What I learned shipping mezcal to the United States

The first box I sent north sat in customs for four weeks. Not because of the mezcal, and not because of the paperwork everyone warns you about — because of six digits.

The code is not a formality

The harmonised system code decides the duty. Get it wrong and the shipment does not get rejected, which would at least be fast; it gets held while somebody who has never seen your product decides what it is. Four weeks, in my case, and a customer who never ordered again.

What I do now

I write the code on the listing before I write the price. If I cannot say what the code is, the product is not ready to sell across the border, and pretending otherwise costs more than the sale.