Ship to the Baltics without a warehouse in 2026

For a shop in Germany, France or the Benelux, the Baltics are three small markets at the far end of the parcel network. Customers there buy online, pay in euro and are used to parcel lockers. What holds foreign shops back is the label: a cross-border parcel costs more than five times a domestic one. This article is for EU shops that want Baltic customers without a Baltic warehouse. It compares the three countries, suggests which one to start with, and sets out what you need for VAT.

What a parcel costs, country by country #

The rates below are carrier prices without any AirPost fee, from the European shipping rates index, measured on 26 September 2026. Each is the cheapest service found for that route and weight.

From Germany the rate is the same €11.80 to all three, so the cross-border side does not help you choose. The domestic side does. Latvia is the cheapest at 2 kg, Estonia charges the same flat rate from 2 kg to 10 kg, and Lithuania is in between but has three carriers where the other two have one.

Which Baltic country to start with #

A sender in Lithuania ships Lithuanian domestic parcels. Serving all three countries at domestic rates means three senders, each with their own batch of stock. That is too much to start with for most shops, so pick one.

Rule one: follow your own orders

Your order history already tells you where your Baltic customers are. If two thirds of them are in Lithuania, that is where the first batch goes, whatever the rate table says. The saving per order is similar in all three countries; the number of orders is not.

Rule two: heavy products favour Estonia

In Estonia the cheapest domestic rate was €2.17 at 10 kg, the same as at 2 kg. In Latvia and Lithuania 10 kg costs €3.29 and €3.63. If you sell heavy or bulky items and your orders are spread evenly, Estonia gives you the lowest label per order.

Rule three: carrier choice favours Lithuania

Lithuania is the only one of the three where your sender can choose between carriers on our rate card: LP Express, Omniva and Venipak. That gives your customer a choice of locker networks at checkout, and gives you a fallback when one carrier has a bad week. In Estonia and Latvia your sender ships with Unisend.

Whether a sender in one Baltic country can also ship to its neighbours, and at what price, is on the shipping options page per origin. How big the first batch should be is in how much stock to send a sender first. The broader question of where in Europe to hold stock is in where to hold stock in Europe.

Parcel lockers are the default #

Across the Baltics, a parcel locker is what many customers pick first at checkout. They choose a locker near home or work, get a code on their phone and collect when it suits them. It is the same habit as the InPost paczkomat in Poland.

Every domestic service on our rate card in the three countries delivers to a locker. Unisend, LP Express and Omniva also deliver to the door; Venipak goes to a locker only. Size limits differ: Unisend in Estonia and Omniva take up to 64 × 39 × 38 cm, Unisend in Latvia and LP Express up to 74.5 × 61 × 35 cm. Check your largest box against the carrier your sender uses before you send stock.

From Germany, the cheapest cross-border services deliver to the door. A parcel that starts in the country can go to any locker of that carrier. The trade-off country by country is in pickup point vs home delivery in Europe.

Delivery time #

The domestic services in all three countries list delivery within 3 working days on the shipping options page. From Germany the standard cross-border services list 3 to 5 working days, and an express service 2. These are the carriers’ own service levels, not guarantees, so do not promise a day at checkout that the carrier does not promise itself.

Returns from Baltic customers #

Consumers in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania can withdraw from an online purchase within 14 days without giving a reason, as anywhere in the EU. Shipping from Germany, a return is another cross-border parcel at the same rate as the outbound one.

With stock in the country, a return can go to your sender, if they accept returns: their profile then shows a "Returns" badge with their price per return. They report a received return in the chat with five photos. You review them and accept the return, and only then pay their return price plus the €0.85 platform fee. Until you decide, the parcel stays with them.

VAT #

Cross-border sales to consumers in other EU countries have a threshold of €10,000 a year, across all EU countries together. Below it, you usually charge your own country’s VAT. Above it, you charge the customer’s VAT, 24% in Estonia since 1 July 2025 and 21% in Latvia and Lithuania, and declare it through the One-Stop Shop (OSS) instead of registering in each country.

The detail is in VAT when you store stock in another EU country. Moving your own goods into the country for the batch is usually reported as a transfer of own goods; your accountant will know how that works in your home country.

How this works with AirPost #

1. 1

   Create an account

   It takes about 20 seconds with just your email address. No intake call, no contract, no minimum.

2. 2

   Find a sender in your first country

   On /en/senders. Every sender’s identity and payout account are checked before they get stock or orders. Check which carriers and parcel sizes they offer.

3. 3

   Send a test batch

   Your products and your own packaging, about a month of orders for that country. Your other stock stays with you.

4. 4

   Send the orders

   In the chat, with the address and the size. Your sender only sees the address once they take the order. With Shopify, the Airpost Order Link app routes paid orders automatically and sends the tracking code back to your store.

5. 5

   Your sender packs and drops off

   They pack the order and take it to a locker or point. If a parcel is lost or broken in transit, AirPost files the claim with the carrier.

6. 6

   Decide on the next country

   After a month, compare cost per order, delivery time and returns. If it works, add a sender in the second country. If it does not, ask for your stock back and it is returned within 14 days.

The full picture for shops is on local fulfilment in Europe.