International Shipping ~ August '26 Update

Not an update as such as nothing has really changed here at Edith & Audrey since this time last year, but with many small businesses announcing changes due to PPWR I thought a post clarifying my position on international shipping might be in order.

What is PPWR?

PPWR stands for Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation. It is a new regulation that has just been brought in by the EU. It's aim is to reduce the impact of waste on the environment and in principle is a good thing. However, it does not give independents, small and micro business any wiggle room, effectively closing the door on us as the set up can run into thousands of pounds. Many of us stopped selling to the EU when the GPSR (General Product Safety Regulation) came in due to the costs involved but for those who decided to pay the associated costs and appoint an 'authorised representative' so they could continue, PPWR feels like the final nail in the coffin and this is why you are seeing so many social media posts from artists and small business owners announcing that they're no longer shipping to Europe.

Does this affect Edith & Audrey?

No. I already made the decision to stop sales to the EU last year when the GPSR came in, not because my products don't meet safety requirements but because I just can't afford the costs involved. It does however affect a lot of small businesses that I don't want to see fail, so it's not an issue to ignore. There is currently a significant kickback and we're hoping changes to policy will be made to allow artists and small independent businesses to continue selling to Europe. So no, there are no PPWR related changes to Edith & Audrey as I no longer ship there anyway.

So what countries does Edith & Audrey ship to?

In addition to the UK (excluding Northern Ireland), I currently offer international shipping (through my Etsy store only) to Canada, Australia and New Zealand. However, I do keep my eye on world events and occasionally may need to temporarily switch off shipping to certain countries where there is a known issue affecting the postal system and deliveries. An example of this would be the Canada Post strikes in 2025.

Sadly, this year I made the decision to stop shipping to the US indefinitely. Since the the removal of the De Minimis and introduction of tariffs, orders from the US have dropped off significantly and the amount of work involved keeping up with the ever changing situation is simply not worth it for me any more. Perhaps one day things will settle enough for me to start shipping there again but at the moment it's just a bit of an unnecessary  headache.

I hope this helps clarify things a bit for any shoppers confused about all the PPWR posts on social media.

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