The End of De Minimis for Resellers
As I write this post on August 29, 2025, the United States has officially ended the century-old de minimis exception that allowed packages valued at less than $800 to enter the U.S. duty-free with minimal paperwork. For hundreds of thousands of small businesses and individuals, this causes significant disruption and higher costs. Many businesses won’t survive the changes.
It’s not just the duties themselves that are increasing costs. Confusion and increased admin overhead will lead to significant delays at borders. Buyers and sellers will lose more time to paperwork. On top of the duties, new tariffs are in place, some at very significant values. Shipping services are imposing new processing fees for every shipment, in some cases with very high minimums. For one Canadian nutritional supplement company, a package valued at $37 USD will cost over $60 (a 62% increase) because of additional duties, tariffs, and processing fees.
For clothing resellers, resale platforms have acted quickly to limit their risk exposure and that of customers. Etsy, eBay, and others have suspended international label services. More than 30 countries have fully or partially suspended parcel deliveries to U.S. customers. Financial markets are taking notice too; shares in eBay are down 9% in the last 5 days, and Etsy is even worse with a 13.5% drop. There’s a lot of panic because the enforcement is happening with almost no notice; until about a month ago, the de minimis provision had been expected to remain in effect until at least July 2027.
Impact to Resellers
As with most major economic changes, there will be winners and losers related to the de minimis changes. Big retailers and thrift stores are likely to benefit, the former because it will drive domestic demand and they have the infrastructure to modify their supply chain and work with customs brokers in large volumes, and thrift stores because the changes will drive demand for less expensive clothing already in the United States. As for individuals and small businesses, here’s how you’re likely to be affected based on what you do.
If you’re a U.S. seller sourcing domestically and selling to U.S. buyers only, the impact to you is likely to be minimized and it might even be an advantage. Costs for other resellers will go up and you can potentially increase your prices to maximize profit.
If you’re a U.S. seller importing items or lots from other countries, your costs will go up significantly. Try ordering in bulk and using a broker to minimize import costs, or try to switch to domestic alternatives. Assume too that you will have to spend a lot more time and money on what you do import.
If you are a non-U.S. seller shipping to U.S. buyers, your costs are about to go up very significantly. I am one of those businesses, and as of Monday, I have stopped selling to U.S. customers entirely. Unless your margins are very high, you can increase prices to offset prepaid duties, or you can somehow source items in the U.S. and sell domestically there, it is highly likely that you will also have to stop selling to the United States.
If you are a drop-shipper into the U.S., you will need to pivot to sourcing domestic U.S. inventory or moving to higher-priced bundles.
If you are a buyer on resale platforms based in the United States, you might need to limit purchases to U.S. sellers only to keep your costs low.
If you are a non-U.S. buyer on resale platforms, you will largely be unaffected for now. Having said that, we could see other countries respond to the U.S. tariffs and trade barriers by imposing their own, so then you might also have to start excluding U.S. sellers from potential purchases.
Resale Platform Response
Because of the limited time to prepare for the de minimis changes, most platforms have responded by either stopping support for U.S. bound delivery from non-U.S. buyers to the United States or they’re just leaving buyers to figure things out for themselves. eBay has announced that they will introduce a new international shipping option in October that should allow buyers to prepay duties during checkout, allowing foreign sellers (likely Canada, the UK, EU, and Australia at launch) to resume selling to U.S. buyers—albeit at a higher cost. (Sellers: Start adding country of origin to all of your listings, because users with that info logged for their items are more likely to be accepted into the new international shipping program.)
Etsy has suspended shipping label purchases for non-U.S. sellers shipping to the United States, and is instead recommending that sellers switch to Delivery Duty Paid (DDP) shipping options on their own. They are recommending that sellers cover all fees as opposed to buyers, as offloading the costs to buyers often leads to refused packages and customer complaints.
Mercari has implemented one of the most comprehensive solutions, with estimated customs duties and tariffs automatically included in pricing for international orders.
Of course, the best option for many buyers and sellers may just be to focus on domestic buying and selling (if they’re based in the U.S.) and avoiding the United States (if they’re based elsewhere) until things have settled down and more programs and guidance are in place.
Recommendations for Resellers
For many clothing resellers, the de minimis changes represent a significant threat and different way of doing business. Here are some things you can do to survive the changes and adapt to the new normal:
- Sign up for newsletters and stay on top of updates. Canada Post is rolling out prepaid duty options, eBay is introducing their international shipping program soon, and other platforms are making changes to try to minimize the negative impact. Watch for news about these updates and assess how you might be able to leverage them to your benefit.
- If you’re based in the United States, move to domestic buying and selling as much as you can.
- If you’re based in a country other than the U.S., refocus more on domestic options, intra-EU sales if you’re in the European Union, and sales to other countries. For big-ticket and high-margin items, explore DDP options if you depend on the U.S. market.
- Communicate with buyers. If your business is affected by the changes, let customers know what’s happening, including why delays might occur and why costs and prices are increasing.
Conclusion
The clothing resale landscape is always evolving, and today’s de minimis Provision changes will significantly reshape the industry. Successful resellers must build flexibility and adaptability into their options to succeed, and by following the guidance in this article, you’ll be well-positioned to weather the storm. Monitor new developments, adjust your buying and selling strategies to increase opportunities while minimizing risk, and find your place in the new secondhand market.
