The Minu Etsy Shop will reopen 20 August 2026 \(^-^)/
People have been asking me to ship further than New Zealand and Australia, and after considering the folly of doing such a thing at a time where the world seems to have conspired to make shipping internationally impossible for artists and small makers, I will reopen my Etsy shop on 20 August 2026.
This is a trial restricted to six countries to start: Japan, the UK, Canada, Singapore, South Korea, and the US. If you’re in one of these places and you’ve had your eye on a paper mache creature or a print, this is for you.
I want to be upfront about the fact that shipping isn’t cheap—it’s ridiculously expensive. International tax and customs rules have turned into a Gordian knot. Shipping from New Zealand as a small business, I only have access to expensive courier services at double and triple the rates bigger sellers get. Etsy collects and remits the tax at checkout, but not tariffs which the courier services manage and charge back to me. This is genuinely the only way to make it possible for artists to ship, for example, to the US at all. Unintelligible packaging laws make shipping to Europe impossible. For shipping to the UK, orders under $250 ship as normal; above that, you will need to get in touch so I can make sure you understand that you might be charged additional custom fees by your local customs office.
So why bother, if it’s this much friction? Because I’d rather offer an imperfect way for you to bring one of my creatures home than no way at all. Small and strange things deserve to travel too.
Shipping costs
I’ve priced it as honestly as I can, not to make a margin off it. After running a few scenarios through rate finders, I decided on two flat rate shipping profiles for the first trial:
- Small works over $250, NZPost Courier
- Small works under $250, NZPost Economy Tracked
The main reason is that the cheaper NZPost Economy Tracked service is restricted to orders up to $250. The NZPost Economy Plus, with a cover up to $2500, is only cheaper for larger or heavier boxes, so I will revisit this if I extend the trial.
| Country | Small works under $250, NZPost Economy Tracked | Small works over $250, NZPost Courier | ||||
| One item | Additional item | Delivery time (days) | One item | Additional item | Delivery time (days) | |
| New Zealand | $20 | $10 | 3-7 | $20 | $10 | 3-7 |
| Australia | $40 | $20 | 7-21 | $60 | $30 | 7-21 |
| Canada | $50 | $25 | 7-21 | $100 | $50 | 7-21 |
| Singapore, South Korea, Japan | $45 | $22.50 | 7-21 | $90 | $45 | 7-21 |
| UK | $50 | $25 | 7-21 | $100* | $50* | 7-21 |
| US** | $180 | $90 | 7-21 | $180 | $90 | 7-21 |
*For orders over $280, local customs fees apply in the UK. If you are happy to cover these with your local customs office, send me a quick message, and I will list a custom order for you.
**Shipping to the US is only available via Express Courier for a small-business account so the higher costs apply to the lower tier as well.
I’ll be watching how the trial goes and adjusting as I learn. Thank you for being patient with me while I figure out the logistics of a system that is dead set against small makers.
New here? I am New Zealand-based writer, artist and maker Minu Freitag. If you like this post, why not sign-up to my newsletter to keep in the loop!
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