Small shipments to and from Bulgaria: how to send them
A small shipment is one to three cartons of up to 30 kg each, where transport costs a lot against what the goods themselves are worth. KG Cargo arranges this kind of shipment two ways — through a courier network, or as ordinary freight forwarding — choosing whichever serves the customer and the rules that apply.
To quote your shipment we need weight per carton, dimensions, type of goods, and destination.
When and who sends small shipments
On most business shipments transport is a small share of the total cost. Small shipments are the exception. Carriage runs high against the invoice value of the goods, and sometimes against what the products cost to make. Businesses send them anyway, under particular circumstances.
Those circumstances are:
- samples for a customer, or for product approval;
- materials for a trade fair;
- an urgent delivery, where the deadline outranks the cost;
- e-commerce, where this is simply how the goods move;
- a new business or a market test, before there is any volume.
Small shipments look roughly like this:
| What it means | |
|---|---|
| up to 30 kg | the standard limit for a single transport package |
| over 90% up to 25 kg | what we see in practice |
| 60/60/40 cm | usually the largest a single carton gets |
| one to three cartons | the usual span of one shipment |
How it travels: courier or freight forwarding
Through a courier network
Couriers sell one integrated service: collection from the address, the transport, delivery to the address, and for non-EU shipments the customs work as well. All of it in a single service. Most couriers also give you online tracking.
The standard limit for a single transport package on those networks is 30 kg, and over 90% of parcels stay under 25 kg. Above that, handling moves off the automated line the couriers run in their main sorting centres.
KG Cargo works with the large networks — DHL, FedEx, and UPS — and with a good number of local European couriers. That gives customers a real choice of delivery for their small shipments instead of one fixed answer.
Customs clearance comes inside the service, though plenty of customers prefer an outside broker when the customs case is not a standard one.
Couriers do restrict what they carry. Most of them refuse these goods as a matter of policy:
- excise goods
- valuables
- live animals
- dangerous goods, with exceptions under set conditions — lithium-ion batteries and dry ice among them
- food that needs temperature control
- goods under border control
Cargo type decides as much as weight does. A 300-gram power bank can be refused, or need a special regime and extra cost, while a 25 kg carton of textiles goes through without a question. Where the goods are dangerous without looking it, the refusal usually arrives after collection.
Through freight forwarding
Forwarders put each shipment together on its own. Weight, delivery terms, the type of goods, dimensions, whether it stacks, and the customs value all feed the choice of carrier, route, and regime.
A forwarder is not a carrier. It is closer to an organiser and coordinator of the whole logistics process behind one delivery. It arranges the carriers, the port and airport operators, collection and delivery from terminal to final address, the customs work, and the documents.
Because the stages are arranged separately, the delivery can follow your terms of sale. Sell FOB Sofia Airport and cost and responsibility split exactly there; a forwarder can do that, a courier cannot.
That flexibility asks for more coordination. The shipment moves on separate documents — waybills, bills of lading, CMR — and there is usually no single link that tracks the whole route.
KG Cargo is a freight forwarder and arranges transport by air, sea, road, and rail. On request we take on customs representation and offer cargo insurance. We also arrange warehousing, loading and unloading, and other specialised logistics services.
Which channel for which shipment
The table sets out where the two channels actually differ.
| Criterion | Courier | Forwarder |
|---|---|---|
| Typical shipment | up to 30 kg per piece, 1–3 cartons | many cartons, pallets, heavy or out-of-gauge cargo |
| Transit time | express 1–2 working days · economy 2–4 working days · with a local courier outside DHL, UPS and FedEx 2–8 working days | road in Europe 2–8 working days · air 1–10 days · sea 30–90 days |
| Delivery model | one integrated door-to-door network | a route built for each shipment |
| Cargo types | general cargo; dangerous, excise, valuables, live animals and temperature-controlled goods all drop out | not limited by a network — the route is built around the cargo; air, sea, road, rail; dangerous and project cargo |
| Customs clearance | inside the service | a separate, managed stage |
| Incoterms 2020 | door-to-door only; does not split responsibility | takes any term — EXW, FOB, DAP |
| Your control | locked once collected | can be held, split or rerouted stage by stage |
Five cases from practice:
- Cartons totalling around 60 kg, 20 kg each, delivered within Europe. A courier is usually the best answer, on both transit and handling.
- One pallet, 80/60/60 cm, 80 kg. This goes to a forwarder.
- Door-to-door Europe to the USA within 2 working days. Courier.
- The same route within 2 calendar days. Courier or forwarder, depending on the departure time and the flight available; next-flight-out works here too.
- Two cartons of 15 kg from China. A typical courier shipment, if a courier will take it. If the cargo is dangerous and the network refuses it, air freight through a forwarder is what is left. Sea, at this size, is not an offer: 30–90 days against days.
On door-to-door deliveries the break-even runs up to about 60 kg for some destinations. Below it a courier network usually does the job. Above it, compare the two.
Documents and customs rules
For deliveries outside the EU the minimum set of documents travelling with the shipment is an invoice or a proforma invoice, a packing list, and a customs tariff code (eight digits, under the Combined Nomenclature). Depending on the cargo and the regulations in force, more may be required. The documents are the same on both channels, whether a courier carries the shipment or a forwarder arranges it.
Import into the EU
From 1 July 2026 the relief for consignments under EUR 150 is gone.
In its place, until 1 July 2028, a temporary duty of EUR 3 per item applies to consignments up to EUR 150. It is charged per tariff heading, not per parcel: five identical shirts come to EUR 3, a shirt and a pair of trousers to EUR 6. The simplified declaration stays. The regime mostly touches small shipments, since that is where the value tends to sit under EUR 150, and the declarant can choose between the standard declaration and the simplified one.
Consignments under EUR 150 are not exempt from being declared. That threshold governed the duty, not the declaration process.
The EUR 3 regime is transitional, until 1 July 2028. From 1 November 2026 Product Identifiers become mandatory.
Export from the EU
The EU charges no export duty, so there is no European threshold to be relieved of. For certain countries and certain customs codes you may be asked to sign a declaration that the goods are not subject to export control — that they are not dual-use.
The de minimis threshold, which sets the value below which no duty is owed on import, belongs to the destination country:
- USA — the USD 800 threshold has been suspended for all countries since 29 August 2025, and the CBP rules of 24 June 2026 suspend it indefinitely. Every commercial shipment needs a full entry and a ten-digit tariff code.
- United Kingdom — the GBP 135 relief still applies. Its removal was brought forward to 1 October 2028.
For other destinations we check the threshold case by case.
To find out what a small shipment will cost, send us the weight of each carton, dimensions, type of goods, destination, and deadline; for dangerous goods, its details as well. What else belongs in an enquiry.
Frequently asked questions
Can a courier handle a 50 kg shipment?
Yes. DHL, UPS, and FedEx take up to 70 kg per piece on their networks, so 50 kg passes without a technical problem. The cost climbs quickly above the standard weights, though, and a shipment like that rarely pays for itself unless the transit time demands it. For urgency a courier stays the fastest route; on ordinary deadlines, compare it against forwarding.
Can I send lithium batteries by courier?
It depends on the battery and on the individual courier. Lithium-ion and lithium-metal batteries are Class 9 under the IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations — UN3480/3481 and UN3090/3091 — and standalone batteries are barred from passenger aircraft, travelling cargo aircraft only. Since the 67th edition (2026), state of charge in cargo mode is capped at 30%. Each courier adds its own conditions on top, so send us the details and we check the case.
How do you insure a small shipment?
Couriers offer cover for the full declared value at a premium of around 1%, with a fixed minimum. That is separate from the courier’s liability as a carrier, which follows its own terms and the convention limits — 22 SDR/kg by air and 8.33 SDR/kg by road. Where the goods are worth more, a standalone cargo policy under ICC clauses usually fits better. Which one applies is a per-shipment call.
Do I have to declare a shipment under EUR 150?
Yes. Consignments under EUR 150 are not exempt from being declared. A declaration is filed for them too, using the simplified H7 dataset. Until 1 July 2028 a temporary duty of EUR 3 per tariff heading applies to consignments up to EUR 150.
Who pays the EUR 3 duty on import into the EU?
The declarant — the seller, the importer, an IOSS user, or their representative. The duty is a liability of the business filing the declaration, and it is not collected from the consignee at the door. It is charged per tariff heading, not per parcel: five shirts come to EUR 3, a shirt and a pair of trousers to EUR 6. The regime runs until 1 July 2028.
When does a small shipment become a forwarding job?
When it leaves the parameters a courier network handles automatically, or when the network will not take the cargo at all. On door-to-door deliveries the break-even runs up to about 60 kg for some destinations: below it a courier usually does the job, above it the comparison is worth making. One pallet of 80/60/60 cm at 80 kg is a forwarding shipment whatever the deadline.
KG Cargo arranges small shipments both through courier networks and as freight forwarding. Send us the parameters of yours and you get a quote naming the channel and the terms that come with it.
Or write to us directly at sales@kgcargo-bg.com. Contact
