Important Announcement

Although Australia Post has announced resumption of parcel services to the US, partnering with a third party to remit tariff charges and taxes, the cost of this service to small retailers is excessive. The Delivery Duty Paid options through FedEx/DHL/Aramax/Toll are also prohibitively expensive for small shipments.

It has become increasingly difficult to prepare and process parcels for shipment to the EU and US. Resulting changes to import policies in the US and EU have created an environment where personal imports are no longer a simple option for the purchaser and the retailer. Both the EU and US have removed the de minimus which may be manageable but many EU states and the US also levy a handling fee for processing imports as well as a wide variation of tariff levels dependent upon the origin of a product. This can exceed the value of the shipment and impose additional costs on the retailer.

Currently the EU and US have not provided a realistic pathway for registering for Value Added Tax collection or Tariff collection. The procedures so far in place are time consuming and carry high fees and charges. The EU product safety rules also require an individual resident in the EU to be the nominated representative for the product being imported.

This is not affordable or manageable for small enterprises like ours, therefore we have reluctantly decided to wait until the US and EU markets have a realistic method of facilitating sales.