Import Guides

Step-by-step guides to importing handicrafts into the US, EU, UK, and beyond.

Import guides cover what happens once the goods exist: how the shipment is classified, which documents travel with it, which freight mode makes sense, who clears it, and what lands on your invoice at the end. They assume you have already chosen a supplier and agreed an Incoterm, because the Incoterm decides how much of this is your problem and how much is the seller's.

The four things that decide your landed cost

Landed cost is not the quoted unit price. It is the unit price plus everything the guides in this category deal with:

  • Classification — the tariff code you declare, which sets the duty treatment for the whole line.
  • Valuation — what the declared customs value has to include beyond the invoice figure.
  • Freight and handling — mode, consolidation, port and terminal charges, and inland delivery.
  • Clearance — broker fees, any inspection or examination costs, and the taxes your market charges at the border.

Documents move separately from goods, and that is where it breaks

A handicraft shipment fails at the border far more often over paperwork than over the goods themselves: a commercial invoice that does not describe the article well enough to classify it, a packing list that disagrees with the carton count, a certificate of origin issued to the wrong consignee, a bill of lading that has not been released. The documentation guides work through each document, who issues it, and what a customs officer is looking at when they read it.

Country-by-country, and who you pay to do it

Separate guides cover importing into the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom, because registration, declaration and tax mechanics differ enough that a generic account is useless. Alongside them sit guides to the two roles you will hire: a customs broker, who deals with the border, and a freight forwarder, who deals with the movement. They overlap, sometimes sit inside the same company, and are not the same job.

What these guides will not tell you

We do not print duty rates, de minimis values, tax rates or filing deadlines. They change, they differ by tariff line and by trade agreement, and a figure copied from an article into a landed-cost model is a liability. Instead the guides name the authority that owns the answer — US Customs and Border Protection and the Harmonized Tariff Schedule published by the US International Trade Commission, HM Revenue & Customs in the UK, the European Commission's tariff and trade portals for the EU — and tell you what to ask them or a licensed broker.

Every import guides article

How Customs Values a Handicraft Shipment

Customs charges duty on a declared value, not on your invoice. What transaction value includes, which additions catch handicraft buyers, and the method hierarchy.

How to Import Handicrafts into the UK (Post-Brexit)

Guide to importing handicrafts into the UK after Brexit: EORI number, customs declarations, duty and VAT, and UKCA/marking considerations

US Customs Duty on Handicrafts: Rates & HTS Codes

Explain how US customs duty on handicrafts works: HTS classification, duty rates, de minimis, GSP eligibility, and how to estimate landed cost

Working with a Customs Broker & Freight Forwarder

What customs brokers and freight forwarders do, how they differ, when you need each, and how to work with them when importing handicrafts

Sea vs Air Freight for Handicraft Imports

Compare sea freight (FCL/LCL) and air freight for handicraft imports: cost, transit time, minimums, and when each makes sense

Importing Handicrafts from China: A Complete Guide

Importing handicrafts from China: choosing the right production cluster, setting realistic MOQs, building inspection in, paying safely and clearing customs.

Import Documentation Checklist for Handicrafts

The documents a handicraft shipment travels on — commercial invoice, packing list, bill of lading, certificate of origin — and who issues each of them.

How to Import Handmade Home Decor into the EU

Guide to importing handmade home decor into the EU: product requirements, CE where applicable, REACH, VAT, and customs

How to Import Handicrafts from India to the USA

Importing Indian handicrafts into the United States step by step: supplier selection, Incoterms, documents, HTS classification, clearance and delivery.

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