I run a small business in .ch and have a quite a few customers in the US.

    Before these insane new shipping changes (thanks Donny) I would drop of my little boxes at die post and pay 17.- for worldwide shipping. Everyone was happy, especially the post employees for some reason.

    Basically that service is on pause and I’m looking for an alternative. There doesn’t seems to be anything under 50.-, which is impossible for my customers to absorb for a 100.- product.

    Does anyone know of an alternative?

    Dealing with new shipping restrictions to the US
    byu/Machinehum inSwitzerland



    Posted by Machinehum

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    16 Comments

    1. I suspect the only thing to hope for is that it will create such an impact on US customers that we will get a TACO Tuesday.

    2. Shipping prices will go down again, once cbp figures out how to collect customs.
      Customs will stay around.

    3. The easy alternative is to wait for the US customs to get around to providing workable procedures for postal services. This will take weeks to months.

      You could also ship orders in bulk to a US agent or subsidiary, who would then ship them to the final address.

    4. Since every package now has to go through customs inspection your customers would also be hit with taxes and import duties. Those 50,- shipping fees will probably be the “cheap” part of buying from you.

    5. cremebrulee_ch on

      I think you just have to wait for the US customs to sort this out, something a competent government would have done BEFORE implementing any changes.

    6. You probably should start finding non US customers because the US are becoming too toxic to trade with.

    7. therealBlackbonsai on

      wait until donny loses in the civilwar. I would look for other sales markets.

    8. Aggressive-Bowler-21 on

      You can still ship using the Swiss Post Urgent via FEDEX and chose the DDP option at checkout. If you contact the post to have custom rates (also available if you don’t ship that much with them), it costs around CHF 48 to ship to the US (delivery takes 1-2 days normally). But as someone else pointed out, I would try to focus now on other markets! Good luck

    9. Inform your customers nicely about the situation and point out why their 🍊 is the reason for it. Offer the products with the new shipping prices. They need to face the reality of this damn chaos monkey and maybemaybemaybe it will be back to normal in a few years…

    10. FakeHasselblad on

      Speaking as an American who did not vote for the orange neo-fascist, you pass those costs on to the customer and add a note reminding them they voted for this.

    11. It is frustrating, but the reality is that this is not a temporary disruption. With the end of the de minimis exemption, every shipment into the U.S. is now subject to tariffs and duties. Even consolidators cannot bypass that. The cost increase you are seeing is not a matter of choosing the right courier, it is the new baseline.

      This means your business model for U.S. customers is no longer viable unless those added costs can be absorbed in your pricing. At this point, the most sustainable approach is to redirect your focus toward markets where low-value shipments are still possible and cost effective. If the U.S. remains strategically important, the only realistic option is to send bulk shipments into a U.S.-based warehouse or fulfillment partner, which requires higher upfront investment and added complexity.

      Unfortunately, there is no affordable fix for small parcels under CHF 100 under the new rules. You will need to either shift to other markets or restructure your logistics to reach American customers at scale.