The new US tariffs have made running an e-commerce business very complicated — especially for Etsy sellers like us who offer hundreds of different products at many different price points.
Unfortunately, that also means shopping has become more complicated for you as a US buyer.
This guide is here to help you understand what to expect to pay in shipping and tariff costs before you place your order.
Why You’re Seeing Higher Shipping Costs
US Customs now requires international sellers to collect and pay tariffs on behalf of US buyers.
Because Etsy doesn’t yet have a built-in tool for this, we’re including tariff costs in our shipping fees instead of our product prices. This way, your overall costs stay lower than they would if tariffs were added directly to each item.
Why It Looks Complicated
Many of our listings include items at different price points (for example, a chain listing may offers chains ranging from $14 to $48).
To make sure tariffs are covered, we have to set the shipping fee to match the highest-priced item in the listing. But don’t worry — if you’re buying a lower-priced item, we’ll refund any extra fees once your parcel ships.
(Refunds usually take a few business days to process.)
What’s Included in Your Shipping Fee
Here’s what your shipping charges now cover:
- $5.99 – Shipping cost (what our US carrier charges per parcel)
- 3%–11% – US baseline duty (determined by the product type)
- 10%–50% – US punitive tariff (based on where our main materials in each design are sourced — not Canada)
- $1.35 – US Merchandise Processing Fee (per shipment, set by US Customs)
- $0.15 – Broker/item fee (per item processed in your parcel)
How Much You’ll Pay in Tariffs (by Item Type)
Here’s a quick breakdown of the current duty + tariff percentages. These are percentages of the product price.
Please note: rates may change any time at the discretion of the US administration.
Sterling Silver Jewelry:
- Chains: 20%
- Charm Necklaces: 20%
- Bracelets: 20%
- Earrings: 24%
- Pendants/Charms: 24%
- Rings: 24%
Stainless Steel Jewelry – 41%
Plated & Enamel Jewelry – 41%
Other Items:
- Bookmarks: 33%
- Keychains: 33%
- Lapel Pins: 41%
- Money Clips: 33%
- Tie Clips: 33%
- Silver Polishing Cloths: 14.1%
Calculation $5.99 + $1.50 + % off product price for each item in your order.
How Refunds Work
Because most listings do not share the same shipping profile, shipping will not combine if you are purchasing multiple items with different materials or price points. But you only pay for the shipping and processing fees once per shipment. So when we ship your order, we’ll refund any extra fees.
Example: If you order both a bookmark and a sterling silver chain, Etsy will charge you shipping/processing twice (since their listings have different price points). Once we pack your order, we’ll refund the duplicate fees.
👉 The bottom line: You’ll always be refunded for any overages once your parcel ships.
If you have any questions, you can always reach out to us through Etsy messages.