International Etsy sellers who ship to American buyers just got 30 days to overhaul their pricing or risk paying for it twice. Starting July 9, 2026, every non-US seller must use Delivered Duty Paid (DDP) shipping on US-bound orders, meaning all customs duties and import fees need to be calculated and prepaid before the package leaves the seller’s hands.
Etsy VP of Customer Operations James Ossman announced the change in the Etsy Community Forum, saying the company is “updating our Seller House Rules for orders shipped to the US” and that sellers will be “expected to account for all of your costs, including duties and import fees, to US buyers upfront.”
The motivation is buyer behavior. In a recent survey, nearly two-thirds of US Etsy buyers said they would be unlikely to make a purchase if they had to pay tariffs at the time of delivery. The old setup, where buyers could be billed for customs at the door, has triggered refused deliveries and a wave of negative reviews since the August 2025 end of the $800 de minimis exemption.
What non-compliance actually costs
Orders shipped without duties prepaid will no longer qualify for Etsy Purchase Protection. That means if a package arrives late or goes missing, the seller bears full responsibility for refunds.
If buyers are charged tariffs or collection fees by the carrier, they are eligible to be refunded and the charges will be deducted from the seller. In practice, a seller who ignores the new rule can lose both the product and the money.
How sellers can prepare before July 9
Etsy says sellers must use DDP and can use tools in Shop Manager to manage the transition, including partner shipping services and a new US tariffs calculator in the listing form to estimate costs, compare shipping options, and apply suggested HS codes. The calculator is powered by Zonos, a third-party partner, and Etsy does not guarantee the accuracy of its estimates. Sellers should validate figures independently.
Etsy recommends setting US-specific prices on new and existing listings, allowing sellers to account for tariff costs upfront while maintaining competitive pricing in other markets.
One detail worth flagging for sellers who accept returns. If a US buyer returns a DDP order, the tariffs already prepaid are not refunded. Padding prices by a few percentage points to cover that risk is a practical step.
Exceptions apply only in countries where DDP services are not available. Sellers in those locations must clearly disclose that duties are not included and get buyer agreement before shipping.
With about 90% of Etsy sellers running one-person shops, baking duties into item pricing also conveniently inflates Etsy’s Gross Merchandise Sales (GMS) figures, a metric the company reports to investors each quarter. Value Added Resource noted this could muddy year-over-year comparisons under new CEO Kruti Patel Goyal.
July 9 is two days away. Sellers who haven’t yet updated their shipping profiles and pricing should treat this week as the deadline, not just to stay compliant, but to keep their margins and their standing on the platform intact. Etsy’s Seller Handbook has the full breakdown of carrier options and the tariffs estimator.
