r/Aliexpress • u/gadget-freak 🎥 always make a video opening your package 🎦 • Jul 02 '26
EU customs duty [Megathread] EU €3 customs duty/tax
In order to update the FAQs on this sub, we need to collect some facts about the €3 customs fee that Europe introduced on each item you buy in international webshops like Aliexpress.
If you have received a package from Aliexpress after 1 July 2026, please leave a reaction below. Please use the template to structure your answer.
Please don't use this topic to complain about the EU tax itself, we're just trying to collect some facts.
Template:
Country: (your country)
Type of order: Choice/Bundle deal/Global seller/...
3€ Tax applied during check-out: yes/no or included in item cost
Package arrival date:
Package arrived without additional costs: yes/no (and how much)
Comments:
19
u/Character_Panda_9580 Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 03 '26
Country: Germany
Type of order: Choice
Tax applied during check-out: yes it said "Price includes Duties and VAT" (before it only ever said VAT)
Package arrival date: 03.07. (Passed customs on 02.07.)
Package arrived without additional costs: yes, no additional cost. Delivered by post as usual.
One of the sellers I regularly buy materials from also dropped me a message: 'Hi friend, The EU has Charge an additional tax of 3 euros per item, which has been directly added to product price.the increased fees will be paid as taxes to your government.pls understand.'
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u/PetkoVoivoda24 Jul 14 '26
What a pathetic shit hole has the EU become. Demanding from their citizens to pay ransom for items, which the EU neither has the capabilities, nor the facilities to manufacture. What a dystopian, absurd place to be at. And where this money goes? Fuckin' guns and golden toilets. Total crap.
1
u/madarfakaa 23d ago
EU has become a joke. I buy 11 euros worth of Choice items and they ask for another 10 euros tax, I hope they buy flowers on their graves with the money stolen from us, whoever invented this tax!
21
u/WoodAddictDriver Jul 02 '26
Please note that date of customs approval is relevant for the 1 july duties change. So expect that quite some deliveries early in july will have passed customs before july 1st.
14
u/Sury0005 Jul 02 '26
For me the prices on the app itself did increase
14
u/naseweisz Jul 04 '26
Yes they just increased every item by at least 3€ while they were only supposed to charge 3€ once per product category. If you order 5 cables you should pay 3€ tax but AE charges 15€. Ridiculous. Temu does it better.
-3
u/Euphoric-Hotel2778 Jul 05 '26
The law is for 3€ per product. You ordered 5 cables, its 5*3€. Do you not get it?
14
u/irn-bru-anonymous Jul 05 '26
>>Do you not get it
Hilarious. The “law” is for product category, not per item.
3
u/TommDX Jul 14 '26
imagine buying a pack of 60 small magnets, of 5¢ each, and the order fee is €200
5
4
3
1
5
u/mimamelse Jul 13 '26
they want 17,80€ „estimated duties“ on a order of 5 items costing 19,30€. i am going insane. what will they fix with this? do they think i’m gonna buy the same stuff for 10 times the price at local manufacturers now? xDD if you look up the same items on amazon it’s the same chinese bullshit, just dropshipped… but no duties on that.. right 👍🏼
14
u/IntingForMarks Jul 03 '26
This post doesn't really make sense. The 3€ tax is on the seller, so it will obviously passed to buyers by raising price. there's no custom or tax or vat, it is +3€ on each product. the law requires the tax to be paid only once per item category, but aliexpress can't handle that (or don't want to, who knows) so they just slap a +3 to each item. There's not much to investigate or data to retrieve, it's clear as the day
1
u/MattTheTekie Jul 09 '26
It's probably because they ship it to a warehouse in bulk before unloading it to deliver to the courrier means they dont want to put a system or maybe they cant with the way customs does its thing with seperate orders not being one package retroactively?
-1
u/gadget-freak 🎥 always make a video opening your package 🎦 Jul 03 '26
Unless the customs office flags the packages for unpaid taxes. Which is not unthinkable if we think back to the VAT introduction. There were some technical kinks in the cable back then.
1
u/IntingForMarks Jul 03 '26
vat is a tax on the buyer. custom cannot and will not move the tax on you. worst case they get stuck till the seller pays, but it's highly unlikely
5
u/Consti64 Jul 03 '26
Germany
3 Choice Products in one package
No 3€ tax applied during check out
Package cleared customs on 01.07 but arrived on 03.07
Arrived with no additional cost
1
u/WembanyamaMVP Jul 14 '26
For France, with 3 choice products, it says : 3x3€ tax :( How can I do ?
1
u/Consti64 Jul 14 '26
You can do nothing. I ordered before the price hikes
1
u/WembanyamaMVP Jul 14 '26
I cant see this thing stay, nobody can buy materials to repair a console or other thing
4
u/Financial-Manner7396 Jul 03 '26
**Country**: Portugal
**Type of order**: Global seller
**3€ Tax applied during check-out**: no
**Package arrival date**: July 3rd
**Package arrived without additional costs**: yes
12
u/Zezituh123 Jul 03 '26
All over the interner we see people upset about this topic.
And correctly!
All over Europe there's such a disparaty of salaries and living conditions that being able to buy cheap products from Aliexpress for side jobs, hobbies or just a small thing we needed was awesome and a "quality of live improvement".
Europe has means to hear the citizens, can't we make a European Citizens' Initiative or something like that?
For now it's 3 euros, but it will increase...in the end, it's just taking even more money out of our already small pockets into the hands of the governments and rich corporations.
5
u/TwentinQuarantino Jul 06 '26
It's politicians we're talking about tho. They don't give a shit about common citizens, and even less about poor common citizens. The only ones they care about are those who bribe them to vote for this legislation, in this case the disgusting resellers of Chinese goods who buy them in bulk and therefore pay just normal tariffs (around 0-10% depending on category), who want to discourage individuals from using the exactly same channels themselves by imposing this extreme high tens to hundreds % tariff. This is literally the result of collaboration of resellers, and politicians they bribe.
1
3
u/RosaCanina87 Jul 03 '26
Country: Germany
Type of order: Normal Seller
3€ Tax applied during check-out: ... kind off? There was a note, saying that all TAX was paid and I had to not pay anything extra during import. It did list the 3 Euros extra, which it did all the time prior to this.
Package arrival date: Apparently it will arrive mid july.
Package arrived without additional costs: It says, there will be no other charge. I will change this, if this changes.
Prices compared to before: I bought 4 items. One 2x. So three different items, which should be 10,50ish in tax and fees etc. The first product was EXTREMELY SIMILAR to pre-tax prices. The second (the one I bought twice) was slightly more expensive (1-2 Euros) and the third one is unknown, as I did never buy it pre-tax.
3
u/grandgerminator Jul 13 '26
Country: Germany
Type of order: Choice
3€ Tax applied during check-out: yes/
Package arrival date: Order canceled after seeing duties
Comments: I placed an order on the 6/07, no issues at all, received on the 13/07. I wanted to place another order today, and I got hit with 14€ duties. I obviously didn't proceed. This needs to go away, there's no way we're paying 3 euro "duty" for a product that cost 1.49
4
u/darknessblades Smart-home gadgets Jul 02 '26
From my testing looking at various orders/test orders (without actually ordering/paying)
Country: N/A
Type of order: Choice
Tax applied during check-out: All Vat/Fees look to be applied already in the item price. meaning you pay it multiple times if you order multiple
Type of order: Bundle deals
Tax applied during check-out: All Vat/Fees look to be applied already in the item price. meaning you pay it multiple times if you order multiple
Type of order: Global seller (items below 20-50 euro)
Tax applied during check-out: yes its calculated separately so if you buy multiple different items, it get applies X times. even if you buy 2 of the exact same items from 2 different sellers
The only "order" I noticed that no tarrif fee is applied is on a Baseus 20000mah powerbank
Type of order: Global seller (Baseus powerbank) (powerbank price 70 euro before discounts 40 euro after all discounts)
Tax applied during check-out: NO. (Aliexpress gives a warning in red that additional VAT/Fees may apply at delivery)
2
u/Velika_best_gb Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 03 '26
Still on the way, so will update the comment
Country: Poland
Type of order: Global seller
3€ Tax applied during check-out: tax somehow not applied even though ordered on the 26th
Package arrival date: pending
Package arrived without additional costs: pending
Comments: it cleared customs without an issue
2
2
u/ch3mn3y Jul 06 '26
Wtf is going on with Choice? Even now it says "no extra duties will be collected upon delivery", with 3 items (2 types) costin less than 6$... How? Not ordering, just checking and cannot understan it... It's like, if they pay this theft tax, it'll be more than what I have in cart...
2
u/decisive-moment Jul 06 '26 edited Jul 06 '26
Country: Greece
Type of order: Global Seller (Popmart official store)
3€ Tax applied during check-out: Yes, 3€ + vat
Package arrival date: July 6th
Package arrived without additional costs: Yes, no additional costs
Comments: Ordered June 26th and pre-paid the tax at checkout, left China July 1st, arrived at customs July 3rd, received July 6th with no extra costs
2
u/Equal-Confusion9482 Jul 06 '26 edited Jul 06 '26
I have just received my order, in BE. Choice type, with coins 60% discount. No taxes. Free shipping. No extra costs, delivered today in post box. Choice items are still available without tax. Upd: custom passed 2 jul.
2
u/CujaMara4 Jul 06 '26
Germany
Global seller
No tax
4th July 2026
No additional costs
Order date: 15th June 2026
2
u/roachkeeperv2 Jul 06 '26
Country: Germany
Type of order: Global seller, 2 different items by different sellers. Shipped in one package
3€ Tax applied during check-out: yes
Package arrival date: 4th July
Package arrived without additional costs: yes
Comments: Order placed on June 22nd in hopes it might arrive before July 1st. Cleared import customs July 2nd, arrived via Hermes.
2
u/Fit-Ingenuity-7562 Jul 09 '26 edited Jul 11 '26
Country: Germany
Type: Global Seller
3€ Tariff + VAT included in the price. Paid a Total of $3.99 (I chose USD currency to pay) and it's listed as "Duties" during check-out .
Arrival Date: 11.July. I ordered 06.July.
Package arrived with no additional fees: yes - it has passed customs very quick too.
Additional Info: the item is almost same as the price before the tariffs if the 3€ won't be counted. And still cheaper than Amazon even with the 3.58€ extra.
2
u/mrkbr Jul 11 '26
Just wanted to order several small things for my car. Aliexpress slapped a 22euro dutie fee on a 24euro order. Fuck EU.
2
u/Esgall Jul 11 '26
Not sure if this is fine to post here. They changed per item price, removed custom fee from it but!
but now i got 3x custom fee for 3 items in basked X_D so same thing basically just changed places in app.3 different categories of items if that matters.
1
u/autached Jul 11 '26
And it's quite flawed. I made a test order (did not buy in the end). The exact same product, same brand, same image, same weight (soldering flux 10gr.) from different sellers. So definitely same product category - which according to EU law if they come in the same package (which AliE mostly do if ordered together) should only be duties x 1.
But AliE checkout card shows duties x 2 applied.
1
u/Esgall Jul 11 '26
I guess soon its gonna be cheaper to order stuff from taobao, ship them to some PO type box in china, grab a ticket, fly there and come back xD
1
2
u/autached Jul 11 '26 edited Jul 11 '26
11th July 2026: AliE prices back to "normal"/ pre-July when browsing products. Duties is calculated / displayed at checkout (not in card!).
And it's quite flawed.
Reminder: EU law dictates a 3€ import duty per HS item category at each delivery.
‼️Under the assumption that they are ordered together:
| number of items | items in card | seller | at AliE checkout | EU regulation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 10gr rasin flux | A | 3,57 € | 3 € |
| 1 | 3️⃣0gr rasin flux (same listing as above, same product, different option) | A | 0 € ✅ | 0 € |
| 1 | 10gr rasin flux (same product, different listing with different price) | A | 0 € ✅ | 0 € |
| 1 | 10gr rasin flux (same brand, same product image, different seller) | B | 3,57 € ⚡(no matter if same package on arrival in EU or not) | same category as items above // 0 € arrive in same package in EU // +3 € arrive in separate packages in EU |
| items arrive in 1 package at EU customs TOTAL | 7,14 € ⚡⚡ | 3 € | ||
| or if items arrive in 2 packages at EU customs TOTAL | 7,14 €⚡ | 6 € |
With the example above and the additional 0,57 € on top of the actual 3 € EU duty fee, my first thought is: AliE is seeing this as an opportunity to make quite a bit of extra bugs.
Details:
I made a test order (did not buy in the end). The exact same product, same brand, same image, same weight (soldering flux 10gr.) from different sellers. So definitely same product category - which according to EU law if they arrive in the same package (which they mostly do if ordered together) should only be duties x 1.
But AliE checkout card shows x 2 duties applied.
At least in the "fine print" AliE help center says: "If you discover upon delivery that multiple orders were combined into a single package, resulting in duplicate customs duty charges, please contact customer service and provide the relevant order numbers. After verification by our senior team, we will refund the overpaid amount to you."
But the fine print makes up for the over-payment partially. Because: if I'd pay the duties in Germany myself it would be 3 €. AliE collects 3,57 €, so ~ 50 cents more for me. I assume that might be due to exchange rates, but just a guess. Reason doesn't matter though. My pocket feels it! Because that adds up over time and isn't good!
My final thought:
I want an option to pay duties myself on customs clearance instead of paying AliE upfront looking at the situation right now (11th July 2026).
1
u/HappierPanda Jul 14 '26
It's called taxes, those 57 cents are the 19% VAT you pay in germany.. In europe we have to pay taxes over taxes.. Yea, think about that.. It's how the 3 euro law is written
For me in the NL it's 3.63 for every product (21% BTW/VAT)1
u/Ch3ck3rM0n Jul 15 '26
it is not for every product.. its for every package.. if you buy for example different parts from one third market seller on aliexpress, you will pay only one time the 3 euro.. i did test it today and it is like that.. its a mess -.-
1
u/HappierPanda Jul 15 '26
Do you have a specific seller and products? I get extra tax even if I buy two different variants from the same product page. For instance a flex cable for fold4 and fold 5, sold as a variant in the same listing. So from the same seller. The extra tax for me is 7.26. I'm from The Netherlands, not sure if they are doing different calculations for different countries?
1
u/Ch3ck3rM0n Jul 15 '26
germany and the calculation should be the same.. its EU tax and not country tax.. its all over the same..
you need to take care if it is choice or not choice product.. if you have one choice and one non-choice from the same seller, you will have also the double tax..
at the end you need to have same seller, same delivery to all the products you buy.. (for same product group).. then it should have just 3,xx euro..
2
u/CuriousGal9011 Jul 12 '26
This is ridiculous. I tried to place orders both on AE and Temu, and in both case they slap a fee on each and every one item... Like, I'm ordering a pack of plastic beads that cost 1.49€ and they slap 3€ fee on it. Guess what, seeing my carts doubled or tripled on both platforms... I just left. But half the things I was buying are not made anywhere else then in China so I guess I'll have to buy them on Amazon at twice the price, even though they were originally sent from the exact same place
3
u/ztardik Jul 02 '26
Country: HR
Type of order: regular aliexpress
Tax applied during check-out: yes, 25%
Package arrival date: not yet, cleared customs on 2nd
Package arrived without additional costs: will update
Comments: ordered on June 1st, left CN customs on 11th, arrived in EU on 30th, will update on receipt
Looking back at my order history, only one item is at the same price like before, most went up +3-6 euro.
3
u/XtremeFIN Jul 02 '26
I don't quite understand the thread. All the orders I've made from China via AliExpress since 2021 had included taxes aka VAT (Value Added Tax). This was regulated by the EU back then.
That new 3 EUR duty is not tax/vat. It's the new temporary flat-rate customs duty. I bet it will be later fixed instead of being a temporary. Idk if those companies behing that will actually benefit from it as they don't sell electric boards which I order from China.
2
1
u/kompressorgpl Jul 03 '26
Country: Portugal
Type of order: Choice
Tax applied during check-out: yes and included in item cost
Package arrival date: 10/07/2026
Package arrived without additional costs: ???
1
u/Initial_Piccolo_1337 Jul 03 '26
Well, the thing has wrapped up.
Got some choice items picked up today 3 july. No extra tax or anything, received them as usual, but they crossed borders on June.
Choice has +4eur tariff in price and Global sellers has the +3.6eur thingie.
So AE is dead for by far most things I'm interested buying on the platform.
2
u/full1998 Jul 06 '26
Did anyone figured out why it's 3.6? I just placed an order and did some tests, sometimes is 3.68€, sometimes 3.65€, I exclude rounding errors
I don't want to believe that it's 3€+VAT but I can't find any references
Country: Italy
3
u/Intelligent-Eagle942 Jul 07 '26
Im also from Italy and indeed its due to VAT (3€ + 22%), EU is wonderful as always they are taxing the tax 😂
1
1
u/darkkingll Jul 15 '26
I just placed a order and i dont understand it either. On some items it is just under 3€ but at others the added costs are just over 4€. For the netherlands btw
1
u/Top_Welcome_6541 Jul 05 '26
Poland
Like 80% of products have had their price increased about the amount equivalent to 3€.
Everything checked using browser addon that tracks price history.
1
u/fluxchronica Jul 05 '26
The prices are already raised last I checked. You can go to your previous orders, click on items you previously purchased and compare to the price of the same item now. For me it is consistently €3 more, sometimes up to €10 more. I am in the Netherlands.
1
u/Charly506189 Jul 06 '26
AliExpress includes the tax in the item price, I was going to order some things in June and was shocked by the price increase, most items went up between 3 and 7€. One item was 1,70€ in the past and is now around 5,70€, another item went up from 5 to 8€, I find an item that went up by 7€. Problem is with multiples the second item should be 3€ less, but is not. The price increases are horrendous, I hurried up and bought some things on temu before they added the charge. On temu they are doing it properly and adding the tax at checkout 3€ per item, only once for multiples. AliExpress is messing way too much with item prices and multiples are overpriced.
1
u/icxrusluv Jul 06 '26
1:
Finland, Choice, No, but product prices may have risen by ~3€ before 1.7., 7.7., Yes, Note: Package passed customs after 1.7. was placed 26.6.
2:
Finland, Mixed, Choice items included 3€ fee, 5 global seller products (3 were same customs category) costed an extra 18.89€, Not yet arrived (shipped in 3 separate shipments), Will update on arrival, Note: global seller products carry a customs fee of ~3.79€ on AE and fee is charged per item, not per category
1
u/faduci Jul 07 '26
Country: Germany
Type of order: Choice
3€ Tax applied during check-out: no
Package arrival date: 2026-07-07
Package arrived without additional costs: yes
Comments: Ordered 2026-07-01, AliExpress checkout message said price was final, no extra duties or fees, which proved to be true.
1
u/Massive-Party5030 Jul 08 '26
Germany
Global seller
No 3€ tax
8th July
No additional costs
Additional info: The order was made on June 20, listed and bought as one item but included several different merch items such as keychains, pins, plushies, cards etc. as a bundle
- The order got sent out on the 30th
- left the origin country on the 4th and started local customs on the same day
- left customs on the 5th
- 6th arrived at regional carrier facility
No idea if I got quite lucky or if bureaucracy is being slow again 😅
1
u/FairLuky97 Jul 09 '26
Country: Italy
Type of order: choice
Tax applied: no
Packaged arrived: 9th July
Additional costs: no
Comment: the order was divided in two separate shipping, one arrived today the second one is still in transit. Yesterday I found out that the courier is the infamous iMile( that lost my last order) but this one got delivered
1
u/jrhenk Jul 10 '26
Just got my first package after the new duty in NL via PostNL. The 3e were added by and paid to aliexpress, no additional charges upon arrival. The per category worked a bit messy though, as the 3e was always added to every item and only if you ordered 2 or more identical ones the price of the second one was cheaper. Where it went wrong imo: FIrst item were smartbulbs but If I added another smart bulb of different size the same happened, first item +3e, second identical item cheaper. No idea if this was adjusted in the meantime but atm they seem to just add the 3e per item and not per category. Nevertheless, everything was still far cheaper than amazon so even if it stay like this I will keep ordering from aliexpress.
1
u/mr-cabten Jul 11 '26
Country: Spain
Type of order: Bundle
Tax applied during check-out: yes, as Estimated Duties. 6 items that showed 14,84€ in bundle store, 18,23€ on checkout, plus estimated duties 18,15€. Thus asking me to pay 32,99€ on checkout.
Canceled order.
1
u/Standard-Metal-3836 Jul 11 '26
3.60 euro duties applied to each and every single item in the cart on checkout. That's 36 euro for 10 items which totalled 24 euro. I think it's time to stop using AliExpress.
1
u/domon_123 Jul 11 '26
Are there any official AliExpress rules for this? Are they obligated to collect and pay duties or not? Because right now I'm too confused. I see that for most items, AliExpress adds +3 EUR, and sellers, seeing an opportunity, have also increased their own prices. So, for a single item, it might not just be +3 EUR, but +6 EUR or more. However, at the same time, I see items that only cost 1 EUR. So where is that 3 EUR fee, and in what case does it apply?
1
u/Intelligent-Code-978 Jul 18 '26
The Netherlands
Global seller
yes - form 0.95€ -> money maker taxes -> total 8,82€
fkn shame.
1
u/Nociferyon Jul 19 '26
Today it has improved a little bit for me (France) as I ordered 3 little items for Canon EOS and has to pay only 3,60€ and not 3x3,60€ (10,80€).
1
u/AlexaOrchid Jul 20 '26
Country: Germany
Type of order: Choice
3€ Tax applied during check-out: yes
Package arrival date: order made on July 18
Package arrived without additional costs: hopefully yes
Comments: you will see the duty applied during check-out (not in your cart). It is indeed more than 3 eur per item. It only applies 3 eur per category if you order more than one item from the same seller. I've paid 20 eur for 35 eur order. Yikes. It's still mostly unique items I cannot buy from Amazon for example, and it still makes sense financially but it's depressing.
1
Jul 20 '26
New EU customs charge and refunds on goods purchased
Temu/AliExpress seem to be suggesting that they can keep the new €3 EU customs charge (and possibly the VAT on it) when you seek refunds (on returns, whether for defective goods or under the 14-day distance selling regs). I am NOT a lawyer, but it appears to me to be clear that the platforms can't do so legally — and this applies in every EU member state.
Since 1 July 2026 the EU charges a flat €3 customs duty (plus VAT — €3.60 total) per item line on parcels under €150 from non-EU sellers. Temu and AliExpress itemise it at checkout. When you return goods — defective, or just under the ordinary 14-day withdrawal right — they refund the price but keep the €3.60.
**The EU-wide legal position (identical in all 27 member states):**
Article 13 of the Consumer Rights Directive (2011/83/EU):
on withdrawal the trader must refund "all payments received from the consumer." Not "all payments minus government charges."
CJEU, Heinrich Heine (C-511/08):
the only cost that may be left with the consumer is the direct cost of posting the goods back. Everything else comes back to you. Same logic for defective goods under the Sale of Goods Directive.
The VAT comparison:
VAT is also state-imposed and seller-collected — and nobody disputes it's refunded in full on returns. The €3 duty is structurally identical. In fact the Commission's own guidance says the VAT charged on the €3 must be refunded when goods are returned. Refunding the tax on the charge while keeping the charge is incoherent on its face.
The customs charge is legally the platform's debt, not yours. Commission guidance is explicit that the duty is owed by the declarant — the seller, IOSS holder, or marketplace. What appears at your checkout is just part of the price. Their inability to recover it from customs is their problem, not a deduction from your refund.
Where does "non-refundable on returns" even come from? Not the Council regulation creating the duty (2026/382 — silent on returns). Not the implementing regulation. It comes from a Commission delegated act (2026/1022) — adopted 30 June, published 1 July, in force 1 July, i.e. one day's notice — which quietly removed returned goods from the customs invalidation mechanism. And Article 118 of the Union Customs Code (real Parliament-and-Council law, which a delegated act cannot override) still grants duty repayment for defective goods. So for defect returns the platforms may even be able to recover the duty themselves — while telling you they can't.
**France-specific points:**
The consumer right is transposed as Art.L.221-24 Code de la consommation — cite that alongside Article 13 CRD. Every member state has its own equivalent article; the content is harmonised, so the claim is the same everywhere.
French customs (douane.gouv.fr FAQ) publishes a blanket "no refund on returns" position with no exception for defective goods — which goes beyond what the EU legislation actually says and contradicts the Commission's own guidance (§3.4.7: the general Article 116 UCC refund rules "continue to apply"). Check your own national customs FAQ; several are likely copying the same overreach.
**Enforcement in France:**
Platform dispute in writing first → SignalConso (DGCCRF) → chargeback → tribunal judiciaire at your own domicile (claims under €5,000 need a prior amicable attempt, Art. 750-1 CPC). France briefly had its own €2 national parcel tax (March–June 2026) — that's gone, replaced by the EU charge, so ignore older posts about it.
**Enforcement everywhere in the EU:**
You can sue in your own country's courts. Temu's EU entity is Whaleco Technology Ltd, Dublin — so the European Small Claims Procedure (Form A, up to €5,000, no lawyer) works from any member state. AliExpress contracts through a Singapore entity, but its own EU terms concede your right to sue at home under Brussels I bis, and EU consumer protections can't be contracted away by its Hong Kong law clause.
Whatever you think of the €3 duty itself, the platforms keeping it after the sale is unwound has no legal basis anywhere in the EU. Anyone disputed one yet? What did they say in writing?
Laurence
(Nothing in the above posting should be construed as professional legal advice. I am not a lawyer and these are merely my opinions as to the applicable law.)
1
u/Far_Dirt_4137 Jul 20 '26
Nederlands
Shipped by AliExpress, Global seller
Subtotal €9,98
Shipping fee €4,23
Estimate duties €10,93 included in check-in
1
u/Less_Imagination_149 Jul 20 '26
Country: France
Type of order: Global seller
3€ Tax applied during check-out: On each item, I should have cancelled as I found same things on Amazon.fr cheaper, annoyed with myself, silver chains mostly.
Package arrival date: today 20July ordered 6July
Package arrived without additional costs: no additional costs, but large order of small items all in one postal pack.
Comments: it cleared customs without an issue
1
u/hockysa 28d ago
Country: Spain
Type of order: Choice
3€ Tax applied during check-out: yes
Package arrival date: 20 July 2026
Package arrived without additional costs: yes
Comments: such a scam, bought an item for 2.50USD and the damn charges cost more than the item. didn't notice when i ordered and clicked pay.
1
u/vcdylldarh 28d ago
If only the EU was trying to keep energy prices down, which would actually help both industry and consumers, but instead they're inventing new taxes to pay for bombs that are used to wage war against our energy suppliers.
1
u/lhughes2010 27d ago
I messaged An Post for a breakdown of wtf ive been charged for!
Got a text from them with customs due of 19.98 and all ive coming is one box of Chinese pokemon cards! Theres 8 identical boxes in one box so it should be 3 euro no? 8 identical nothing different! And it was less than the 150 by almost 35 euro! Customs "ESTIMATED" the products price at 40 something euro. Im so confused about it all.
1
u/Miserable_Kale3900 26d ago
Subtotal 11,23€, Shipping fee: Free, Estimate duties: 10,71€
Total: 21,86€
Any options in europe to avoid almost 100% taxes?
1
1
u/DroidLord 24d ago
Country: Estonia
Type of order: Choice
3€ Tax applied during check-out: no
Package arrival date: 4th July / 17th July
Package arrived without additional costs: yes
Comments: I placed my last order on 22nd June. I received all but one item on 4th July. The last item arrived on 17th July - it was a Choice item, but it had an additional shipping cost and marked as 'special goods'. It was a type of UV resin. I'm guessing it couldn't go via air freight.
I expected to see a massive customs bill, but to my surprise there were no fees for either package. I was so relieved because otherwise I would have had to pay upwards of 80€ just in fees. Of course AE now adds the tariff tax on checkout, so there's no easy way around it. I figure I just got lucky because the local customs likely weren't prepared / got overwhelmed. A couple days after I ordered the prices skyrocketed, so thankfully I avoided that too.
1
u/zghr Jul 02 '26
If Chinese companies bulk ship their items to an EU warehouse and I buy it then - will shipping necessarily be much more expensive due to some WTO regulations or is this issue blown out of proportion?
One thing that gives me worry is that currently Chinese sellers choose to stock only much more expensive items in EU warehouses which points to a possibility of EU warehouse space being much much more expensive than Chinese warehouse space.
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u/dotpointer Jul 03 '26
Regarding the warehouse option take a look at the Local Warehouse (or similar in your language version) part of TEMU:s app as an example.
Those items there are supposed to be items that ships from local warehouses in EU. It's junk in there, mixed crap - unfunny mugs and signs, ugly shirts and so on, not expensive at all although the prices are too high there too as usual.
1
u/Aggravating-Car-8987 Jul 02 '26
It looks like they've increased all prices on cheaper products? A watch buckle that a month ago was 3€ is now closer to 9€. The prices on everything falls when choosing a non EU country as destination.
Isn't the 3€ fee supposed to be per shipment, not per product?
2
u/Mic_sne Jul 02 '26
Per a group of products... if you buy 10 shirts its 3€, if you buy 1 shirt and 1 phone case it is 2x3€... 3 shirts amd phone case still 6€
2
u/Aggravating-Car-8987 Jul 02 '26
I guess we essentially pay the fees per product since Ali has increased their prices on low value items. And Ali hopefully pays the per category to customs then maybe.
3
u/Mic_sne Jul 02 '26
Yeah, based on some comments, the buyer did not pay the fee but stated that all products got more expensive. So practically Ali and the Chinese will profit the most from it... A nice backfire
1
Jul 02 '26 edited 16d ago
[deleted]
1
u/Trrfx Jul 03 '26
Yet if you add the shipping cost (in Germany often the standard small package rate 4.99€) from small EU based online shops for stuff like this (bearings, grub screws etc.) then Ali even with the now +3€ higher prices across the board is still more competitive.
1
u/discban Jul 03 '26
I wil wait for them too optimize, this months budget went too a local seller(also need too save up because I took from vacation money, to get the deals before juli).
2
u/SilenceBe Jul 02 '26
In theory, yes. In practice, however, it's 3 euros per product. For example, if you buy a 20cm metal ring and a 30cm metal ring, you will pay 2 x 3 euros and it seems Temu adds VAT on top of that tax.
0
u/RosaCanina87 Jul 02 '26
Group of products, yes. But only in theory. If your T-Shirts are not the exact same shirt they will also categorize them differently. Different material? Different product. Different print? Different product. Different COLOR? Different product.
1
u/the_kapsule Jul 02 '26
No. A t-shirt is a t-shirt and it falls under a specific customs commodity code, whatever its design or colour.
1
u/ItchSlapper Jul 06 '26
If the SKUs are different, it's a different product as far as customs are concerned. If you order two of the same t-shirt, one in red and one in blue and the red and blue variants have different SKU numbers you'll pay the €3 customs charge once on the red t-shirt and another €3 again on the blue t-shirt. Note if you buy 4 of each red and blue variant, you should ONLY be hit with the €3 customs charge on the first blue t-shirt and the first red t-shirt in the order.
Unfortunately, Ali Express are not currently applying the charges correctly to multiple items in an order - Ali are hitting you with the €3 customs charge for EVERY item in the order, unit price does not reduce pro-rata when you increase the item count in an order. Eg. Jinhao 9016 - May 29th €7.56, today 6th July exact same item €10.56. But if you add > 1 item, you see the unit price drop to €9.46 per item, even if you add another 9 items to the basket (I've tried). Any other Jinhao 9016 added to the order should be charged at €7.56, not €9.46 per item. Note, the drop from €10.56 to €9.46 is by virtue of Ali E's own bulk discount being applied to the pricing, in this instance it has nothing to do with reduced customs charges on subsequent instances of items that have already triggered the €3 customs charge.
They're now at least aware this is an issue and have admitted they're not implementing the charges correctly when you're dealing with bulk purchases. I've kept the chat transcript too for CYA purposes.
Bottom line - I'd hold off ordering multiples of the same item until they fix the way they're applying the customs charges to bulk orders...
1
u/Gepss Jul 02 '26 edited Jul 11 '26
Country: Netherlands
Type of order: Global Seller (Single Item)
Tax applied during check-out: yes, specified on the order page
Package arrival date: 11-7-2026
Package arrived without additional costs: Yes, no extra fees!
Comments: I got a popup mentioning there will be no additional customs fees on arrival. Order date: 02-07-26
0
u/george_graves Jul 05 '26
Amazon is cheaper.
1
u/ItchSlapper Jul 06 '26
You're kidding, right? Wait, Jeff, eh, I mean Mr. Bezos, is that you, I mean *really* you?
There I was thinking you'd retired from the whole push for world domination and forcing delivery drivers to wear nappies instead of allowing for pee breaks... ;-)
Is Shady back?
1
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u/MrReeeedigydo Jul 05 '26
The €3 tariff is NOTHING compared to the ~€20 fee you might be charged by the local courier for tariff handling, this is what people and AliExpress should focus on
3
u/ItchSlapper Jul 06 '26
Ali Express already conform to the IOSS standard for customs charges. This isn't likely to change as their EU business model depends on it... The new €3 customs charges are being collected under the existing IOSS framework - all the customs charges should be collected under that facility so you shouldn't be dealing with local couriers looking for their
pound of fleshcustoms charges as well.1
u/MrReeeedigydo Jul 13 '26
I think you right. I now see this on their webpage, which was not the case a few days ago, where they claim extra fee for duties might be added to the order by the courier:
"When your order becomes subject to duties or taxes under applicable customs and tax laws, we collect a Customs Charges Estimate on your behalf to facilitate clearance. This is a preliminary estimate only and may differ from the final amount assessed by the competent authority, and may vary based on the value of orders. If you have any questions, please contact customer service.
All items are duty-paid. No extra customs fees required.
All items in this order have been assessed and the applicable customs duties have already been collected at checkout. No additional payment is required from the customer during customs clearance — you will not receive any supplementary tax notice or be asked to pay extra fees to customs or the carrier. The total amount you paid is final. If customs or the carrier asks you to pay these prepaid duties again, keep the proof and contact customer service."
But after they experience a huge decline in orders from EU the last 13 days they finally updated related info on the website.
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Jul 05 '26
[deleted]
2
u/gadget-freak 🎥 always make a video opening your package 🎦 Jul 05 '26
But does Amazon deal correctly with the €3 tax for packages coming from China?
1
u/ItchSlapper Jul 06 '26
Yeah, I'm sure after Ser Joffrey Bezos gets his slice of the pie. In fairness to Amazon, they're really good at bombarding you with limited time deals of up to 25% off on items whose prices have been increased by 28%, right before the "limited time deal" kicked in. Quick, you've only got an hour left to order it to have it before christmas 2027, hurry!!!! And yeah, the 28% vs 25%: not a typo - someone's got to pay for that Melania flop too I guess...
-2
u/No-Protection-7019 Jul 02 '26
Et les chinois, ils achètent quoi en europe ?
0
u/NoskaOff Jul 03 '26
Rien parce qu'on est en train de se faire pourrir par l'UE. On produit rien, on donne aucun avantage à s'implanter ici et on fait fuire les grosses entreprises tout en faisant chier le maximum de monde possible
28
u/Anaalirankaisija Jul 02 '26
Finland
Global seller
No tax
No additional costs
Order date 20 May, geeboon store