German customers to pay €5 fees on small non-EU packages

German customers buying low-value goods from websites outside the EU will face two charges. The existing €3 customs duty applies to goods valued at €150 or less. A new €2 handling fee begins on November 1st, 2026. Together, they bring the stated total to €5, although gifts are exempt.

The charges apply to online orders from outside the EU, including websites based in the UK, US, Canada, and China. In theory, sellers pay the fees. A customer should not receive a separate bill from the delivery company. However, sellers may add the cost to product prices.

The measures are intended to cover rising customs costs and reduce the flow of very cheap imports. They particularly target platforms such as Shein and Temu. Products already stored in EU warehouses can avoid these charges because they are inside EU borders.

A customs duty is a government charge applied to goods entering a customs area from outside it. In this case, the EU’s €3 duty applies to online goods valued at €150 or less. It is linked to importing the product itself and forms part of the EU’s trade and customs rules.

A handling fee is different in purpose. It is intended to cover the work and rising administrative costs involved in processing the huge number of small packages arriving in the EU. The new fee is €2 and starts on November 1st, 2026. It is an additional charge, not a replacement for the duty.

For qualifying imports, the two charges total €5 per category of item. Sellers are expected to pay them in theory, though they may recover the money by raising prices. Gifts are exempt, and goods shipped from EU warehouses avoid these import charges.

An estimated 4.6 billion low-value shipments entered the EU in 2024. That was nearly double the number recorded in 2023. The scale helps explain why EU authorities are introducing an additional handling charge for small packages ordered online from outside the bloc.

China dominated this flow. About 91 per cent of the shipments came from China, according to EU data cited in the article. The figures include low-value consignments, the type of individual packages associated with fast-growing online marketplaces such as Temu and Shein.

The volume is central to the policy response. The €2 handling fee is intended to help cover the customs costs created by processing so many separate packages. Alongside the existing €3 duty, it also forms part of wider efforts to limit imports of cheap products. The article suggests these measures may reduce future import volumes.

The €3 duty and €2 handling fee are calculated for each category of item in an order. This means the combined €5 charge is not automatically multiplied by every individual product. Instead, the number of product categories determines how many €5 charges apply.

The article gives two examples. Ordering three jumpers creates one category, so the parcel attracts €5. Ordering one jumper and one pair of trousers creates two categories, so the total becomes €10. The same principle applies even when the items are included in one order or parcel.

This calculation can make mixed orders more expensive than orders containing several items of the same kind. The charges theoretically fall on the seller, whether a company or marketplace platform. Still, sellers may add the fees to prices, meaning customers could ultimately pay more for cross-border shopping.

The seller is expected to pay both the €3 duty and the €2 handling fee. That seller could be an individual company or a marketplace platform such as Amazon. The policy is designed so customers do not receive an unexpected extra bill when the parcel arrives.

Delivery companies should not normally collect the charges from customers at the door. Instead, the seller handles the payment as part of the transaction. The exact amount depends on the number of item categories in the order. One category creates a €5 total, while two categories create €10.

The financial effect can still reach shoppers. Sellers may add the fees to their product prices rather than absorb them. Customers might therefore see higher prices at checkout without receiving a separate customs invoice. The article presents this as the practical way the new costs could be passed through.

The fees apply to items ordered online from sites outside the EU and entering the bloc as imports. Products already held in an EU warehouse do not follow that same route. Because the goods are stored inside EU borders, they are exempt from the fees described in the article.

Shein now promotes an “EU Warehouse” to European shoppers after opening a giant warehouse in Poland. Temu similarly highlights a “Local Warehouse” section, including products stored in a giant warehouse in the Netherlands. A shopper choosing such stock may therefore avoid the €3 duty and €2 handling fee.

These warehouses create a loophole for platforms targeted by the measures. The rules still affect qualifying goods shipped from outside the EU, including purchases from non-EU websites. The article suggests platforms are already using EU-based storage to minimise the additional costs rather than abandoning European sales.

The new charges raise the cost of buying cheap goods from outside the EU. A €3 duty already applies, and the €2 handling fee will bring the stated total to €5 for each relevant product category. That could make small cross-border orders less appealing, especially when the fee is large compared with the product price.

The mechanism also encourages sellers to change how they operate. They may add the charges to prices, while platforms can use EU warehouses to avoid import fees on goods already inside the bloc. Shein’s Polish warehouse and Temu’s Netherlands warehouse show how targeted companies are responding.

The article suggests further reductions in imports may be in sight, but the full effect is uncertain. The €2 fee is set to remain. The €3 duty is temporary until 2028, when the EU Customs Data Hub is due to open and regular product tariffs will apply to all goods entering the EU.