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The de minimis exemption, also known as Section 321, allowed low-value shipments to enter the United States duty free. Now it's no longer available, and vintage, antiques and secondhand vendors are faced with new challenges specific to the sector
Ed. note: This article specifically focuses on actions you can take to navigate tariffs on vintage and secondhand items while selling vintage internationally.
For all the basics on tariffs and import duties for vintage and secondhand goods, and answers to all your other questions, check out our ultimate guide to how tariffs affect vintage buying and selling.
An unusually quiet week of Etsy orders was the first sign for Michele, owner of VintageVibes62, that things for her shop were about to change.
Michele, who’s located in the Waterloo, Ont. region, sees 90 per cent of her sales cross the border into the U.S. But orders were nearly at a standstill leading up to Aug. 29.
That was the day the U.S. government ended the “de minimis” exemption, also known as Section 321, which allowed international vendors to ship items valued at or under US$800 into the U.S. duty free.
U.S. President Donald Trump indicated earlier this year that Section 321 ultimately would be axed, but after months of flip-flopping on tariffs and a mere 30 days riddled with changing guidelines between his Jul. 30 announcement and the Aug. 29 implementation, many sellers took a “wait and see” approach.
When the deadline passed without any pause, it sent Michele and countless other vintage, antiques and secondhand shop owners around the world scrambling to figure out their next steps.
“I’m concerned I will have little to no sales,” says Michele.
Now, international orders of any value are not only subject to duties, but also, in most cases, the tariffs implemented by the U.S. under the International Economic Emergency Powers Act. The White House maintains the change is required to more closely inspect for illegal substances entering the country.
It’s a big change for low-volume sellers sending one-off parcels across the border. Depending on what the item is and where it was made, a $50 piece could see cost increases between 10 and over 100 per cent when factoring in duties, tariffs and brokerage fees.
For example, a made-in-Canada, non–CUSMA-compliant vintage snakeskin handbag priced at $50 would receive at least an extra $22 in tariffs and fees if shipped via Canada Post.
Michele’s is a fear echoed by many sellers left with the task of reevaluating their business models.
When the U.S.’ de minimis exemption increased to US$800 in 2016, it coincided with an unprecedented boom in e-commerce. The U.S. saw 1.36 billion parcels fall under that exemption in 2024, compared to 224 million in 2016.
International vintage vendors used the exemption to expand their businesses and tap into the American market — a 340-million strong population that loves online shopping.
Marketplaces such as Etsy and eBay made it simple for vendors in Canada, Europe and elsewhere to access those U.S. consumers and build entire businesses around selling to them.
The exemption also allowed U.S. dealers to bring in considerable amounts of inventory from overseas without extra costs.
“Shipping from and in Canada is expensive, especially compared to USPS,” says Instagram user @shopoliveirene, also owner of Etsy shop Olive Irene Vintage. She sends 65 per cent of her parcels to the U.S.
“I may just fold,” she says.
Some businesses will shutter in the wake of the changes; others will try to pivot.
With Section 321 gone, vintage and secondhand vendors shipping to the U.S. have three paths forward at the moment.
The first is to send parcels into the U.S. via express carrier (e.g., FedEx), which tends to cost more to ship and usually leaves the buyer with the bill for the tariffs and duties.
The second option is to send parcels via postal shipment, which leaves vendors responsible for pre-paying duties and tariffs and eats into already-thin margins and limited cash flow.
Traditionally, tariffs and duties are paid by the buyer, not the seller. But the U.S. requirement of delivery duty paid for postal shipments has changed that in the absence of integrated ways to collect tariffs and duties from buyers at point of sale on most major online platforms.
Importers of large commercial orders that outsized the Section 321 exemption are familiar with getting hit with a customs invoice upon delivery of their items. The average consumer is not — and that’s why sending delivery duty unpaid parcels via express carrier runs the risk of a buyer refusing the parcel.
“We must have solutions in place that ensure that the customer is charged for the tariffs and not the seller,” says Jaci, owner of Red Roof Retro Vintage.
Jaci says she’s not confident her chosen platform will provide a tool to facilitate pre-payment of duties by the buyer, and that she’s worried if she increases the prices of her products to cover the rise in costs, it’ll price her out of the U.S. market.
Adding to the problem is the fact that several carriers that offer delivery duty paid to the U.S. require a manufacturer's address when completing the customs declaration — something not readily available for many vintage pieces, which are often tagless or tied to a defunct producer.
The third option for vendors is to halt shipping to the U.S. altogether until a more suitable solution becomes available.
“I have no choice to pause shipping to the U.S., which unfortunately means losing nearly all of my revenue,” says Cat, owner of Quebec-based vintage shop Dans l’ère.
She sells to a mainly U.S. clientele through Etsy. “I need time to process everything and understand how I am going to deal with all this.”
Liana, owner of B.C.–based vintage clothing shop The French 75, says she’s “worrying about how to continue on” after pausing shipping to the U.S., because she sends more than 80 per cent of her orders there.
Fellow B.C. seller Tiffany, a vintage decor shop owner, sends more than 90 per cent of her orders to the U.S. through her Etsy business, Alley + Grace Vintage. She attends markets in her local area, but “it’s going to be hard to make that up,” she says.
Even if an option to collect fees from buyers becomes available, vendors expect overall orders to drop over time as higher costs make a once-favourable exchange rate less attractive to the U.S. market.
“Will my US buyers return after this pause?” wonders Candace at vintage clothing shop clotheslinesvintage. “Will I lose rank on Etsy and have to re-build that visibility and gains I have made these past few years?”
The increase in time required to be compliant for an as yet–unknown return is a concern for Candace, who sells 80 per cent of her Etsy stock to the U.S. in addition to vending at markets around Southwestern Ontario.
Like many sellers, Candace needs to revisit past listings to include country of origin so buyers can get an idea of tariff rates, and to pre-calculate tariffs and duties so she can convey the most viable shipping options for her products.
“The momentum that I have been building with new offerings like bundles may be lost in the fray,” she says of the shift.
No matter which path a reseller chooses, they will be making some changes to their business. For vendors navigating this new era, here are 15 things to consider.
Some vendors have turned off shipping because they don’t agree with what is happening with the tariffs on principle. Others have chosen to pause shipping because of uncertainty or not having a cost-effective way to ship.
For those on a temporary, not indefinite, pause, it’s a good time to see what’s out there in terms of shipping options (more below) so you can attempt to recapture some of those lost sales. The U.S. is a big market that still offers a lot of opportunity.
Consider a phased reopening. Start small, maybe shipping select items only to the U.S. through your social media or website, or determining a flat-rate duty-inclusive price that you can apply to all purchases to help cover the costs of tariffs.
See what you can do with your margins to cover the cost of DDP if that’s a more viable option for you. Perhaps your sourcing budget needs to decrease on a monthly basis to make up for pre-payment of duties and tariffs if you can’t raise your item prices much.
Create clear communication through your shop policies about delivery duties and if they are paid (DDP) or unpaid (DDU) so buyers know what to expect.
You may decide to stay paused for now, but even a return to limited shipping can give the opportunity for loyal buyers to still shop with you and keep your shop visible in that market.
Before you commit to reopening shipping to the U.S., compare what options are available from shipping companies — even ones you had previously not considered due to cost. There may be ways to get better rates.
In Canada, ChitChats and Stallion Express are popular low-cost carriers, but they aren’t the only options. Canada Post is using Zonos to send its parcels across the border, with at-times comparable rates to what you find with a low-cost carrier. Then there are shipping portal companies such as ClickShip, EasyShip, ShipTime and NetParcel that offer lower rates from a variety of carriers.
When using a company like NetParcel and choosing Canada Post, you can stay on the NetParcel platform to produce the label. NetParcel completes the tariff process with Canada Post's partner on their end — you don’t need to be involved in that extra step. Once the parcel is received by the customer, NetParcel will bill you within a few days afterwards for the tariff fees.
Canada Post isn’t requiring manufacturer information to ship DDP, so it’s a good option for those who were struggling to figure out how to ship via ChitChats and Stallion Express, which both require a valid manufacturer address to complete their customs declarations.
If you choose a DDP shipper, be aware that they are still working out issues with their platforms in the early days of this shift. If a postage calculation seems off based on your product’s country of origin and HTS code, contact the shipper.
Shipping delivery duty unpaid, also known as delivered at place (DAP), doesn’t make sense for every vendor.
Many resellers have eliminated delivery duty unpaid as a viable option due to high freight charges they fear will be unattractive to shoppers, and a concern those parcels may get rejected by buyers upon delivery to avoid tariffs. For vendors moving lower-value items, the shipping costs could actually exceed item value.
But there are situations where DDU is desirable. Offering customers prompt delivery through a reputable express carrier can help improve consumer trust — especially when moving higher-value items. These parcels enter U.S. customs under a different process than the mail carriers and are unlikely to be held up as long in clearance.
In Canada, ground options are available via express carriers, which offer far lower rates than air — sometimes they even compete in price with what's available by mail as far as the base shipping cost is concerned. (Keep in mind overall cost is still higher with express carriers, as their brokerage fees are higher.)
Making a decision on behalf of your customer without finding out what they are willing to bear in terms of shipping costs may be doing yourself a disservice. Test out an express carrier and see what happens, or better yet, ask your customers directly. You could poll them on social media, or contact a couple of repeat buyers to get their thoughts on moving your shipping to express carriers.
If you are selling something particularly of value or interest to collectors, such as art, unusual decor or sought-after collectibles, or even vintage clothing that is hard to find elsewhere, chances are pretty good you’ll find consumers willing to cover the cost of using an express carrier to receive it.
Shops that have continued shipping to the U.S. throughout this period using express carriers such as FedEx and UPS report that while there have been some minor delays clearing customs, everything is running fairly smoothly.
A plus for using an express carrier: No manufacturer address is needed to complete the customs declaration like it is for certain DDP carriers.
If you do ship to the U.S., get familiar with the ins and outs of your shipper’s process, and try to drown out all of the other information you read online.
Your shipper is going to have the most accurate information for their procedures, and they are going to tell you what you need to do to use their services.
For some, like Stallion Express and ChitChats in Canada, that means supplying a manufacturer address, every time. For others, like Canada Post, it means ensuring you have a Declaration ID.
There is not always crossover between shippers. Some refer to their brokerage fees as shipment fees or remittance fees.
Read their online guidance, talk to their agents and, if required, schedule an appointment with a licensed customs broker to ask specific questions pertaining to your situation. Some customs brokers are available for 15- to 30-minute paid consultations for exactly this purpose.
For the basics on tariff rates, HS codes and how it all works, check our ultimate guide to tariffs.
There will be a learning curve in coming weeks and months — U.S. buyers who usually did not buy over US$800 are not used to paying duties on their items. But many people are already familiar with the concept if they’ve ever ordered anything of higher value.
Regardless of where your customers land, it’s a good idea to let them know what is going on with your shop, why you are making the decisions you are making and how/if they can still shop with you.
Take them on the journey with you. Explain the differences in shipping options with a pinned post, in your announcements section, in your listings. Overcommunication is a good thing when trying to convey information.
This is especially the case if you choose a DDU (DAP) option that requires the buyer to pay tariffs and duties upon delivery.
While it is up to the buyer to assume risk, you don’t want that package shipped back to you and to possibly have to cover the duties yourself. Better to confirm with the customer beforehand so they are aware they will receive an invoice for the duties and tariffs. If they’re going to cancel, at least they will do it before you ship out.
Instagram user and Etsy shop owner @altheavintage commented in our Sept. 3 Instagram Live that she has resumed shipping to the U.S. via express carrier, and she messages every buyer to ensure they know the rules about DDU ahead of time. So far, buyers have been unfazed.
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On the note of being transparent, adding as much information as possible to your listings about the tariffs and duties, and how they are paid, can improve the buyer experience. (Many people don’t read everything you write, but some do!)
Not only does it serve as a way to qualify buyers who take the time to read the text, but it also creates additional policies to fall back on when you are dealing with customer service issues.
For an example, check out the listings in Kaitlyn’s Etsy shop. She’s the owner of La Vie Est Belle Vintages, and explicitly states her policies about duty payment at the top of every listing, and again at the bottom along with more detailed shipping information.
Let’s face it: Shipping internationally is a bit of a mess right now. So it’s a good time to look at what you can do at home. Lean into local markets, pop-ups and community events where you can forge relationships with customers and build brand awareness, or sign up for that booth space you’ve always thought about but never committed to.
Kaitlyn, owner of Emerald City Vintage, says that’s her plan going forward. She expects it will be “much harder to make sales on Whatnot and VAMP [Vintage & Antique Marketplace] as most of my buyers are American,” she says. “Going to have to work backwards again to try and make more sales locally.”
Approach local retailers or cafes to partner on collaborations or experiences that will expose your shop to new people. This could be through an event, or a pop-up rack in their store, or even getting your products integrated into their store displays.
Playing up “local” in your messaging can also help to capture buyers who are looking to support domestically right now.
Domestic doesn’t just mean in person, though. What about your domestic e-commerce opportunities? Now’s the time to brush up on what your platforms want in terms of listing aesthetic, keywords and SEO so that you can get noticed. Optimize your listings to make sure you get seen in relevant searches filtered by country or region.
Some sellers were shipping 70, 80 or even 90 per cent of their stock to the U.S. Even if you continue shipping there, you may lose some business as buyers seek lower-cost alternatives. Where can you make up those sales beyond local markets and pop-ups or shipping to other countries?
Are there non–product dependent services you can provide that would supplement your income, such as styling, closet clear outs, decluttering or workshops? Services can be delivered in person at markets, pop-ups or even private appointments, or online via consultation calls or courses.
If you do ship to the U.S., consider only sourcing items that have a clear country of origin to list in your online shop.
If you don’t know the country of origin, make your life a little easier, save some research time and sell them locally instead. This ensures you are only selling items where you can fulfill the requirements you need to clear customs.
Look into what it takes to ship to other countries outside of the United States — many of them are already familiar with paying value-added tax (VAT) at checkout.
Some countries have special tax laws to take note of, or certain rights for consumers. The European Union and United Kingdom both have a right to return items within 14 days, so you will need to accept returns and exchanges in order to sell to those markets.
The EU comes with some additional regulations regarding product safety, so read up on the General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR).
Resellers shipping to EU countries are responsible for ensuring their goods are safe for use, especially vintage electrical items, used toys, refurbished electronics, furniture or sports gear, baby items, kitchenware and more — and there are rules to comply with in terms of how that information is disclosed and verified. Most secondhand clothing, antiques and items sold for repair do not need to follow these rules.
Once you have a handle on requirements, you can test those markets and see what happens — you never know when you might make an international sale.
Shipping costs are a big sticking point for buyers, but this is a moment where you can educate. Vintage and secondhand sellers are not big-box stores. Free delivery and cheap shipping are myths built on subsidies that small businesses can’t replicate.
Instead of apologizing for shipping fees, use them as a conversation starter. Explain what is involved in careful packing, fair rates for carriers and warehouse workers, and why investing in delivery protects the item and therefore a buyer’s experience.
Reframing shipping as part of the value of buying vintage can help customers to understand the real cost of moving goods responsibly and more sustainably.
There’s something else big-box retailers don’t have: you. Let shoppers know who they are buying from. Why did you start your business? What inspires you? How much care goes into every piece you source?
Introduce yourself on your website or marketplace and on social media so buyers can feel connected to the person behind the shop and build some loyalty. This helps locally, but it also helps with online sales.
When U.S. buyers have money to spend, they may just spend it at your shop, duties be damned — because they feel like they know you and what you’re all about.
Pitching your story to local media and community blogs can help to get the word out about your shop, too, and in turn bring more people into your world.
Especially if you’ve paused shipping to the U.S., this period of change can be a useful one to make changes to the back-end of your business.
Look at everything: is the inventory you are carrying what you want to be selling? Are there opportunities for a certain style of inventory in the U.S. market that might be underserved right now? Where can you automate or strengthen your marketing efforts?
It’s a good time to evaluate what is no longer working for your shop so you can get rid of it and focus on what is working. Small improvements give a sense of control amid the chaos — and can lead to untapped opportunities for your business.
Not every reseller is moving high enough volumes to warrant this one, but if you do have a lot of inventory going to the U.S., explore U.S.–based fulfilment options including storing your inventory in a (shared) warehouse there. Third-party logistics providers (3PL) can help to facilitate this.
3PL providers become a “middleperson” between your shop and customers in the U.S. You send your inventory to the 3PL’s warehouse, and they hold your items until orders come in.
Order info gets sent to the 3PL, and then they pick and pack your order for you. They also often get good shipping rates and handle customs paperwork for you.
The cons, of course, are that you have to pay storage fees plus the fees to pick and pack, but depending on your business, that may work out.
It’s up to every reseller how they want to run their business, but we advise sticking closely to rules set out by U.S. Customs & Border Protection and your shipping providers if you are shipping to the U.S.
Border agents are conducting spot checks, and the fines can be substantial if there is something wrong with your paperwork, from the wrong HS code to claiming USMCA/CUSMA when you're not eligible — to the tune of $1,000 for an administrative fee from your shipper and up to $50,000 in fines from the U.S. government.
The removal of Section 321 (de minimis) has already reshaped how international sellers serve the U.S. market. This shift is a blow to vendors, but it's also an opportunity to improve operations, build stronger ties domestically, diversify revenue and get creative.
Adapting quickly and highlighting the advantages of small, independent business will help you to seek out customers who value what you do as a reseller.
Are you selling to the U.S.? How are you handling this change in your business? Let us know in the comments below!
