We want to be transparent about recent changes affecting how we ship books to the United States. Some collectors have recently received unexpected invoices after receiving their books, and we’d like to explain what happened, what we’re doing about it, and what you can expect going forward. We’re deeply grateful for your patience and continued support as we navigate this evolving situation.

How Shipping Changed

On 29 August, 2025, the US government removed the de minimis threshold that had allowed low-value packages to enter the country without formal customs processing.

While books have traditionally been treated as tariff-free, every package entering the US now requires formal customs processing, which has introduced additional costs. Carriers such as UPS have added fees such as Entry Preparation, Disbursement, and Merchandise Processing to cover the extra work.

This caught us by surprise. Early shipments we sent just after the rule change were processed without incident, so we didn’t immediately anticipate the additional costs. But as carriers adapted to the new requirements—an enormous undertaking given the roughly four million packages that used to enter daily under the old rule—these charges began to appear.

Our Recent Experience

When our UPS account was temporarily unavailable, we shipped hundreds of books to the US via Canada Post. For each of these shipments, we paid a small pre-processing fee on our end that seems to have eliminated the need for USPS to broker packages once they crossed the border. So far we have not received any reports of collectors being charged additional fees on these shipments.

Once the UPS issue was resolved, we returned to using UPS for subsequent shipments. To our dismay, we later learned that some collectors received invoices from UPS after delivery—charges that were essentially brokerage or customs-related processing fees. To be clear, these were not shipping charges from us as all packages that leave our workshop have shipping costs paid in full, but a direct consequence of the new US import requirements and the additional work that needs to be performed by carriers.

Our Plan Going Forward

To reduce the chances of these fees appearing again, we’re now shipping all US orders via Canada Post. Canada Post hands off to USPS for final delivery, and we pay a small pre-processing fee on our end that should help packages clear customs more smoothly.

Using Canada Post is logistically and practically more challenging for us, and on average it is a little slower than UPS. Until now it hasn’t been our first choice for those reasons. However, under the current rules, it’s the best option to minimise unexpected fees.

If the de minimis threshold is reinstated in the future, we will likely return to using UPS, as collectors never experienced additional charges while the rule was in effect.

What to Expect

Canada Post shipments can take a little longer than UPS deliveries, but at present it offers the most predictable experience with the fewest surprises.

We can’t guarantee that no charges will ever appear—these depend on US Customs and carriers—but this approach is currently the best way to minimise them. Our priority is to keep deliveries as smooth and predictable as possible. 

Our Thanks and Appreciation

We know how frustrating unexpected charges can be, and we’re truly grateful for the patience and support you’ve shown as we adjust to these new rules.

Your commitment to collecting our books means a great deal to us, and we’re determined to keep making it as straightforward and simple as possible. We’ll continue to do our best adapt as policies and carrier practices evolve, and we’ll keep you informed along the way.

Thank you for staying with us through these changes—we’re honoured to have your trust and enthusiasm for the books we make.