Right before Christmas

Price Shock: EU Makes Packages Up to €20 More Expensive

For many orders, you may end up paying more than 20 euros (!) more than before.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/stock.adobe.com)

Anyone ordering from platforms like Temu, Shein, or AliExpress will often have to dig much deeper into their pockets starting November 1. That’s because for shipments from non-EU countries, a new EU processing fee will be added on top of the existing flat-rate customs duty and the domestic parcel tax.

The “Krone” has done the math—and uses a specific example to show how a bargain package can suddenly turn into an expensive experience.

An overview of the three fees
Anyone currently placing orders from non-EU countries like China is already paying extra—in fact, in several ways:

• Since July 1, an EU-wide flat-rate customs duty of 3 euros per product categoryhas applied to imported small shipments from non-EU countries with a value under 150 euros. That means: Three USB cables (same category) cost 3 euros in customs duties; one USB cable and one T-shirt (two categories) cost 6 euros.
• As of October 1,the national“package tax” of 2.40 euros per order(including VAT)applies—once per package, regardless of the number of products. This also applies to orders from EU retailers such as Amazon or Zalando, provided they generate more than 100 million euros in annual revenue in Austria. However, Chinese retailers such as Temu, Shein, and AliExpress also fall below this threshold.
• And starting November 1, an additional EU-wide“handling fee” of 2 euros per product categorywill be introduced to cover the costs associated with customs clearance. Like the flat-rate customs duty, this fee also applies per product category!

Important: The new 2-euro handling fee—just like the EU flat-rate customs duty—applies only to e-commerce shipments from third countries. However, the handling fee also applies to shipments with a value of over 150 euros. The 3-euro flat-rate customs duty, on the other hand, applies only to small shipments under 150 euros.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/stock.adobe.com)

An example calculation illustrates what this means: Previously (before July), if you ordered a T-shirt, a USB charging cable, a phone case, and an umbrella from China on Temu, you would have paid a total of 12.46 euros, for example. With the new EU levy, EU customs duties, and the Austrian parcel tax, the package will cost 34.86 euros in the future. This means the order will cost a whopping 22.40 euros more (see chart). The duties thus amount to nearly double the actual value of the goods. The additional costs alone (22.40 euros) are therefore significantly higher than the value of the goods themselves.

Retail Association: “Parcel Tax Is an ‘Austria Surcharge’”
The Retail Association has leveled sharp criticism, at least regarding the national parcel tax. Managing Director Rainer Will: “We consider the national parcel tax to be completely the wrong approach. It burdens not only large international e-commerce platforms but also more than 4,000 Austrian retailers and domestic customers.” For Will, the tax is nothing more than “a 2.40-euro ‘Austria surcharge’ on online retail” that “weighs on the business climate, hinders innovation, creates additional bureaucracy, and fuels inflationary pressure among the population.”

Rainer Will, managing director of the Retail Association, supports the EU measures but opposes the national parcel tax.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/krone.tv, Envato Elements)

Will, who advocates for domestic retail, takes a much more positive view of the EU’s measures: “Joint European measures such as the EU flat-rate customs duty and the EU processing fee show how things can be done better.” The 3-euro flat-rate duty, in effect since July 1, is already having an impact: “As a result of this measure alone, the volume of packages from the Far East plummeted by 26 percent in July and by as much as 30 percent in August.” With the 2-euro processing fee taking effect on November 1, the EU Commission is consistently pursuing its FairCommerce strategy—“we expressly welcome this. Now we need even faster inspections.”

Here’s the background
: With the new fee, Europe is responding to a veritable flood of low-cost imports. In 2025 alone, approximately 5.9 billion duty-free small packages entered the EU. According to estimates by the European Commission, 65 percent of these shipments were misdeclared or undervalued to avoid duties. A good 60 percent also failed to meet EU safety standards.

Bargain hunting is getting expensive
Anyone ordering from Temu & Co. in China starting in November should definitely think carefully about how many different product categories end up in their shopping cart. That’s because each individual category incurs a charge of5 euros (3 euros in customs duties + 2 euros in handling fees)—plus a one-time package tax of 2.40 euros. With four categories, that quickly adds up to 22.40 euros in additional costs , which completely eat into the actual bargain price.

Tip: If you order multiple items from the same category (e.g., five T-shirts), you’ll only pay the flat fees once—which can really pay off.