No More Hidden Fees: How We Ship to the U.S. With Tariffs prepaid
Summary: Teleship enables small businesses in the UK to send parcels to the U.S. using Delivered Duty Paid (DDP) shipping — eliminating surprise tariffs and customs fees, avoiding UPS brokerage charges, and giving your customers clarity at checkout — even on the Shopify Basic plan.
Shipping to the United States is about to become a headache. Surprise customs fees and fines, tariffs and expensive brokerage charges are making it risky to ship to the U.S. for small businesses like ours. But things are going to get worse with the end of the U.S. de minimis threshold on August 29th 2025.
That’s why we’ve spent the last couple of months looking for a way to keep shipping to the U.S. safely and affordably without risking customs delays, surprise charges, or angry customers. We’ve today found Teleship, a potential solution. We’re not promoting or advertising anything here — we’re simply sharing what we’ve found in case it helps other small businesses facing the same challenge.
✅ Why Teleship?
- Customer prepays all U.S. duties and taxes at checkout
- Avoids UPS brokerage fees (which are rising due to tariff admin costs)
- Provides fully landed pricing — no surprises
- Works with Shopify Basic even without carrier-calculated rates
- Uses USPS or UPS as last-mile carriers
- Rates start from just £9 to the U.S.
📦 How It Works
- Customer pays at checkout — product, shipping, and U.S. tariffs/duties via the Shopify duties function.
- You buy a DDP label in the Teleship app — the duties are already included based on your HS codes and country of origin.
- Drop the parcel at your local post office or book collection.
- Teleship sends it to their UK hub for inspection and grouping.
- Parcels are sent by road to the Netherlands and cleared for export.
- Tariffs are remitted to U.S. customs automatically.
- USPS or UPS handles final delivery in the U.S.
- Customer receives it with no extra fees.
This process helps eliminate delays, customs issues, and unhappy surprises for your U.S. buyers.
🛠️ How to Set It Up (Step-by-Step)
1. Install the Teleship App
- Install from the Shopify App Store
- Fill in business details, dispatch time, and packaging info
2. Add Product Data
- Assign HS codes and country of origin to each product
- Teleship includes an AI tool to help if you're unsure
3. Enable Duties Collection in Shopify
- Go to Settings > Taxes and Duties
- Scroll to “Duties and Import Taxes”
- Click “Set up” or “Manage” and select countries like the U.S.
- Click Save
4. Add Shipping Rates Manually (for Shopify Basic)
- If you're on Shopify Basic, use manual rate setup
- Check Teleship’s pricing page for current DDP rates
- Enter them into your Shopify shipping profile by weight
📊 Example DDP Shipping Rates We Use
| Weight | Service | Price (GBP) |
|---|---|---|
| 0–150g | USPS Tracked | £9.99 |
| 151–400g | USPS Tracked | £11.99 |
| 401–900g | USPS Tracked | £13.99 |
| 901–1850g | USPS Tracked | £18.99 |
| 0–1850g | FedEx Intl Connect+ | £29.00 |
| 1851–4750g | FedEx Intl Connect+ | £45.00 |
| 4751g–20kg | FedEx Intl Connect+ | £95.00 |
| £250+ Orders | Free Shipping | £0.00 |
Note: FedEx rates based on Parcel2Go DDP pricing.
⚠️ Final Tips
- Teleship currently supports shipping to the U.S. and EU from the UK
- Duties are calculated from product value only, not shipping cost
- Be accurate with weights and parcel dimensions
- Update manual rates every 2–3 months to reflect fuel or carrier changes
teleThis setup has helped us simplify U.S. shipping dramatically. No more customs surprises, no extra brokerage fees, and fewer customer complaints.
If you found this helpful and plan to use Teleship, please email us at hello@stickiply.com so we can register your referral and keep sharing tools that help small businesses grow.
