Is the New Fee Already Making Online Shopping More Expensive? Temu and Amazon Find Ways to Save

A new temporary customs fee of three euros for shipments valued up to 150 euros entering the European Union from outside the bloc has taken effect, potentially making online purchases more expensive for consumers.

The fee, implemented on July 1 and set to last until July 2028, is intended to cover the costs of processing a growing volume of small parcels arriving in the EU. The European Commission maintains that the charge is levied on online platforms and not directly on consumers, emphasizing that "consumers who shop online are not legally responsible for paying this fee."

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consumers who shop online are not legally responsible for paying this fee.

However, the Commission acknowledges it cannot control how traders or platforms distribute this additional cost. Experts warn that such charges are rarely absorbed by companies. Olivia Brown from Euroconsumers explained that new costs in the supply chain are typically incorporated into product prices or passed on as additional fees to the end customer.

Initial practical tests suggest these warnings may be accurate. Euronews journalists observed that when ordering a product from Amazon outside the EU, an additional item labeled "import fees" was automatically calculated at checkout, linked to the new EU rules. The fee structure also means that multiple items from different customs classifications within a single order could incur the three-euro charge multiple times, potentially increasing the total additional cost significantly.

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In reality, when any new cost appears anywhere in the supply chain, it very rarely remains with the company. It most often reflects on the price that the consumer ultimately pays.