What does it actually cost to ship to EU customers?

Shipping a standard parcel (0.5–1.5 kg) from the US to an EU destination typically costs €18–€30 per order at commercial courier rates, depending on carrier, service level, and destination. That compares to €5–€7 per order for the same delivery fulfilled from a local EU warehouse in the Netherlands. At 200 orders per month, the difference is roughly €3,000–€5,000 per month in avoidable shipping cost.

DDU (Delivered Duty Unpaid) means the buyer is responsible for paying import duty and VAT when their parcel arrives in the EU. For customers ordering from a non-EU brand, this typically means an unexpected payment demanded at the door before they can receive their order. The results are predictable: high parcel refusal rates, elevated returns, customer complaints, and suppressed repeat purchase. For any product under €150 entering the EU, DDU delivery is one of the fastest ways to destroy the post-purchase experience.

DDP (Delivered Duty Paid) means all import duties and taxes are settled before delivery — the customer pays one price and receives their parcel with no additional charges or surprises. DDU puts that burden on the customer at the point of delivery. For EU e-commerce, the practical difference is significant: DDP from a local EU warehouse delivers in 1–3 days with no duty surprise. DDU from an international origin delivers in 10–18 days with a duty demand at the door. DDP consistently produces higher conversion, lower returns, and stronger repeat purchase rates.

You do not need a registered EU company to sell to EU consumers, but you do need two things: an EU-established responsible person under GPSR (General Product Safety Regulation) for most physical product categories, and a mechanism for collecting and remitting EU VAT on sales. A Seller of Record arrangement like EuroSOR provides both. EuroSOR becomes the named EU seller on your EU transactions, handling VAT, customs, importer of record, and GPSR responsible person obligations — while you retain full control of pricing, marketing, and customer relationships.

A Seller of Record (SOR) is a legally established entity that takes on the role of seller in a given market — handling VAT collection and filing, compliant invoicing, import compliance, and consumer law obligations. For brands entering the EU, an SOR like EuroSOR becomes the named seller on EU transactions. Your brand retains full control of pricing, product strategy, marketing, and customer relationships. EuroSOR handles the local legal and compliance layer that would otherwise require you to set up and maintain a separate EU entity, VAT registrations across multiple countries, and a local responsible person arrangement.

Most brands onboarded by EuroSOR are shipping from a Netherlands fulfilment hub within 6–10 weeks of starting the process. That timeline covers VAT registration, GPSR responsible person designation, initial stock importation into the EU, and integration with the brand's existing Shopify, WooCommerce, or marketplace setup. The critical path item is usually the first stock shipment into the EU warehouse — getting that moving early compresses the overall timeline significantly.