Post Denmark damage international ecommerce

National Danish mail company Post Denmark has begun charging a $5 fee (in Danish) for most packages imported to Denmark from countries outside EU. This fee is making it less likely that Danish consumers will buy from ecommerce sites in US and other countries outside the EU.

Contrary to their previous practice Post Denmark also add the fee to B2B packages. The changed practice is not only increasing Post Denmark's turn-over. It is also affecting the entire B2B user experience as it adds an extra task to Danish users' purchase process. In particular, corporate customers in Denmark must now spend money and time to pay the $5 fee in cash to get a package they already paid online.

The fee is easily making non-EU ecommerce stores less competitive in Denmark. Example: When a user buys a $10 book or other commodity from a US ecommerce store, he will be charged the usual transportation fee, Post Denmark's fee, and 25% Danish sales tax plus. $18.75 in total. Buying the same book from, say, a UK bookstore would automatically save the user $5.

I estimate that Post Denmark earn $8 million/year directly from this fee. The estimate assumes that the fee is added to 5% of all packages handled by Post Denmark. Easy way to exploit a governmental monopoly and make a few extra bucks on things you already do!

Kristoffer Bohmann

Post Denmark damage international ecommerce

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