Going International: What really happens when a small business ships around the world

As an online small business based in Australia, the ability to reach book lovers around the world has been both our greatest joy and biggest challenge to ensure we are both accessible, compliant, and sustainably open to our reading community.

We are first and foremost book lovers ourselves.

One of the most powerful parts of platforms like social media is the fact that a company based in Australia can reach the eyes of those in the UK, South America, North America, Africa, Asia and on and on and on. 

But seeing a small business on social media does not always translate so smoothly to existing in markets around the globe. So while readers can connect with us through platforms like Instagram or TikTok - purchasing a product isn’t always so simple.

So let's break it down: What goes into operating a small business at a global scale?

Community, Compliance, and Cost. 

Community: this is wholly in our control, and what we prioritise above all else. We want to make sure that our C&F community around the world can find us, connect with us (actually us, not a call centre), and have a positive experience whether that be chatting in DMs, questions about products, or any level of support along the way.

Compliance and Cost: these two relate to business operations rather than community connection, and directly impact our ability to be accessible, compliant and sustainably open to our reading community. This means ensuring we are legally operating within the specific requirements for each country or region, which is an ever-changing system.

Note that the following information is only based on our experience, and isn't reflective of every small business. Let's have a look at what compliance and the associated costs mean in the scope of Charlie & Fox as an online business at a very base overview (not an exhaustive list by any stretch of the imagination, and doesn't cover all things for all countries).

Domestic - within Australia | 33% of our market

• ~5% of all revenue goes to merchant fees (includes our online platform, PayPal, and Afterpay as the service for processing order payments)
• GST collection (10%) on all sales, which is remitted back to the government every three months
• compliance with work health & safety and adequate insurance (note our Australian insurance has global coverage) 
• managing annual price increases with postage without pushing the burden back to our AU community (applies to both domestic and international shipments)

 International - USA | 58% of our market

• as our biggest market, this has had the heaviest investment into market sustainability, especially with the changes to tariffs over the last 12 months
• up until June 2025, orders under $800USD could enter the US duty free under the de minimis exemption
• when the above exemption was ended, we made the move to set up a warehouse within the US so that duties and tariffs were already paid by us before shipping to our community. Expensive, yes, but not as expensive as losing 58% of our market overnight 
• fees also creep in, with ~5% to merchant fees and ~3% in currency conversion from international currency back to AUD before it lands with us 
• tax registration at a state-based level (monthly cost per state where nexus thresholds are met) 
• state-based employment compliance for our two US team members
  

International - UK | 2% of our market

• as with all international markets, we have the 5% merchant fees and 3% currency conversion fees
• we also collect VAT (20%) for UK and remit this back to HMRC quarterly so our UK friends aren't hit with a VAT bill and processing fees at customs (note this system applies to orders £135 or less)

International - NZ | 2% of our market

• 5% merchant fees and 3% currency conversion fee
• as of April 1st 2026, there is also a $2.21NZD levy per order 

International - EU | 1.5% of our market

• this is the market that has the highest cost for us in registrations and regulations + shipping cost
• up until July 1st when we paused shipping to the EU, this included:
  
  
  • A registered intermediary in the EU to collect and remit EU VAT under the IOSS system, which has a per-order fee and a monthly fee (this is outside of the VAT collected) 
  • A registered agent to manage our GPSR, which has an annual fee per product category
  • Note as the IOSS and GPSR registrations are both with an EU company, so we also pay a currency conversion fee with our bank to pay for the service
  • The average cost for us to ship an order from AU to EU was $19.41AUD (higher than any other region in the world), and we supplemented 80% of shipping costs to EU in the last 12 months yet the market didn’t grow beyond 1% of our total sales
  • We also had annual packaging compliance fees for France and Germany
  • At best we were breakeven, if just in the red for keeping this market open for our EU community, however we have had to hit pause given the following changes:
    • From July 1st, on top of VAT collection, there is also now a €3 customs fee on each unique item in each order – we’ve learned the hard way this really needs to be collected on our end and not at the border, as the latter results in either large customs processing fees to collect and remit the new duties, or the order being denied entry and RTS at our cost which isn’t a great experience for us or the receiver
    • From August 12th, Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) compliance applies which requires an authorised representation within the EU, as well as ensuring all obligations are covered
    • Separate to this, there is also a France EPR scheme which needs a French Authorised Representative to handle registration, reporting and payments
    • These services come at a cost (estimated to be somewhere between $1500-$3500 to establish + ongoing monthly or annual fees to maintain)

For our EU friends, trust me when I say we hear you on wanting to be able to grab your C&F treasures! We didn't make the decision lightly to pause shipping, we simply haven't found a viable option to cover all requirements and costs at this stage.

If you are looking for bookish merch that does ship to EU, one of our faves is Caffeine & Curses who we highly recommend!

Now that was a lot of information.

And the summary of it all? Every region, and every country has the potential to handle incoming packages and products differently, with the systems in place often coming with regulations and fees that must be done correctly to ensure legal compliance. 

Big corporations may have whole legal departments dedicated to ensuring that these regulations are followed, but for many small businesses, it’s up to founders and small teams to comb through document upon document for an understanding of how to operate. 

It’s not to say that full international market access can’t be done – it absolutely can.

However, the balance for us comes down to determining what can we do as a small business to ensure we’re compliant with each country’s requirements so our customers don’t have a bad experience (either with denied entry or large clearance fees at the border), while ensuring we can operate long term without major deficits that impact our ability to exist as a small business. 

Overall, we are mindful and diligent in ensuring we are covering all requirements for safely and legally sending C&F products both within and outside of AU/US.

Long story short – global sales & shipping can be done and can be worth it with the right balance of profit & loss, which can only be determined by each individual business and their market position. 

One thing that will never change no matter what, is that our mutual love of books connects us across oceans and continents, and having you on the journey with us is something we are truly, truly grateful for!

All my love,
Jess