Shipping from Turkey to US marketplaces: why produce in the US?

Someone selling to the US from Turkey through Etsy or eBay has two options: produce the item in Turkey and ship every order to the US one by one, or have it produced in the US, close to the buyer, and ship it domestically. For POD products like t-shirts, sweatshirts and hoodies, this decision determines whether the business is sustainable.

In this post we cover the cost items of shipping single international packages, the changes to US customs rules in 2025 and 2026, and what producing in the US gains the seller. Customs rules can change often; check the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) pages for the current situation.

What does the American buyer expect?

American buyers are used to domestic shipping speeds and trackable shipments. Buyers factor the estimated delivery time shown on the listing into their purchase decision. When delivery takes longer, buyers send more "where is my order" messages, ask to cancel or leave a low rating. For items bought as gifts, a delay means missing the occasion.

The layers of shipping one package at a time from Turkey

• Shipping cost: international shipping can be a cost item that exceeds the product cost of a single t-shirt.
• Time: the shipment passes through several stages, including customs in both the origin and destination countries.
• Customs: every package is subject to US entry procedures and applicable duties.
• Returns and exchanges: for a wrong size or defective item, sending the product back to Turkey isn't practical.
• Inventory: producing in Turkey and shipping often means buying stock in advance; unsold products stay on your hands.

The customs exemption for small packages is gone

For many years, the US exempted shipments valued at $800 or less from customs duties under the "de minimis" exemption. That was a significant advantage for sellers shipping individual packages from abroad. The picture has changed:

• Under an executive order that took effect on August 29, 2025, duty-free de minimis treatment was suspended for low-value shipments from all countries. According to CBP, shipments of $800 or less are now subject to all applicable duties, taxes and fees.
• A new executive order issued in February 2026 confirmed that the suspension remains in place.
• On June 24, 2026, CBP, through rules published in the Federal Register, suspended the de minimis exemption indefinitely for shipments of $800 or less arriving by any means other than postal mail; these shipments now require a formal or informal customs entry.
• For postal shipments, the indefinite suspension and a new postal customs entry process took effect on July 24, 2026.

As a result, every small package going from Turkey to the US is now subject to customs procedures and duties. That burden either gets passed into the product price or can turn into a bad experience, such as the buyer having to pay extra at the door.

What does producing in the US change?

In the POD model, the product is never shipped out of Turkey. You run your store from Turkey; when an order comes in, a producer in the US prints it and ships it to the buyer from within the US. International shipping, customs entry and import duties don't come into play on the shipping side.

Showing shipping information correctly on Etsy

Etsy asks sellers who work with a production partner to disclose this transparently on the relevant listings. According to Etsy's production partners help page, after you disclose a partner, you also need to update your listings' shipping locations to reflect where the item actually ships from. If your product ships from a producer in the US, show that correctly in your shipping profile.

Producing in the US with Custombull

Custombull is not a manufacturer, it is a platform: your orders are printed, packed and shipped in our partner producer network in the US, by the producer best suited to each order. In the last 60 days, half of all orders shipped in under 2.8 days (median, from order to shipment). Since February 2026, more than 11,000 orders have been printed and shipped through this network.

• Orders come in automatically from your Etsy, Shopify, eBay or Amazon store.
• The correct design file for each order is found automatically and made print-ready.
• Orders from the same customer are combined and shipped in one package.
• Every order gets a tracking page with your store name, logo and color, in the customer's language; the customer can ask questions and send personalization requests.
• Custombull checks and guarantees the quality of every product. For a defective item, you report it with a photo from the order screen; you're refunded with no questions asked or the item is reprinted for free. You don't need to request returns to Turkey or ship anything from Turkey.

Frequently asked questions

I also sell handmade products from Turkey. What should I do?

For handmade and custom products, shipping from Turkey may still be the only option. In that case, build customs duties and procedures into your pricing and clearly tell buyers about possible extra charges in the listing. You can run both models together by having your POD products made in the US.

Will the buyer see that the product is sold from Turkey?

The buyer follows the order on a tracking page that opens with your store name, logo and color. The product reaches them from within the US.

Is this customs change permanent?

CBP's June 2026 rules say the exemption is suspended indefinitely. But trade regulations can change; follow the current situation on CBP's official pages.