The Day the EU's New Tax Rule Landed on Everyone at Once

Today was one of those days where one policy change ate the whole team's afternoon. The EU's new import tax reform took effect on July 1st — an extra few euros charged per HS code category on every parcel — and by mid-morning we were explaining it, re-explaining it, and re-explaining it again in probably a dozen different chats. Same question every time: "wait, why is this extra charge on my invoice?" Totally fair question. We wrote the explanation so many times I could recite it in my sleep by dinner.

In the middle of all that, one of our longer-running store owners messaged to say they'd sold the business. New owners taking over the brand starting today, and the person we'd worked with for months was stepping back to travel for a bit before starting something new down the line. Genuinely nice message to get — thankful, a little wistful, the kind of goodbye you don't get often in this business. We spent part of the day helping untangle the backend so the handover could actually happen cleanly, which is its own small logistical puzzle when a store authorization needs to move between accounts.

On the new-client side, a couple of cold inquiries landed today through one of our intake numbers — someone hunting for a reliable agent to source a beach towel product they'd found with an MOQ too high for their liking, and separately someone after a supplier for custom printed mugs. Early-stage stuff, just people testing the waters and seeing who responds.

And because it's apparently that kind of day, we also spent a good chunk of time going back and forth with a beauty brand about nail polish pen colors — which shades to keep, which to drop, whether we could paint swatches on paper so they could actually see them before committing. Small thing, but it's the kind of detail work that eats an afternoon and nobody outside this business ever sees.