De Minimis Is Gone. Why Importing to a US Warehouse Beats Shipping From Overseas

The $50 Order That Now Costs $80 to Clear

A customer buys a $50 item. You ship it direct from your overseas supplier, the way you always have. Except now that parcel gets stopped at the border, and clearing it can cost more than the product itself.

That is the new math for brands that built their model on shipping low-value parcels straight into the US. The de minimis exemption that made it work is gone, and a lot of founders have not run the numbers on what replaced it.

What Actually Changed

For years, shipments under $800 came into the US duty-free under the de minimis rule. No duties, no formal entry, no broker. It was the quiet engine behind a huge amount of direct-from-overseas e-commerce.

That exemption has been suspended across the board. Every low-value parcel now needs to clear customs like any other import. That means duties apply, and it means someone has to file the entry.

Why Per-Parcel Importing Stopped Making Sense

The duty itself is rarely the part that hurts. A 10% charge on a $50 order is five dollars. You can live with five dollars.

The brokerage is what breaks the model. Filing a customs entry on an individual parcel typically runs $25 to $75. Stack that on top of duties and a $50 order can cost close to $80 just to get through customs, before the last-mile carrier has touched it. Do that across thousands of orders a month and the per-parcel approach quietly eats your margin.

You are also paying that brokerage and duty on every single package, one entry at a time, with all the delay and paperwork risk that comes with it. One flagged shipment and a customer is waiting an extra week. If you want the full picture of what a customs entry involves, our breakdown of what a commercial invoice is and the difference between DDP and DAP terms is a good place to start.

The Fix: Import in Bulk, Ship From Inside the US

The brands that are staying profitable did one thing. They stopped clearing customs one parcel at a time.

Instead, they import inventory in bulk, clear it through customs once as a single shipment, and store it in a US warehouse. From there, orders ship domestically. The duty is paid once on the bulk shipment, the brokerage is one entry instead of thousands, and customers get their orders in days instead of waiting on an international clearance for each one.

It is a cleaner model on almost every line. Lower clearance cost per unit. Faster delivery. Fewer things that can go wrong at the border. And you get a real US shipping footprint, which matters more than ever now that customers expect fast domestic delivery as the baseline.

This is exactly the path we built for non-US brands expanding into the US market. You ship us your inventory, we receive it, and your orders go out from a warehouse near the ports.

What to Look For in a US Fulfillment Partner

Not every warehouse is set up to take this on well. A few things are worth confirming before you commit.

Fast receiving on inbound containers

Your inventory does you no good sitting on a dock. Ask how long put-away takes. Inbound should be measured in a day or two, not a week.

A same-day shipping cutoff

The whole point of holding stock stateside is speed. Orders received by early afternoon should ship the same day, so the domestic advantage is real and not just on paper.

Visibility into what you actually have

You are moving inventory across an ocean and into someone else's building. You need to see your on-hand and in-transit stock in real time, not wait for a weekly email. Run your expected volume through our fulfillment cost calculator to see what the bulk-import model looks like for your numbers.

The Bottom Line

De minimis is not coming back, and the per-parcel import model does not pencil out anymore. Importing in bulk and shipping domestically is cheaper, faster, and far less fragile. If you are still clearing customs one order at a time, this is the quarter to change it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the de minimis suspension apply to all countries?

Yes. The exemption has been suspended across trading partners, so low-value parcels from any origin now go through customs like any other import.

Is it cheaper to import in bulk than to ship parcels individually?

In most cases, yes. You pay one brokerage entry and clear duty once on a bulk shipment, instead of paying per-parcel brokerage on every order. The savings grow with volume.

How fast can a US warehouse turn around my inbound inventory?

Inbound receiving and put-away typically takes 24 to 48 hours. After that, your stock is available to ship.

Will customers get their orders faster this way?

Usually. Once inventory is in a US warehouse, orders ship domestically in days rather than waiting on an international customs clearance for each shipment.

Do I still owe duties if I import in bulk?

Yes, duties still apply. The difference is you pay them once on the full shipment instead of repeatedly on every individual parcel, and you avoid stacking per-entry brokerage fees.