When Borders Return: How the End of De Minimis Will Reshape Online Marketplaces

For almost a decade, American buyers benefitted from a remarkably generous feature in global e-commerce: the de minimis exemption. Set at $800, it allowed goods under that value to enter the United States duty-free, bypassing cumbersome customs declarations and tariffs—a silent engine behind the boom in cross-border shopping.

Whether it was a vintage Gucci bag purchased on eBay from Italy, a Dior saddle bag from a Vestiaire Collective reseller in France, or a handmade leather satchel from an Etsy artisan in Spain, the exemption made these transactions simple, affordable, and quick. Sellers leaned on it to reach U.S. buyers without tariff worries. Buyers used it to stretch their budgets and access items that might otherwise have been inaccessible or unaffordable.

That system, however, is ending. On July 30, 2025, President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order titled “Suspending Duty-Free De Minimis Treatment for All Countries.” Acting under the authority of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act, and section 604 of the Trade Act of 1974, the order suspended de minimis treatment under 19 U.S.C. 1321(a)(2)(C) on a global basis, with an effective date of 12:01 a.m. ET on August 29, 2025.

The order built on a series of earlier executive actions in 2025. In February, Executive Orders 14193, 14194, and 14195 declared national emergencies at the northern and southern borders and in relation to China’s synthetic opioid supply chain, citing the exploitation of low-value shipments by traffickers smuggling fentanyl and other illicit drugs. Follow-up amendments in March and April—including Executive Orders 14256 and 14257—extended suspensions to China and Hong Kong and tied the policy to persistent U.S. trade deficits. By July, the administration declared that U.S. Customs and Border Protection had adequate systems in place to collect duties on all shipments, regardless of value.

Initially, under legislative frameworks such as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the phaseout of de minimis was not expected until 2027, giving marketplaces and sellers years to prepare. The July 30 executive order accelerated that timeline by nearly two years, turning what was once expected to be a gradual transition into an immediate shock.

From August 29, 2025 onward, all commercial shipments—whether luxury handbags, vintage shoes, or artisanal accessories—will be subject to full duties and customs clearance.

What sounds like a technical adjustment is, in reality, a major shock to the way resale and vintage fashion operates. Platforms like Etsy, eBay, Vestiaire Collective, Poshmark, and The RealReal are about to enter uncharted waters.

From Frictionless to Fee-Laden

Until now, the de minimis threshold was a rare competitive edge for the United States. Most countries set their duty-free limits far lower—Canada, for instance, allows only $40 CAD for postal shipments before duties apply, meaning even modest cross-border purchases are taxed. The U.S., by contrast, was an outlier, permitting up to $800 per person, per day to flow in duty-free.

That policy created a booming corridor of low-value parcels—estimated at over one billion packages annually. Vintage sellers, independent small shops, and global retail giants alike built their business models on this frictionless system. For buyers, it meant easy access to international markets without ever worrying about tariffs or complex customs procedures. For sellers abroad, it meant they could ship a $250 vintage Gucci bag or a $400 Dior Tote Bag to the U.S. without fear that duties would price them out of the sale.

That all ends this summer. Starting August 29, 2025, every parcel will be subject to duties, customs entry filings, and potential inspections. Shipments entering through the international postal network will briefly be using a six-month transitional period, during which carriers can choose to apply a flat fee of $80, $160, or $200 per item, depending on the effective tariff rate tied to the product’s country of origin. Private couriers such as FedEx, UPS, and DHL will move directly to ad valorem duties, applying percentage-based tariffs calculated under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule.

The result is a cost structure that is no longer uniform or predictable. A bag shipped through USPS may incur a flat $160 fee, while the same item shipped via DHL could be taxed at 12 percent of its value. For both buyers and sellers, the simplicity of cross-border resale gives way to complexity, uncertainty, and added friction.

Etsy: Creativity Under Pressure

Etsy has long been celebrated as a digital global bazaar, filled with artisans and vintage sellers from every corner of the world. Nearly half of its sellers are outside the U.S., many relying on de minimis to reach American buyers. The end of that system will hit them first and hardest.

A Boston buyer who once casually bought a $220 handwoven leather satchel from a Spanish seller may now face an additional $160 flat duty if the seller ships via USPS. That turns a whimsical purchase into a $380 splurge—before even adding shipping. Many casual buyers will simply walk away, while sellers will struggle to keep their listings attractive in the face of rising landed costs.

For Etsy itself, this poses an existential challenge. Its value proposition has always been diversity and global access. With overseas sellers discouraged or priced out of the U.S. market, the platform risks losing that global charm, becoming less eclectic and more homogenized around domestic sellers.

eBay: Scale Meets Complexity

eBay has the scale, logistics partnerships, and global infrastructure to weather policy shifts better than most. Yet even here, the end of de minimis introduces significant complications. Many eBay sellers rely on overseas inventory sources, particularly in Europe and Asia, where luxury and vintage items are often more abundant.

Consider a $400 Gucci Bucket Mini Bag listed by an Italian seller. Before the repeal, this sale would have been nearly frictionless. Now, if the item is shipped to the U.S. via DHL with a 15 percent ad valorem duty, the buyer faces an additional $60 in tariffs, plus approximately $40 in DHL handling fees. That transforms a $400 bag into a $500 purchase before shipping.

The problem deepens when returns are involved. If a U.S.-based seller imports the bag from abroad to resell domestically, that first import is already subject to duty. If the buyer later decides to return the item and it must re-enter the U.S., duties are assessed again—effectively a “double duty” burden (once on initial sourcing, and again on re-entry after return). For many transactions, this wipes out the economic viability altogether.

For buyers, that uncertainty makes high-value purchases riskier. For sellers, especially independents and small resellers, it creates real hesitation about offering inventory internationally at all. eBay may adapt by expanding its Global Shipping Program, consolidating international shipments and managing customs entries centrally. But the costs of that program will inevitably rise—and smaller independent sellers may not have the margins to absorb them.

Vestiaire Collective: Luxury at a Premium

If Etsy and eBay feel the strain, Vestiaire Collective faces something closer to a crisis. The platform specializes in luxury resale, with much of its inventory originating overseas—especially from Europe. American buyers have long turned to Vestiaire precisely because it provided access to Parisian closets and Milanese boutiques without the need to travel.

With duties now embedded in every cross-border sale, those deals become far less attractive. A Chanel Top Handle Bag priced at $9,000 in Paris may now reach an American doorstep with an additional $1,400 to $1,800 in duties, depending on carrier and tariff classification. For mid-range pieces, the postal flat-fee system can be even more punishing. A $400 Fendi leather satchel shipped via USPS could be saddled with a $160 charge, effectively a 40 percent premium before shipping is added.

For smaller vintage shops and resellers on Vestiaire, the consequences are severe. Prices are expected to rise by at least 20 percent—and in many cases 30 to 40 percent—on every designer item sold into the U.S. compared to the pre–August 29 baseline. This doesn’t just erode demand; it also reduces the real buying power of U.S. consumers, who suddenly find their dollars stretching less. In effect, the policy injects another layer of inflation into the luxury resale market, where buyers already face tightening budgets.

Compounding the problem, many sellers will hesitate to import inventory into the United States at all. Why risk paying $160 in duties on a single mid-value item if resale margins are razor-thin? For small-volume shops, the economics may only work if prices are doubled or even tripled—a move that risks alienating the very buyers who built their businesses. Meanwhile, international sales from the U.S. will likely grind to a halt. The specter of return duties makes selling abroad prohibitive: a U.S.-based seller who ships a bag to France could face the nightmare of the item being returned with duties assessed twice, once outbound and again upon re-entry.

The result is predictable—mass cancellations of international orders by U.S. sellers on Vestiaire. The platform’s once-global marketplace will begin to shrink, not out of choice but out of necessity, as both buyers and sellers retreat from a system that has become too costly to sustain.

Poshmark: Domestic Insulation, Global Limits

Poshmark may emerge less scathed than its European-heavy competitors, largely because its ecosystem is anchored in the U.S. Most of its sellers and buyers are domestic, and its logistics model revolves around simple, prepaid U.S. shipping labels. This insulation spares it from some of the immediate fallout of the de minimis repeal.

Still, Poshmark carries unique challenges. The platform has long been plagued by counterfeit listings, particularly in the luxury category. As professional authenticators, we’ve reviewed countless supposed Gucci, YSL, and Dior bags purchased through Poshmark, and the overwhelming majority prove to be either cheap replicas or high-end “super fakes” designed to closely mimic the real thing. The reality is that even these counterfeits must cross U.S. borders to reach sellers, and under the new rules, they too will face heightened duties, inspections, and added costs. For counterfeit sellers, that raises a new hurdle—one that could erode profitability or force them to raise prices. Ironically, this may work in favor of legitimate buyers and sellers: as costs climb and customs inspections become stricter, counterfeit products may begin to price themselves out of the market or get intercepted before entering the country. In that sense, the crackdown on de minimis shipments could reduce the flow of fakes into the U.S.—a silver lining to an otherwise disruptive policy shift.

At the same time, Poshmark’s international expansion remains vulnerable. Its efforts in Canada highlight the challenge. A Canadian seller listing a $150 Coach bag for an American buyer may now see duties absorb nearly the entire margin. Faced with inflated prices and limited return options, many U.S. buyers will simply walk away. This reality curtails Poshmark’s global growth ambitions and leaves it more dependent than ever on its U.S. domestic base, where competition is fierce and buyer expectations are only increasing.

The Unintended Consequences: A Shrinking Marketplace

The cumulative effect of these changes is a contraction of global choice. American buyers will see fewer international listings, higher prices, and greater hesitancy among sellers to risk cross-border commerce. For months—perhaps longer—U.S. inventory may actually shrink, as sellers abroad hold off on shipping anything into the American market until the new cost structures stabilize.

Domestic sellers may initially benefit, seeing reduced competition and stronger demand for U.S.-based listings. But in the long term, fewer options and higher prices dampen the overall appeal of secondhand platforms. Buyers who once thrilled at the global hunt for treasures may retreat, discouraged by the complexity and unpredictability of duties.

Returns, too, become a flashpoint. The double-duty problem—where both the original import and the return trigger duties—could cripple trust. Many sellers may adopt strict “no returns” policies for international buyers, further alienating a key demographic.

Understanding this Shift

To understand what this shift really means for everyday buyers, consider two scenarios that show how dramatically the shipping method can affect the final cost.

Here, USPS’s flat-per-item duty creates a massive difference. What could have been a $940 landed cost with UPS or FedEx becomes $1,230 through USPS—a $290 gap on the exact same purchase. These examples highlight how unpredictable landed costs will now become. Couriers like UPS and FedEx may offer better value for higher-ticket or bundled shipments, while USPS’s flat-fee system can make even modest orders disproportionately expensive. And beyond cost, buyers should also brace for longer delays. The U.S. Postal Service is not yet equipped to handle the additional customs processing these rules demand, meaning packages could sit for days—or even weeks—awaiting clearance, adding frustration on top of extra duties.

The Future of Cross-Border Resale

So where does this leave the world of vintage fashion and resale? Some degree of adaptation is inevitable. Sellers may attempt to consolidate shipments, reroute through third-party logistics providers, or rely on platforms that can pre-collect duties at checkout to reduce buyer uncertainty. Carriers, too, may roll out clearer duty-prepayment systems in an effort to keep customers from abandoning purchases altogether.

But for many small sellers—the backbone of platforms like Etsy and Vestiaire—the risk, cost, and complexity will simply outweigh the potential gains. What was once a democratized marketplace may quickly become stratified, dominated by larger resellers and professional operations with the resources to manage compliance, maintain U.S.-based inventory, and absorb rising fees. Independent sellers who built their businesses on cross-border accessibility may retreat, leaving the market narrower and more centralized.

For buyers, this marks the end of an unusually open era of affordable, globally sourced fashion. The days when a shopper in Boston could effortlessly purchase a $250 vintage YSL flap bag from Spain and have it arrive duty-free are gone. Even domestic sellers will be affected, since those who import inventory ahead of time must now price in the duties they already paid—meaning that same Dior saddle bag offered by a U.S.-based Boston seller will carry a higher tag to offset the costs of sourcing. In their place comes a new reality of calculation, where landed-cost estimates, tariff breakdowns, and the looming possibility of “double duty” on returns weigh heavily over what was once the simple joy of discovery.

In that sense, the end of the de minimis exemption is not just a policy shift—it is a cultural turning point. It redraws the boundaries of the global resale economy, stripping away much of the frictionless appeal that made marketplaces feel borderless. Buyers and sellers alike are about to be reminded that borders never really disappeared; they were only suspended for a time. Now they are back—and they are expensive.

© 2025 Stefany Bags Shoes and More