International Shipments from Germany to the U.S. – Severe Delays (Up to 10 Weeks!)
Summary: The discussion focuses on delays in international shipments from Germany to the U.S., which can take up to 10 weeks. da6170 shares information about the DHL policy, mentioning a $100 duty-free limit for private gifts, but clarifies it does not apply to commercial shipments, such as those from eBay. papierundpappe acknowledges the information, emphasizing the relevance to commercial shipping.
Hello fellow customers in the U.S.,
We’ve recently seen an alarming increase in delivery times for our shipments from Germany to the U.S., especially to certain states like Florida, Texas, and Colorado. Two of our long-time U.S. customers (with excellent communication and plenty of experience buying internationally) have just received their items 9 and 10 weeks after we shipped them — despite us sending promptly and using Priority Mail via Deutsche Post/DHL. What’s most frustrating:
We dispatch every order within 24 hours, including weekends.
Items typically reach the DHL export hub at Frankfurt Airport within a day.
Handover to USPS happens shortly after.
Then… the tracking goes quiet, and nothing happens for weeks.
Customers are understanding, but these transit times are unacceptable — and could seriously hurt our eBay profiles through no fault of our own. While it’s good news that the items eventually arrive, the wait is absurd.
Is anyone else experiencing the same issue? Are there certain USPS distribution centers that seem to be especially slow right now? And most importantly — how do you protect your seller rating and reassure buyers in the meantime? Looking forward to hearing your experiences and ideas.
papierundpappe
OP8 months agoQuick Update from Germany:
We’ve now received similar reports from buyers across the U.S. — California, Colorado, Florida, Massachusetts, Texas, Wisconsin... You name it.
The pattern is the same:
✔ Prompt dispatch
✔ DHL hub in Frankfurt
✔ USPS receives it...
⌠Then: silence for 6–10 weeks.
Some envelopes show “customs fees pending†— but no one’s being notified to pay.
So the mail sits. And waits. And waits.
We’re thankful nothing is lost — just incredibly slow.
At this point, we’re considering renaming the service: "Tracked Patience International."
Thanks for all your input — and for helping us stay sane through this.
Büro Papier & Pappe, Potsdam, Germany
lacemaker3
·8 months ago@papierundpappe
I asked you some questions before , to try to understand what is causing the delay.
If the tracking shows “customs fees pendingâ€, then they have not reached USPS yet. They are either being delayed at the customs office, or before they reach the customs office. The scans on the tracking are not usually very clear about where packages actually are.
Packages are not released to the USPS until they have cleared customs, which means the fees (if any) have been paid. DHL (as either the postal carrier, or the "other qualified party") has to pay the fees (if any) to get them through customs.
Do the customers eventually have to pay duty before the items are delivered?
Or, are these items supposed to be duty free? Are they eventually being delivered without the buyers having to pay any duty?
If that is the case, then they are probably being delayed because they are letter mail, (normally duty free) but they are commercial goods, so they have to be sorted out from all the rest of the letter mail and then inspected and evaluated to make sure they really are duty-free. As letter mail, they probably don't have a customs form or declaration filled out, or only a very brief customs form.
It might be faster to send them DDP in a small package, with a customs form showing they are duty-free, instead of in a letter. You would only have to pay the DHL processing fee for DDP (on top of the cost of shipping), but the processing fee is usually a very small amount. That way the customs form showing the duty-free status, and the evidence that proves they are duty-free, would all be filled out and available to the customs office. Also, they would be in the commercial-goods handling stream, and would not be mixed up with a lot of non-commercial letter mail.
It might be worth a trial, to see if sending them in a small package would significantly cut down the delay. Your customers might prefer to pay the DHL processing fee (as part of the shipping fee) in order to receive things more quickly.
tools*
·8 months agoSadly, Americans are currently living behind an Orange Curtain. Hopes are that it could be lifted in November.
papierundpappe
OP8 months agoYes, we’re aware of the UPU’s current requirements — and we do use tracked services wherever possible. However, in our case (shipping stamps and small philatelic items from Germany), items are typically sent as "Brief International" with basic tracking, which should comply with the UPU guidelines for low-value goods in flat envelopes.
The challenge is:
Deutsche Post / DHL only offers fully tracked and DDP options for parcel-level shipments.
For low-value items (many under $20), upgrading to parcel rates is cost-prohibitive and would kill most international sales.
Our buyers often prefer untracked or minimally tracked mail, simply to avoid customs delays or fees.
That said, we’re seeing delays of 6–10 weeks even on tracked mail — and the issue seems to lie more with USPS processing and customs bottlenecks than with the tracking itself.
We’d absolutely consider other solutions if they exist — but for now, the system seems to be stacked against small sellers shipping affordable goods internationally. Thanks again for contributing to this discussion!
lacemaker3
·8 months agoFor shipments to the USA before late August, 2025, it was not necessary to ship untracked "to avoid customs delays or fees." Until then, all shipments into the USA below US$800 were duty free. Since Aug 28, 2025, all commercial shipments into the USA are subject to duty. The carrier (or another company acting on their behalf) is required to collect and remit the duty to US Customs.
Shipping in a letter or flat is probably going to get more scrutiny from customs, because most letter mail is for documents and correspondence which are not considered to be goods and are duty-free. That is probably why Deutsche Post/DHL are only offering DDU shipment for letters.
Since you are shipping DDU, the delay is because the carrier has to bill the recipient (your buyer) and get them to pay the duty. The package is always going to be delayed until the duty is paid, and if your letter mail has to be sorted out from among all the majority of the letter-mail that is duty-free, that will be another source of delay. Then they have to contact the recipient, usually by email, and wait for them to make the payment.
Some carriers are doing all this before the packages leave the origin country (Germany, in your case). That makes a lot of sense, to minimize cost and expenditure for both the carrier and the sender, if the recipient doesn't pay.
Other carriers are collecting the duty from the recipient before they give the packages to US Customs, but after they arrive in the USA. It sounds like that is what DHL is doing for your packages.
Other carriers are paying the duty up-front, and then trying to collect from the recipient, which causes a lot of expense for both the carrier and the sender, because the carrier will bill the sender for the duty if the recipient refuses to pay, whether the package was delivered, returned to the sender at their expense, or destroyed.
steady2304
·8 months ago@papierundpappe Are you sending your items Duties Delivered Paid (DDP) or Duties Delivered Unpaid (DDU)
That could make all the difference in your delivery times. Most Postal Authorities in the EU are only allowing DDP shipments, where the duties and tax are paid upfront by the seller. Most EU sellers then incorporate the extra costs into the shipping or price of the item.
Any shipments sent (DDU) where the buyer pays for customs charges upon arrival in their country or taking forever and in some cases get returned or disposed of in customs.
Most packages coming through the Postal system come through either New York, LA, Chicago or Miami and they are all extremely backed up.
papierundpappe
OP8 months agoThanks for this helpful insight!
We are currently shipping via Deutsche Post / DHL using International Priority Mail with basic tracking, and those shipments are sent DDU (Delivered Duties Unpaid) by default, as that’s the standard option provided for letter-size or flat philatelic mail.
Unfortunately, Deutsche Post does not currently offer a DDP solution for international letters or flats – only for parcel shipments, which are prohibitively expensive for most low-value items (like stamp lots under $20–30).
We also notice that delivery times to the U.S. are significantly worse when mail passes through NY, LA, Miami or Chicago — exactly as you mentioned. Tracking often stops once USPS has received the item, and delivery may take many weeks with no further updates.
If there is a workable DDP solution for lower-value philatelic items from the EU, I’d be very interested to learn how others are handling that!
Thanks again for shedding light on this issue.
gone.c-33
·8 months agoThat could very well be your answer and frankly, from the stories we’ve read on here, consider yourself lucky your shipments are making it to your buyers at all.
USPS is not equipped to deal with the huge increase of incoming packages requiring duties to be paid and have been instructed to reject any incoming DDU shipment.
papierundpappe
OP8 months agoThanks for this — and yikes…
That’s deeply concerning to hear, though it honestly matches what we’re seeing on the ground: items disappearing after USPS receives them, no tracking updates for weeks, and deliveries taking up to 10 weeks or more — if they arrive at all.
If USPS is officially rejecting DDU shipments now (or treating them as low-priority “problem mailâ€), that would explain a lot. And yes, perhaps we have been lucky so far.
Unfortunately, Deutsche Post/DHL doesn’t offer a DDP service for international letters (only for parcels), so as sellers of low-value philatelic material, we’re essentially stuck.
If the U.S. is moving toward a “DDP only†policy even for flat mail, it would be incredibly helpful if that were officially communicated — both to postal authorities and marketplaces like eBay.
Thanks again for the insight — it really puts the situation into perspective.
gone.c-33
·8 months agoI don’t know how big of an American customer base you have, but with the new tariffs imposed on imports from Germany because you’re doing the right thing standing with Denmark, I would consider suspending all sales to the US.
papierundpappe
OP8 months agoThanks for your perspective – but suspending U.S. sales isn’t really an option for us.
Roughly half of our loyal and long-term customer base is located in the United States. Many of them have been with us for over 20 years, and they deeply value the quality of our material, our care in packaging, and our consistent service — even across borders.
Yes, the current situation with tariffs, customs issues, and unpredictable delivery times is challenging. But giving up on such a dedicated group of collectors and customers simply isn’t something we’re prepared to do. We believe in communication, transparency, and patience – and we’ll keep working to find solutions that serve our U.S. buyers fairly and reliably.
bennotbill
·8 months agoWith member states in the EU requesting the activation of the “Anti-Coercion Instrument†(ACI) the do do could really hit the fan.
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Today there would appear to be a clear-cut case of another outside power – the United States – using commercial muscle to change European policy on Greenland.
In these circumstances, the “anti-coercion instrument†is an added weapon in the EU trade arsenal.
If there is agreement that coercion has been attempted by an outside power, and if negotiations to resolve the conflict fail, then the EU has enhanced powers to retaliate “within international lawâ€.
According to the EU, “The ACI permits import and export restrictions to be placed on goods and services, but also on intellectual property rights and foreign direct investment.
“Additionally, the ACI enables the imposition of various restrictions on access to the EU market, notably to public procurement, as well as the placement on the market of products under chemical and sanitary rules.â€
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fullers_uk
·8 months agoThe UPU now require all items that contain goods to be sent fully tracked.
lacemaker3
·8 months agoYour packages are being delayed because DHL/Deutsche Post (as the carrier) has to collect and remit the duties to US Customs, because they were shipped DDU.
https://content.govdelivery.com/attachments/USDHSCBP/2025/09/22/file_attachments/3396200/Updated%20-%20Global%20Guidance%20for%20International%20Mail%20-%209.22.25.pdf (page 1, paragraph 2)
Are your buyers being contacted to pay the duties during the time when the packages are being delayed?
Could you ask your buyers who is contacting them to pay the duties, and how they have to be paid?
I suspect that the delay is even longer because DHL (or another company acting on their behalf) is waiting until they have the duty payment in hand before they send the packages to US Customs, so that they will not be out of pocket for the duty if the buyers don't or won't pay.
I'd appreciate it if you could try to help me understand better, how other countries are managing to comply with the new requirement.
da6170
·1 month agoUnder the International Mail Network rules DHL Germany/ Deutsche Post bills the sender before the shipment is sent to the US and you can only send stuff under $100 https://group.dhl.com/en/media-relations/press-releases/2025/dhl-parcel-resumes-postal-goods-shipping-from-germany-to-the-usa-and-puerto-rico.html
papierundpappe
OP1 month agoThank you for the link. Just to avoid any misunderstanding: the $100 limit mentioned by DHL applies only to private gifts sent from one private individual to another, not to commercial shipments. In fact, the DHL notice explicitly states: “The duty-free threshold of $100 applies only to private gifts – not to commercial shippers.” Since this thread concerns commercial eBay shipments from Germany to the U.S., the $100 gift limit does not apply here.
da6170
·1 month agoCorrect
kensgiftshop
·8 months agoI would stop selling to the US until shipping got better.