged, make sure to complain and it's likely that they can lower it for you if they want to keep you as a customer.
As a rule of thumb - this fee should be lower than the duty amount you are paying. As postal services start catching up with customs duty collection this or next month, we expect the situation with these fees to normalize in most regions.
3. Option 2: Let US customers handle duty payments at customs when receiving their package
The so-called “DAP” (Delivered At Place) route puts the responsibility - and potential frustration - on your customers. You cover delivery but duty payment and dealing with customs should be handled locally by the customer.
For high-ticket orders with a clear and well-communicated policy, this might work.
But it’s definitely a risk and it's not recommended if you want to maintain your performance. Etsy certainly doesn't recommend taking this route. If customs processes are clunky or unclear, this could affect your shop reviews and repeat purchases and it could kill your conversions.
4. Monitor, don't panic
We’re early in the rollout. US shoppers are still getting used to the new situation, and over the next 6–8 weeks we’ll all get clearer signals:
- Will US customers accept price increases?
- Are customs hold-ups creating bad experiences?
- Will the administration delay or tweak enforcement?
This is a long-game decision - not something to stress over overnight. If this policy sticks, it will stay with us at least for the next 3 years or until the Trump administration ends - or it can even become the norm just like VAT in Europe. So whatever path you choose now, you’ll likely refine it in October and November as more data comes in.
5. Don’t forget your global audience
A quick reminder: if you decide to update your prices, this also affect your pricing for your customers in EU, UK, Canada, Australia and beyond.
So if you do raise prices storewide, consider targeted 10-15% sales for the rest of your core markets to balance things out. And yes, you can run geo-targeted promotions on Etsy to regulate your cross-border pricing.
6. Take informed decisions
Before deciding on updating your pricing strategy, it’s worth knowing how big your US customer base really is.
Your Etsy Orders page can give you an insight into this - it already has a list of all your United States orders over the last 30 days. Just follow the link and give them a quick count.
If you have a lot of orders on several pages, note that every page shows a specific number of orders - and you can use simple multiplication to calculate this.
What you want to do is - compare the number of US orders to your total orders. This quick snapshot will show you what % of your income depends on US buyers - so you can decide whether it’s worth adjusting your pricing, your shipping strategy, or both.
The bottom line
Whether you absorb, split, or pass on the cost - the most important thing is clear communication. Make sure your policies, listing pages and even your Etsy cover explain what buyers can expect. Confusion kills conversions.
And if you end up paying some extra fees for a few weeks while figuring it all out - it’s not the end of the world. Slightly lower margins now are worth it for long-term clarity and stability. So in this case wait-and-see is a good approach in the beginning.
Most importantly? Stay calm. Stay strategic. And keep preparing for your biggest season of the year.
