Marketplace Analysis
EU €3 customs duty and €2 handling fee: what Temu’s decline means for sellers in Germany
How the EU’s €3 duty on low-value parcels and the €2 handling fee from 1 November change costs, with calculations and a roadmap for sellers shipping from outside and inside the EU.
Faruk Gür · Founder, Magma Reactive·Published: ·5 min read
Short answer
On 1 July 2026 the EU removed the customs exemption for parcels under €150 and introduced a €3 duty per item; from 1 November 2026 a €2 handling fee per item is added. According to bevh, Temu, Shein and AliExpress lost 35.5% of their German revenue in Q3. Unit costs rise for sellers shipping directly from outside the EU, while sellers with stock inside the EU gain a competitive edge.
What changed: the €150 exemption is gone and two new charges arrive
According to the European Commission’s customs reform page, the EU has applied a temporary €3 customs duty per item on consignments worth up to €150 imported from outside the EU since 1 July 2026. Previously these parcels were exempt from customs duty and paid import VAT only. From 1 November 2026, a €2 Union handling fee per item is added (European Commission).
As PPC Land reports, the €3 duty is calculated by tariff classification rather than per parcel, so a parcel containing items from different classes can be charged more than once (PPC Land). The temporary €3 duty will give way to normal tariffs once the EU Customs Data Hub is fully operational.
In short: from 1 November, every low-value item shipped directly to an EU consumer from outside the EU carries about €5 in extra cost on top of import VAT (€3 duty + €2 handling fee).
The first figures show the impact: Temu, Shein and AliExpress down 35.5%
According to Q3 figures from bevh, the German e-commerce association, Temu, Shein and AliExpress generated a combined €566 million in Germany, down 35.5% year on year. Their combined market share fell from 5.3% in Q2 to 3.1%. Over the same period German online marketplaces as a whole grew 5.0% (bevh data, retail-news.de).
Two things follow. Demand is not leaving online marketplaces; it is moving from direct shipments out of Asia, whose price advantage is weakening, to offers shipped from within Europe. Temu still reaches a wide audience in Germany: Statista data shows 31% of online shoppers bought from Temu in the past 12 months (etailment). In May 2026 the European Commission also fined Temu €200 million under the Digital Services Act for failing to properly assess the risks of illegal products (European Commission).
Unit cost example: direct shipping versus shipping from inside the EU
The table shows the new customs charges as a share of product value for a seller shipping a single-item parcel from outside the EU to a consumer in Germany. VAT, shipping and marketplace commission are excluded; the example is simplified to show the effect of the new charges only.
| Product value | New charges (€3 + €2) | Share of product value | Assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| €10 | €5 | 50% | Direct shipping usually unprofitable |
| €25 | €5 | 20% | Seriously consider EU stock |
| €60 | €5 | 8.3% | Can be priced in, depending on category |
| €140 | €5 | 3.6% | Limited impact |
If a parcel contains several items from different tariff classes, the total extra cost rises. Raising basket size is therefore not always a fix; more product variety can mean more taxable lines.
Three strategies for sellers
1. Hold stock inside the EU
When goods are imported into the EU in bulk and shipped from a German warehouse, the consumer sale is an intra-EU sale and the two low-value charges do not arise. Amazon FBA Germany, or a fulfilment provider (3PL) serving Kaufland and OTTO, are the most common routes. Bulk imports pay normal customs duty and import VAT, yet the cost per unit usually stays far lower. We compared the options in our article on choosing between FBA and FBM on Amazon Germany.
2. Split your range by value
Do not force the whole catalogue into one model. High-value, slow-moving products can stay on direct shipping; fast-moving products in the €10–30 range should move to EU stock. Sending slow sellers to a warehouse creates a new cost through storage fees.
3. Revisit your price position
If the gap to cheap imports has narrowed, you do not have to give away your local stock and fast delivery advantage in price. Track competitor prices by category; fast delivery and easy returns are things German consumers are willing to pay for.
Checklist: what to do this week
- Group the orders you shipped directly into the EU over the last three months by product value and work out the share of items under €30.
- Recalculate unit cost for these items: product, shipping, marketplace commission, import VAT and the €5 in new charges.
- Compare the cost of shipping the same items from a German warehouse, including bulk import, storage and fulfilment fees.
- Recheck margins on products you plan to discount in November using post-1 November costs.
- Ask your customs broker for the tariff classifications of your products and the expected duty rates once normal tariffs return.
What to watch in the coming months
- 1 November 2026: the €2 handling fee starts; factor it into November promotion pricing.
- Customs Data Hub: once live, the temporary €3 duty gives way to normal tariffs; for some products the duty may exceed €3.
- Platform responses: large Asian platforms are leaning into EU warehouses and local sellers, so price competition is not over.
Key takeaways
- A €3 per-item duty (since 1 July 2026) and a €2 per-item handling fee (from 1 November 2026) apply to low-value parcels from outside the EU.
- The impact is proportionally large on cheap products: €5 extra on a €15 item is a third of its value.
- Temu, Shein and AliExpress lost 35.5% of their German revenue in Q3; their market share fell to 3.1%.
- Shipping from a warehouse inside the EU avoids both charges; decide by product value, sell-through rate and return rate.
- The temporary €3 duty will give way to normal tariffs once the EU Customs Data Hub is live; keep plans flexible.
Frequently asked questions
Is the €2 handling fee charged per parcel or per item?
The European Commission defines the fee as €2 per item and applies it from 1 November 2026. A parcel containing different products can trigger the fee more than once. Check the declaration lines with your customs broker for an exact calculation.
Does direct shipping from outside the EU still make sense?
For high-value, low-volume products, yes; the extra €5 stays small relative to the price. For products in the €10–25 range unit costs rise sharply, and holding stock in a German warehouse is usually more profitable.
Does this affect sellers using Amazon FBA Germany?
Not directly. When goods are imported into the EU in bulk and shipped to consumers from a German warehouse, the consumer sale happens inside the EU. Normal customs duty and import VAT rules still apply to the bulk import.
Is Temu’s decline permanent?
It is too early to say. The bevh figures cover one quarter, and the platforms are shifting towards EU warehouses and local sellers. Rather than assuming the price gap has closed for good, monitor prices in your own category regularly.