From July 1, 2026, the EU is introducing a new, temporary customs duty on parcels under €150 shipped from outside the EU, which will take effect until July 1, 2028. After July 1, 2028, normal customs duties will apply, depending on the type of good.
If you sell to European customers, this change affects your orders. We’ll explain exactly what it means, what Printify handles for you, and the steps you can take to reduce the impact of the duty on your business.
This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. The content is based on our understanding as of the date of publication. Readers are encouraged to seek advice from qualified professionals. Any actions taken based on this information are at your own risk.
The EU is ending its duty-free treatment that previously applied to low-value imports. Two separate duties are coming into force in 2026.
Until June 30, 2026, parcels entering the EU with a declared value under €150 can clear customs without any tariffs. From July 1, 2026, that exemption ends.
The EU will charge a flat customs duty on every qualifying parcel shipped from outside the EU, regardless of the declared value.
A second, separate duty of an estimated €2 per parcel is expected in November 2026. Both duties apply only to parcels shipped from outside the EU.
Orders fulfilled inside the EU are not affected.
The EU is charging €3 per commodity code per parcel entering the region. A commodity code is the customs classification that identifies what type of product a parcel contains.
The charge is based on how many distinct product types are within a parcel. Every product type has its own code (t-shirts have one, hoodies have another).
Quantity per product type has no effect on the duty.
Illustrative examples:
The duty is separate from VAT, which continues to apply as normal.
A commodity code is the customs system’s label for a product category. T-shirts carry one code, hoodies carry another, water bottles carry a different one.
Sizes, colors, designs, and brands don’t impact the commodity code. Fabric composition, however, can create a separate code. A cotton t-shirt and a polyester tee would each count as a distinct product type.
A single-product parcel means a single €3 duty. Mixed-product orders add up by product type, not by quantity.
Your EU customers won’t notice anything different.
Printify will collect and handle these duties for you through the Import One-Stop Shop (IOSS) mechanism, the same EU-wide system currently used for VAT on low-value imports.
IOSS remittance means customs receives the duty before the parcel reaches its destination, so there are no holds at the border and no payment requests sent to your customer.
Orders deliver exactly as they do today – no friction, no unexpected charges, no parcels returned for unpaid duties.
The duty adds to your order costs on any parcel shipped from outside the EU to an EU address. Here’s how it works in practice.
From July 1, 2026, until July 1, 2028, orders under €150 shipped from outside the EU to an EU address will incur the duty. The amount depends on the number of distinct product types in each parcel.
From November 2026, an additional €2 per parcel is expected to apply on top.
For a single-product order shipped from outside the EU, the duty is €3. A mixed order with two product types costs €6.
Because the charge applies per commodity code rather than per item, an order of 10 identical t-shirts carries the same €3 duty as an order of one.
From November 2026, a €2 per parcel duty is expected to stack on top.
A single-product order fulfilled outside the EU will then carry €5 in total duties (€3 commodity code + €2 parcel). Printify handles both through IOSS.
If you sell a hoodie at €45 and the order ships from outside the EU, a €3 duty represents a roughly 6.7% increase in fulfillment cost on that item.
Two practical options:
Any order printed and shipped from within the EU is exempt from the new duty entirely. If you sell to EU customers, routing those orders to EU fulfillment is the most effective way to keep costs unchanged.
Printify Choice automatically selects the best available Print Provider for each order, including EU providers when applicable. Enabling Printify Choice Upgrade on your existing listings re-routes eligible orders to EU fulfillment, without rebuilding your catalog.
From that point, any eligible order destined for an EU address routes to an EU provider when one is available. As Printify adds EU fulfillment for more products, those listings will benefit automatically with no further action required.
When creating new products, use the Ships from filter in the top right of the Catalog and select Europe. This narrows the Catalog to products with EU fulfillment options.
Products without an EU provider are labeled clearly – for example, Only ships from the US – so you can make the best choice before publishing a listing.
On each product page, EU-based Print Providers appear at the top of the provider list when your preferred region is set to Europe. Selecting one guarantees EU fulfillment for that listing regardless of your Printify Choice settings.
Keep in mind that directly choosing a Print Provider located in Europe is not optimal for US-focused listings, so only use this route for products you sell primarily to the EU market.
Printify is actively reducing the share of orders subject to the duty by expanding EU fulfillment and adding EU Print Providers to the Printify Choice network.
Printify is adding EU fulfillment for the highest-volume products that currently don’t have it, working down the impact-ranked list. This expansion runs continuously, meaning the share of your EU orders eligible for duty-free routing will grow over time.
As new EU providers join the Printify Choice network, any listing with Printify Choice enabled automatically routes to them. Enabling it now means your store benefits from every new EU fulfillment option without revisiting listings one by one.
A small number of specialty products supplied exclusively by non-EU providers will not have EU fulfillment options. Examples include certain knitwear, woven blankets, and other items tied to producers with no EU manufacturing presence.
For these, the duty applies and is predictable: €3 per commodity code, and from November 2026, an additional €2 per parcel is expected.
If your catalog includes exclusive non-EU products, factor the duty into your EU pricing now. The per-product-type structure means the cost remains fixed regardless of order quantity, making it straightforward to build into a price adjustment.
No. The duty applies only to orders shipped from outside the EU to an EU delivery address. Orders fulfilled by EU-based Print Providers are not affected.
Orders delivered to addresses outside the EU, including the US, UK, and Canada, are not affected by this EU tariff regardless of fulfillment origin.
No. Printify will collect and remit the duty through IOSS before the parcel reaches its destination. Your EU customers will not receive payment requests at the door and will not experience any delays or holds at customs.
The €3 per commodity code duty applies to orders shipped from outside the EU from July 1, 2026, until July 1, 2028. The €2 per parcel duty is expected to apply from November 2026.
Printify will confirm how both appear in your billing before July1.
For most products, it’s possible. Route EU orders to EU fulfillment through Printify Choice, using the Catalog filter, or by directly selecting an EU Print Provider.
Note that a small number of exclusive non-EU products cannot be routed to EU fulfillment, so the duty applies to those orders.
If you have EU orders on products without EU fulfillment, raising EU prices by €2-€3 can offset the duty without affecting other markets.
Switching to EU fulfillment removes the cost entirely for eligible products, which can be more effective than a price increase for price-sensitive EU buyers.
A second duty of €2 per parcel is expected to take effect in November 2026. It stacks on top of the €3 per commodity code July duty on affected orders. A single-product order fulfilled outside the EU is expected to carry a €5 total from November onward.
Printify handles the November duty through the same IOSS mechanism, with the same outcome for your customers – no friction at delivery.
The practical impact of the EU’s new customs duty on parcels below €150 depends on how much of your EU sales volume runs through non-EU fulfillment.
There are a few things you can do to prepare. Before July 1, 2026, enable Printify Choice Upgrade on EU-focused listings, use the Ships from: Europe Catalog filter, and adjust EU retail prices to account for €3 per commodity code for exclusive products that can only be fulfilled outside the EU.
From November 2026, a €2 per parcel duty is expected to take effect, stacking with the July duty on affected orders.
Remember, Printify will collect and remit both duties via IOSS. No action is required from your customers, reducing the impact on shoppers.
Printify will continue expanding EU fulfillment across our Catalog to help you reduce the share of orders subject to either duty. Listings with Printify Choice enabled will automatically route to new EU providers as they become available.
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