Pipestud.com is no longer able to ship your orders directly to international addresses. Many of my international customers already use a freight forwarding service for their shipments, and you will need to secure a Freight Forwarding Service in the USA or in your country that will forward your purchases directly to you in your country.
The process is easy: if you live outside of the USA, when you make purchases on pipestud.com, simply provide the mailing address of the USA based Freight Forwarding service that you have contracted with in your website shipping information. Your packages will be shipped to that address and then forwarded to your address in your country, and they handle all customs requirements.
Again, many of my international customers are already using a USA based freight forwarding service to receive their purchases and then the Freight Forwarding Service will forward those purchases to the international shipping address that you provide to them. Starting on June 1, 2026, no international shipping addresses will be available for orders placed on pipestud.com. All international purchases must have a USA shipping address. Otherwise, the purchases attempted will be declined by the website system.
Here is a link that will provide you with many Freight Forwarding Service options for worldwide shipping: https://tinyurl.com/3422ck3p
Finally, I am sure that I will receive questions regarding the change. The answer is simple; it will eliminate many hours of work for me each week as I have to deal with the following issues by shipping internationally:
- High Shipping Costs & Cart Abandonment: International shipping rates are steep. Unexpected high shipping costs at checkout are a leading cause of cart abandonment.
- Customs, Duties, and Taxes: Packages are subject to foreign import duties and VAT. My international customers often face surprise fees upon delivery, leading to refused packages and customer service disputes.
- Longer Transit Times & Tracking Gaps: International shipping typically takes 1–3 weeks. Tracking visibility can also be inconsistent once a package leaves the USA and is handed over to a foreign postal service.
- Complex Returns Management: Processing international returns is expensive and logistically difficult. I have sometimes needed to cover return shipping, handle foreign customs for returned goods.
- Regulatory Compliance: I must accurately classify all products with harmonized system (HS) codes and properly fill out customs declarations. Incorrect paperwork can result in severe delays, fines, or package confiscation.
- Fraud Liability: International orders carry a higher risk of credit card fraud. Verifying foreign identities can be harder, and recovering lost funds or disputed charges across borders is nearly impossible.
I want to personally thank the many international customers who make purchases on my website, and I believe that your orders will be much more easily received by using a professional Freight Forwarding Service.
Thanks,
Steve
