I am shipping from the EU to Switzerland (outside of EU).
My product is 77CHF so I shouldn’t need to pay a duty.
UPS is charing me a $30 “customs handling fee” on every order, and that’s on top of the shipping charge.
It’s untenable to continue like this.
How do I avoid the “customs handling fee”?
Hi @et_123 that’s usually not the duty itself — it’s UPS’s brokerage/customs-clearance fee.
Switzerland’s low-value threshold is lower than a lot of people think, so a CHF 77 order is often already over it. Even if the actual duty is zero, UPS can still charge for clearing the package.
If you’re using UPS Standard, there’s usually no real way around that fee. The practical fix is to use a different carrier/postal service with lower clearance fees, or a UPS Express/Expedited service where brokerage is often included.
DDP can stop the customer getting surprised at delivery, but it doesn’t make the fee disappear — it just changes who pays it.
Thank you for the detailed respond. I didn’t know that UPS Express has the fee included. I will look into that.
thank you