Landed

A letter to indie studios shipping merch to Europe

Early access · nothing has shipped yet

Send one carton. Your EU backers get a local parcel.

Three rule changes made every reward parcel to Europe its own customs event. I'm building a hub in the Netherlands so your rewards clear customs once, as one carton, and your EU backers get a parcel posted inside the EU with nothing to pay at the door.

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October 2026

Dear studio,

If you've run a campaign with a plush, a pin set or an art book in it, you've probably had one of two conversations with an EU backer. Either the reward arrived along with a bill at the door, or it never left, because you switched off EU shipping.

That isn't carelessness. Three rules changed under your feet, and each of them is charged per parcel.

  1. 13 December 2024 · A name in Europe

    The EU's General Product Safety Regulation starts applying. A product sold to EU consumers needs an economic operator established in the EU who answers for it, and that operator's name and contact details travel with the product.

    Regulation (EU) 2023/988

  2. 29 August 2025 · The US door closes too

    The United States ends duty-free de minimis for parcels from every country. This one matters if you're a UK, EU or Japanese studio with American fans, and it's the second hub on my list.

    US Customs and Border Protection

  3. 1 July 2026 · €3, item by item

    The EU's €150 customs-duty exemption for low-value parcels is replaced, as an interim measure, by a flat €3 duty for each tariff classification in the parcel. A reward with a plush and a pin set pays it twice.

    European Commission

Put together, the parcel is the wrong unit now. Each one is its own customs event, its own VAT collection, its own label check and its own chance of being refused at the door. So I'm building Landed, and I'd like to build it with a handful of studios first. Here's the idea.

Count the customs events

Drag to your backer count. The written quote does the money; this just counts.

250

Parcel by parcel

One carton

Events per route
Parcel by parcelOne carton
Customs events2501
VAT collections2501 set-up, arranged in writing
Label checks2501, before anything leaves you
Chances of a refusal at the door250Posted inside the EU, nothing to pay at the door

Counts only. Your written quote lists every partner cost on its own line.

  1. Quote it before you pack it.

    Tell me your reward items, unit values and how many EU backers you have, and you get a per-parcel landed cost for the carton route next to the parcel-by-parcel one, with every partner cost on its own line.

  2. One carton crosses once.

    You ship one carton or pallet to a partner warehouse in the Netherlands, a licensed customs broker clears it as a single commercial import, and the EU responsible person and the VAT set-up are arranged with named partners, in writing, before anything leaves you.

  3. Your backers get a local parcel.

    Upload your Kickstarter or BackerKit export, and each EU backer gets a parcel posted inside the EU with nothing to pay at the door. Tracking numbers come back in your pledge manager's import format.

What the first studios get

  • A landed-cost quote for your next EU delivery, built by hand by me, with both routes side by side
  • A partner warehouse in the Netherlands for receiving, storage and pick-and-pack at the partner's own rates
  • Customs entry through a licensed broker, as one commercial import instead of hundreds of small ones
  • An EU responsible person appointed for your studio through a named compliance provider, in writing
  • Your studio's Dutch VAT set-up arranged through a named VAT partner, with its cost shown in your quote
  • Backer import and tracking write-back for Kickstarter and BackerKit exports
  • Steam keys emailed to each backer when their parcel ships, if your edition includes one
  • The option to keep leftover stock in the hub afterwards, so your store can say yes to EU orders

What it costs

Landed charges for the software and the coordination. The partners charge for the boxes, the shelves and the paperwork, at cost, and every line is in your quote before anything ships.

One EU delivery

$199 per batch + $1.50 per parcel

For one reward delivery: the quote, the carton paperwork, the batch import, the pick list, tracking write-back and Steam keys.

Reserve a delivery slot

Stock that stays

$49 a month per hub + $1.50 per order

Keep leftover stock in the hub and route your store's EU orders to it, with a monthly stock report.

Reserve a delivery slot

Compliance upkeep

$19 a month + the provider's fee at cost

Your responsible-person appointment, label data and documents kept current as the rules change. The provider's annual fee is passed through at cost.

Reserve a delivery slot

Partner costs at cost, billed by the partners directly: freight to the hub, customs entry, duty and import VAT, receiving, pick and pack, postage, storage, the responsible-person provider and the VAT registration. Reserving a slot is free.

If you have a delivery coming up, or a store that's been saying no to Europe, tell me about it below. I read every reply myself and answer within two business days. A reserved month tells me when to book partner capacity. It's free, and it commits you to nothing until there's a written quote you've agreed to.

Thanks for reading,

Alek, building Landed

P.S. If your campaign page currently says "EU shipping to be confirmed", you're exactly who I'd like to hear from.

Reserve a delivery slot

Six quick questions about your next EU delivery. Only the ones marked optional can be skipped.

What's in the box? (tick all that apply)
That number is...
Would you send one carton to an EU hub for domestic delivery?

I'll only use your email to reply about Landed. No newsletter.

Got it. Thank you.

I'll reply from my own inbox within two business days with what I'd need to quote your delivery. If you reserved a month, it's pencilled in, and it commits you to nothing until there's a written quote you've agreed to.

Questions studios ask

Is this live?

Not yet. I'm lining up the partner warehouse, the customs broker and the compliance providers now, and the first batches are planned for 2027. That's why this is a reservation, not a checkout.

Who is the importer, and who is the responsible person?

Never Landed. Your studio is the importer, cleared through the partner's licensed customs broker. The EU responsible person is a named compliance provider appointed for your studio in writing. Landed is the software and the coordinator between them.

What about VAT?

Keeping stock in the Netherlands means your studio needs a Dutch VAT set-up. I'll arrange it through a named Dutch VAT partner and put its cost in your quote. If you use Kickstarter's pledge manager, Kickstarter's help pages say it collects VAT as the deemed supplier when a creator from outside the EU ships EU backers from an EU-based hub. I don't give tax advice; the VAT partner does.

Which countries do you deliver to?

The 27 EU member states. The UK, Norway and Switzerland have their own customs rules, and an EU hub doesn't cover them. A route for UK backers is on the list once the first hub works.

Will it be cheaper than posting each reward myself?

It depends on your batch. The carton route has fixed costs (freight, the customs entry, the VAT set-up), so it makes more sense the more parcels you have. Your quote shows both routes side by side, and if posting each parcel yourself comes out cheaper, the quote will say so.

What can't you take?

At launch: batteries, electronics, food, cosmetics and anything hazardous. Plush toys count as toys in the EU, so they need CE marking and test reports from your manufacturer, and I'll check that paperwork with you. Some countries, Germany for one, also require packaging registration from the seller. I'll tell you up front which of your backers' countries need it.

What does reserving a month mean?

It tells me which month to book partner capacity for. It's free, it isn't a contract, and you can cancel by replying to my email.

Who's behind this?

I'm Alek, a software developer. I build web products and the automation behind them, and Landed's quote engine and batch tools are the part I'm building myself. The warehouse, the customs entry and the compliance roles sit with licensed partners.

One carton. One crossing.

Tell me about your next EU delivery and I'll quote both routes.

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