The reduction of tariffs for purchases abroad via courierthe imminent removal of the Country tax and the furor over purchases on Amazon with the “cheap” dollar, generated a reaction in Mercado Libre, the main electronic commerce platform in Argentina.
The company created by Marcos Galperin is preparing to allow its users to make purchases directly from sellers located in the United States and China. This will mean a historic change for the e-commerce site, which until now only offered products located in Argentine territory.
Mercado Libre would have already notified international sellers of the opening of the Argentine market for its operations from December 16. This is a system that already works normally in Mexico and Brazil, where the platform has a large number of products. that come directly from the United States or China.
International purchases in Mercado Libre: how the system will work
Already on November 16, Marcos Galperin anticipated the move through his X account: “~15% of what is sold in Mercado Libre México is of international origin (mainly China). This is what the publications look like. We have competed with everyone for a long time throughout Latam”.
In principle, for international purchases the same limitations in force for shipments by private courier would apply, which were made more flexible since December 1. In recent weeks, this system has gained popularity, given that it is the one that Amazon uses to deliver purchases – with free shipping – to its customers in Argentina.
And now, The national government decreed a relaxation in the restrictions that affected couriers. In this way, starting in December, Import limits went from US$1,000 to US$3,000 per shipment, an amount similar to that of other countries in the region.
Additionally, there are no tariffs for the first US$400 per shipment. In these cases, The products will only pay VAT. The condition is that the goods are acquired for personal use.
It remains to be confirmed whether Mercado Libre, which has not yet disclosed the details of the new system, will offer some type of integration with its Full shipping service within Argentina.. That is, the company itself receives the package from abroad and then sends it to its local client, which could represent a logistical advantage.
