The EU is undermining us again and ruining cheap buys from China: New customs fees for every small parcel, the end of the €150 customs exemption

If you regularly order small items from Chinese online shops for just a few euros, the upcoming EU amendment could significantly change your buying habits. From 1 July 2026, a uniform fee for every small shipment arriving from non-EU countries is set to be introduced, effectively putting an end to the previous advantage of cheap parcels up to a value of €150. It’s a response to the massive increase in the number of shipments from Asia and at the same time an effort to create fairer conditions for European sellers.

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Why is the EU moving to end the exemption?

According to European Commission data, more than four billion packages arrived in Europe last year, with most coming from Chinese online platforms such as AliExpress, Shein, or Temu. This enormous volume of shipments is a burden for customs authorities as well as regulators. This was reported by the STVR News portal.

Checks also revealed a large number of non-certified or even dangerous products that, under the current rules, should not appear on the EU market at all. Besides safety, it’s also about fair competition. European sellers have to meet strict standards, pay taxes and contributions, while many shipments from third countries have been benefiting from the previous customs exemption.

A new €3 fee for each shipment

From 1 July 2026 to 1 July 2028, a flat-rate customs duty of €3 is set to apply for each small parcel arriving from countries outside the EU. This is a temporary measure meant to simplify parcel processing and ease the workload on customs authorities. Once the new EU customs data centre goes live, this temporary duty will be replaced by the standard customs duty rates.

There is also discussion of an additional handling fee of approximately €2, which is still under negotiation. In practice, this means the final increase in the price of a single order could reach up to €5 or more. What’s important is that it’s not a fee for the whole order, but for each individual shipment.

To make it clearer, imagine a concrete example. You order one parcel that contains one silk blouse and two wool blouses. Even though it’s one shipment and one purchase, from the perspective of customs rules it’s not the same goods. Silk and wool fall under different subheadings in the customs tariff, which means different customs duty rates may apply to them. This information comes directly from the website of the Council of the European Union.

In practice, it could work like this: the customs office splits the parcel by type of goods and calculates customs duty separately for each item. The result could be, for example, €6 in customs duty for the whole parcel even if you only ordered three pieces of clothing. And that’s still only talking about the duty itself—on top of it, the new uniform €3 fee per shipment may apply, and possibly an additional handling fee if it gets approved. However, we can’t imagine how customs officers will manage to check it.

What does that mean for the average customer?

For example, if you order three cheap products from different warehouses or from different sellers, you could end up paying the fee three times. With products priced between €2 and €10, the fee itself could be higher than the price of the goods. That would significantly reduce the price advantage of small purchases from Asia.

Based on our experience, fortunately AliExpress combines multiple parcels from different sellers into one larger package, which is a big advantage in this case and prevents the whole order from becoming much more expensive. If you order goods from a single category at once—e.g., electronics—you’ll pay the fee only once.

For many customers, this will mean a stronger focus on orders from European warehouses, offered directly by AliExpress as well as by our other partners like Banggood or Geekbuying. In any case, the era of extremely cheap parcels with no extra costs is slowly coming to an end.

However, deep down we still believe in the cleverness of our Chinese partners, who always manage to find ways to effectively get around such regulations. The same was true for the customs handling fee charged by the Slovak Post. For example, sellers like GShopper ship phones from Hong Kong with the fees included in the price, and when we receive the parcel, no extra fee comes as a surprise to us anymore.

Fairness of the market vs cheap shopping

The Brussels argument is mainly the need to level the playing field in the market. European companies bear higher costs for logistics, certifications, and compliance with safety standards. According to EU representatives, the new measure is meant to improve their competitiveness while also increasing control over goods entering the Union.

On the other hand, for tech enthusiasts and fans of Chinese gadgets, this means the end of one advantage. Cheap accessories, smart add-ons, or hobby electronics won’t be as attractive price-wise as they used to be. It will be interesting to see how the platforms themselves respond, and whether over time they’ll come with logistics optimization directly within the EU.

What now?

We can say for sure that purchases from China won’t get cheaper anymore, so we recommend that you take advantage of the current prices and top up your supplies with everything you need. Shop cheap while it’s possible, and get ready for birthday March sales on AliExpress, which are always big.

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