Customs Charges on Orders into Ireland: What You Actually Pay in 2026
tl:dr - you're paying a hell of a lot... and you're about to pay even more!
The price on the product page is not the price you pay. That has been true for anything shipped into Ireland from outside the EU for donkeys, and on the 1st of July it got noticeably worse.
Most people find out at the door. A text arrives, the parcel is being held, and there is a bill to settle before you get its. The bill is usually made of three or four separate things, only one of which was ever visible while you were shopping.
Here is what actually gets added, who adds it, and how to work out the real cost before you buy rather than after!
What changed on 1st of July 2026..
Until this summer, anything worth €150 or less coming into the EU arrived free of customs duty. That exemption is gone.
Since 1st of July, a flat €3 customs duty applies to low-value consignments imported from outside the EU. The important detail is that it is charged per item, not per parcel (European Commission). An Post explains it as a charge per line item: a parcel with two different product types generally attracts the charge twice, while several of the same thing usually counts once (according to An Post).
It applies regardless of how the seller handles VAT, and don't forget, the UK counts as outside the EU for all of this too.
It is also temporary. The €3 flat rate runs until 1st of July 2028, at which point normal EU tariffs apply to low-value goods according to what they actually are. This is a stepping stone, not the destination.
The four things that get added
1. Customs duty. The €3 above, per item, on consignments up to €150. Above €150, normal tariff rates apply and the €3 flat fee does not.
2. VAT. This is the one that catches people, because it is often the largest line and it is almost never shown while you shop. Actually, it's never shown when you shop. Irish VAT is charged on imports at the same rate that applies to the equivalent goods sold here (An Post). It is calculated on the goods plus the shipping, not the goods alone, which surprises people who assumed postage was outside it.
Worth knowing for this category specifically: food supplements in Ireland are charged at the reduced 13.5% rate rather than the 23% standard rate (Oireachtas). Lower than most people assume, we're actually lucky in that regard comapred to other EU countries, but still a real number on top of a price you already thought was final.
3. The handling fee. Somebody has to front the money to Revenue and process the paperwork, and they charge you for it. An Post applies a €6.95 administration fee per parcel where the charges were not settled in the basket at the point of sale. That's a whole euro higher than we charge for delivery door-to-door! Express carriers, UPS, FedEx and DHL, each apply their own disbursement or advancement fee for the same service, typically a flat minimum or a percentage of the duty and tax, whichever is greater. Those are carrier charges, not government ones, they are set by the carrier's own schedule, and on a small order they can easily exceed the duty itself.
4. The wait. Not a charge, but a cost. The parcel sits until the bill is paid, and it has already spent longer in transit than a domestic order. Way longer.
Why some sites charge you at checkout and some do not
If you have ordered from two different overseas sites and only one of them charged Irish VAT at the till, this is why.
This bit's a bit boring. There is a scheme called IOSS, the Import One-Stop Shop, which lets a non-EU retailer register to collect EU VAT at checkout and pass it on. Order from a registered seller and the tax is settled before the parcel ever moves. Order from one who is not registered and the tax follows you home.
You cannot look up a seller's IOSS status as a shopper, but you do not need to. The practical test takes ten seconds: go as far as the payment page and look for a tax or VAT line. If Irish VAT is itemised there, it is being collected. If the total is just goods plus shipping, assume you will be paying VAT at the door, plus the duty, plus the handling fee.
One wrinkle: the €3 duty applies whether or not the seller uses IOSS. Larger retailers increasingly collect it in the basket alongside the VAT, but some do not, so it is possible to be billed the duty on arrival even though you already paid tax at checkout (An Post).
Working out the real cost before you buy
Take the total at the payment page, in euro, including shipping. Then add:
- 13.5% of that total, if it is a food supplement and no VAT line appeared at checkout
- €3 for each distinct product type in the order
- €6.95 if it is coming by post, or the carrier's own disbursement fee if it is coming by courier
On a moderate order that routinely adds a quarter to a third on top of what you thought you were paying. On a small one, where the flat fees dominate, it can be closer to half.
The comparison worth making is not sticker price against sticker price. It is landed cost against landed cost, and the sticker price is the only half of it most sites will show you.
What is coming in November
A second charge is due later this year, and it is separate from the €3.
The EU is introducing a handling fee to cover customs processing costs. The Commission has confirmed the fee is coming in autumn 2026 but has not yet fixed the amount or the start date. An Post says it is awaiting clarity and understands a €2 fee will be introduced in November (RTE).
The open question is whether it applies per parcel or per item. A customs compliance expert speaking to The Journal in August judged it very likely to be per item, which would mean roughly €5 in combined charges on every distinct product in an order before VAT or handling (The Journal).
Treat that as a heads-up rather than a fact. The point stands either way: the cost of ordering from outside the EU is going up again before Christmas.
One safety note while we are here
An Post will contact you by SMS or email to collect a customs charge, and this is exactly the kind of message scammers copy.
An Post's own guidance is blunt about it: they will never send a message containing a link when contacting you about a customs payment (An Post). If there is a link in it, it is not from them. Go to anpost.com yourself and use the reference from the card or the message.
That is the same principle as everything in our guide to the red flags when buying supplements online: verify the sender, do not follow the convenient route somebody else has provided.
How to avoid all of it
Buy from inside the EU. That is genuinely the whole answer.
Goods already in free circulation in the EU when you order them are not imports. No duty, no import VAT at the door, no handling fee, no clearance text, no wait. The price at the checkout is the price.
That is what we do, and it is a bigger part of what we are for than it was two months ago. We ship from Dublin. Order by 4pm and it goes the same day. Nothing in this article happens to your parcel, because your parcel never crosses a customs border.
It matters most on the products people are tempted to source directly from the US. We are the official Irish stockist for Onnit, so Alpha Brain and the rest of the range come to you from a shelf in Dublin rather than through a clearance queue. Our delivery information sets out exactly what that means.
Frequently asked questions
Do I pay customs on orders from the UK?
Yes, in most cases. Great Britain is outside the EU for customs purposes, so the same rules apply as for a parcel from the US or anywhere else outside the bloc. Northern Ireland is treated differently.
Is the €3 charged per parcel or per item?
Per item, or more precisely per distinct product type. An Post describes it as applying per line item: several of the same thing usually counts once, but two different product types generally attract the charge twice.
Why am I being charged VAT when I already paid tax at checkout?
Because the tax you paid may not have been Irish VAT. Some overseas sites charge their own domestic sales tax, and some show a total that includes nothing at all for tax. Unless Irish VAT was itemised at the payment page, assume it was not collected.
What VAT rate applies to supplements?
The reduced rate of 13.5%, which has applied to food supplement products in Ireland since January 2020. Imports are charged at the same rate as the equivalent goods sold here.
Can I refuse the parcel instead of paying?
You can, and it goes back. But you are then chasing a refund from a seller in another jurisdiction, and the duty itself is not refundable even on returned or undelivered goods. It is a poor outcome compared with checking before you order.
Does this apply to gifts?
Gifts between private individuals have their own thresholds and are treated separately from commercial orders. If you are buying something for yourself from a retailer, it is a commercial import regardless of how it is labelled.
The bottom line
Since July 1st there is a €3 duty per item, VAT on the goods and the shipping, and a handling fee from whoever clears it. A second fee is due in November. From 2028 the flat rate goes and normal tariffs apply.
None of that makes ordering from outside the EU a bad idea. It makes it a decision that needs the full number rather than the visible one. Get as far as the payment page, look for a VAT line, and do the arithmetic before you commit rather than at your own front door.
And if what you are after is on a shelf in Dublin, the arithmetic is already done.
Charges and thresholds described here are correct as of August 2026 and are set by Revenue, the European Commission and the individual carriers rather than by us. Check the current position with Revenue or your carrier before relying on any figure.