We’re excited to share some great news from DHL! They have granted us a special reduced customs clearance fee exclusively for our community. Starting now, all our shipments will be sent DDP – Delivered Duty Paid.
This means we will cover all customs duties and clearance fees on your behalf. You won’t have to pay anything extra – no duties, no hidden fees, no surprises.
However, since the recent rule changes at U.S. Customs were introduced unexpectedly, the officers themselves are still figuring out how to apply them in practice. As a result:
Sometimes different decisions may be made on similar shipments.
Errors or inconsistencies may occur until the process becomes fully standardized.
Please note: Every package now goes through formal customs clearance instead of being automatically released to the customer. This may cause occasional delays, which unfortunately are beyond our control, as they depend entirely on U.S. Customs.
We’ll continue to monitor the situation closely and keep you updated. Thank you for your patience and understanding – and enjoy hassle-free deliveries with no extra charges on your side!
According to DHL, this delay could be around 5 days, since due to the previous changes many shipments and companies suffered significant losses and the volume of shipments has decreased, so it’s also possible that things will proceed normally.
At the moment, I believe there is only a 5-10% tax duty — we have removed all the other fees. There used to be flat-rate charges for each of our shipments that exceeded $150 regardless of the shipment’s value, but after many emails and arguments with customs, we have now eliminated those as well.
@Vega@Maitreya Ah I forgot to tell in the email about the custom charges has been reduced as stated for the above mentioned info and I had a smooth & seamless custom clearance process and the funny thing I was frightened about the custom charges info when I asked chat gpt for estimation of charges will be levied in my country. But fortunately it was way too cheaper than I thought,thank you @Maitreya and team
We’re happy to hear that. We’ve done our best to keep fees either nonexistent or under 10% tax, which considering what is usually charged, is very good.
Thank you for your feedback, and we hope the pendants serve you well.
When package arrives DHL contacts you and tells you what you need to pay, when you do, they release the package and you receive it at home.
We found that the US customs are somewhat unpredictable, they may impose no tariff or tariff and various fees, ranging from 0 to 25% in some cases. Tariff for EU is 15% but we had many cases where they don’t impose it.
The cosmetics that we have now will not cross the border, the lab is located in the US and they have another one in EU so based on where you order from they ship from the local one. The previous collection had that issue, and now it applies to the pendants that are shipped from the EU.
You need to check that with the Mexican customs, but this is what I get from Chat GPT:
General Context: Personal Import vs. Commercial Import
When you buy for personal use and the package arrives in Mexico by courier or post, it still must go through Mexican customs unless a specific de minimis exemption applies.
Mexico has changed rules recently for goods bought online — including cosmetics — so personal imports no longer always enter duty-free.
Main Taxes & Fees You May Pay
A. Import Duty (Arancel Aduanero)
This is a tariff applied to most imported goods, including cosmetics, based on the product’s Harmonized System (HS) code and customs value.
Products from the U.S. generally qualify for lower tariffs under the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA).
Under the updated Mexican rules (2025), items from the U.S. will generally face a tariff of around 17% if their value is between about $50 and $117 USD. For items above that value or in other categories, the base tariff can be similar unless special rules apply. Reuters
Estimate (example) Cosmetics imported from the U.S.: ~17% tariff on customs value *(approximate typical rate under the new SAT rules for USMCA origin goods)
* Value-Added Tax (VAT / IVA)
After the import duty is applied, VAT is charged at 16% on the total taxable base, which includes:
So essentially:
VAT = 16% * (Value + Import Duty + other fees)
Customs Processing Fee (DTA)
Mexico charges a small customs processing fee on almost all imported goods. This is typically calculated as:
About 0.8% of customs value (the invoice + shipping cost). aduaeasy.com
D. Possible Other Fees
Special Excise Tax (IEPS) —
Not usually relevant for cosmetics (more for alcohol, tobacco, fuels). aduaeasy.com
Countervailing Duties or Anti-dumping?
Only apply in rare cases where Mexico imposes extra duties on products it considers unfairly priced — not typical for cosmetics unless there’s a specific case. ispaf.institute
3. How Import Taxes Are Calculated (Simple Example)
Let’s say you buy $100 USD worth of cosmetics from the U.S., and shipping & insurance add another $20 USD.
Customs Value (CIF) = $120
Import Duty (≈17%) = $120 × 0.17 = $20.40
Processing Fee (≈0.8%) = $120 × 0.008 = $0.96
VAT (16%) = (120 + 20.40 + 0.96) × 0.16 = ~$23.46
Estimated Total Taxes ≈ $20.40 + $0.96 + $23.46 = about $44.82 USD (Exact amounts depend on HS code specifics and customs valuation.)aduaeasy.com
Important Shipping Update – DHL & Customs Fees
This means we will cover all customs duties and clearance fees on your behalf. You won’t have to pay anything extra – no duties, no hidden fees, no surprises.
Please note: Every package now goes through formal customs clearance instead of being automatically released to the customer. This may cause occasional delays, which unfortunately are beyond our control, as they depend entirely on U.S. Customs.
)
Cosmetics imported from the U.S.: ~17% tariff on customs value *(approximate typical rate under the new SAT rules for USMCA origin goods)
Special Excise Tax (IEPS) —