Fleishman details the administrative and cost burden on small sellers
1 Sep 21 · 2d ago · 1 article · 4 posts · 3 sources · development 1 of 1
Fleishman argues the new customs fee is a separate pathway duplicating VAT collection and amounts to a protectionist overhead tax on imports. Shipping costs have become unaffordable for modestly priced items, and most small U.S. businesses may stop serving EU addresses rather than absorb the fees.
“The new customs fee is ridiculous, because it's a separate pathway to pay for the same point of entry.”
Glenn FleishmanGlenn Fleishman U.S. small business ownerEuropean Union Regulatory authority
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first by Daring Fireball, 2d ago
What people said 12 voices · verbatim
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I volunteer with a small US-based non-profit publisher [0], and this all matches my experience. We publish black-and-white technical journals that are worth almost nothing, and our European subscribers have occasionally been charged 20€ per copy by their customs authorities [1].We're now prepaying the duties, which seems to have solved that…
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Fascinating tidbit here that shows how the EU and China are both bad actors in their own ways in international trade, despite all the disproportionate hysteria about U.S. tariffs https:// daringfireball.net/linked/2026 /09/21/fleisnman-eu-shipping
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As someone who buys a lot internationally (because fuck localized media), this has been really annoying. Already had packages that the seller either couldn't ship or which returned all the way around the world. All this ends sup doing is consoldating international commerce even further as eBay and Amazon happily handle this mess for the seller…
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Small datapoint for me as a non-business entity going the opposite direction. I sell vinyls on Discogs and the last time someone purchased a vinyl from the US I was told I am classed as a business so I had to sign up with some private business which was a customs clearing company. They charged a flat fee and then a daily $1 charge for the entire…
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I used to manufacture specialized consumer electronics in Shenzhen and sell them worldwide through Etsy. When Britain left the EU I stopped shipping to the UK rather than deal with VAT. I eventually stopped shipping outside the US altogether because shipping and administrative costs ate all the profit. When tariffs on Chinese goods went over 100%…
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I get that it is a shame for you personally. Despite this I think high processing fees are good. First of all, it addresses the issue of people in the EU importing things we really do not need. Secondly, if it is something you really want then it can be imported at a noticible (but managable) premium. If the set of die are special, then paying 3…
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These fees were sucessfully lobbied in the media as a "Temu tax", and even reputable state broadcasters continue to refer to it as a "junk fee". However, it applies indiscriminately to everything from a decades old vintage book purchased from the UK, or spare parts to restore electronics ordered from Japan.
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> This is a story of the end of de minimis shipping, which figuratively means “too small to trifle with.”Didn't the US also end de minimis exceptions recently? Can we really expect other countries and economic zones to keep them if we don't?
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Small businesses in the EU can't ship to the EU.These new waste charges require administration that put a de facto floor on minimum monthly sales of €300-1500 per-country just to cover PPWR costs. It's insanity.
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This is not a tariff issue, unbelievably, but one about reducing competition.I’m not sure I’m following the argument here, because tariffs are all about protectionism, which is a form of reducing external competition
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The EU closed a tax loophole, and I'm happy to support small local businesses over people shipping things from overseas. I'm sure there are edge cases, but overall I don't see an issue here.
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Fwiw, non us businesses have the same problem trying to ship to the us. It’s how governments want to roll now and how they generate counter actions.
All 1 developments of EU's new customs fee effectively shuts out U.S. small… →
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