Will my Etsy order get customs charges in France?
A French buyer ordering a handmade ring from a studio in New York or Tbilisi is importing goods, and since 1 July 2026 every import owes duty — the €150 exemption is history. The good news for Etsy shoppers: the platform collects French VAT at 20% during checkout on low-value imports, so the border bill is limited to a flat €3 per distinct HS6 tariff line plus whatever La Poste charges for handling.
Because Etsy sellers are scattered worldwide, the first thing to check is where the shop dispatches from. An atelier in Lyon means no customs at all; the same style of item from outside the EU means the parcel passes through French customs and Colissimo may hold it until any outstanding amounts are settled — La Poste habitually collects before it delivers.
Artisan status changes nothing at the border: French customs classifies a hand-forged pendant under the same HS heading as a mass-produced one.
Awaiting items
Add a price and your receipt prints here.
Worked example
The simplest possible case is a one-item order: a €24.80 handmade-style pendant, €5.40 postage, €24.80 of goods. One product type gives 1 HS6 tariff line, so the duty is 1 × €3 = €3 — and ordering two or three pendants from the same heading would leave that duty untouched. Etsy took €6.04 of VAT with your payment; typical La Poste handling of €0–€8 brings the door total to €39.24–€47.24, with €3–€11 of it due on the delivery side.
Numbers for your own order? Use the calculator above — it applies the same rules to your prices.
Example declaration
- Imitation jewellery €24.80
- Itemspaid at checkout€24.80
- Shippingpaid at checkout€5.40
- Customs duty€3.00
€3.00 × 1 tariff line = €3.00
- VAT (20%)paid at checkout€6.04
20% × €30.20 (goods + shipping) = €6.04
- Carrier fee€0.00 – €8.00
Due at delivery: €3.00 – €11.00
Frequently asked questions
- Do Etsy parcels from the US get taxed when delivered to France?
- Yes. Any non-EU dispatch — the US included — is an import. Up to €150, Etsy collects French VAT at 20% at checkout and customs charges €3 per distinct HS6 tariff line in the parcel. La Poste may add handling, typically €0–€8. Above €150, the normal tariff for the HS code plus import VAT applies instead.
- Why does one Etsy order cost more in duty than another of the same value?
- Because duty follows tariff lines, not order value, on the low-value IOSS path. An order mixing a candle, a print and earrings spans three HS6 headings and pays 3 × €3; an order of three prints spans one heading and pays a single €3. Two baskets at identical prices can therefore carry different duty simply through category mix.
- Is a handmade gift I ordered on Etsy for a friend duty-free in France?
- No — the €45 gift relief covers goods a private person sends to another private person free of charge. You paid Etsy, so it is a commercial import even if the recipient is a friend and the seller writes a lovely card. The parcel follows normal rules: per-line duty with VAT prepaid, or the standard tariff route without IOSS.
- What happens if my Etsy seller shipped without IOSS to France?
- The parcel then owes the standard EU tariff rate for its HS code instead of the flat duty, plus import VAT at 20% computed on goods, shipping and duty together, plus La Poste's advancement fee — typically €0–€8 on postal deliveries, collected before the parcel is released. If Etsy also charged VAT at checkout, request a refund with your receipt.
- Will the €3 duty on Etsy orders to France last forever?
- No — it is a transitional measure scheduled to end on July 1, 2028. From then, low-value parcels are assessed with normal per-product tariff rates through the EU Customs Data Hub, the same way larger imports already are. For most product categories that points to higher rather than lower charges, so current rules are the simple version.