Shipping Update (August 2026): What Has Changed at Esthetic Ants

There are a few important changes at Esthetic Ants that we want to be upfront about. Shipping rates, live animal orders from outside the EU, and a few honest thoughts on the state of parcel delivery in general.

Shipping rates have been updated

You may have noticed that shipping costs have changed. We will be honest: due to a very busy period, we fell behind on updating our rates. We have now done that, and unfortunately all rates have gone up. This is not something we are happy about, and we understand it is frustrating to see.

What makes it particularly difficult is how fast these costs are rising. Shipping used to be a small line item on most orders. It is now, in many cases, more expensive than the product itself. That is a genuinely uncomfortable reality, and we want you to know that we are not profiting from it. We price shipping as fairly as possible and make nothing on it.

We have tried to negotiate better rates. As a small company, however, we simply do not move enough volume to be interesting to the big carriers. They have no incentive to give us a deal, so we have none to pass on to you.

Live animals from outside the EU

We are no longer able to accept orders for live animals from outside the European Union through our standard checkout. If you have the correct import and export documentation, please send us an email and we can arrange a custom order. This change is due to regulatory requirements that we cannot accommodate through the automated checkout process.

The honest reality of shipping

Shipping is the most difficult part of running an online store. After labor, it is our single biggest cost. What makes it worse is that lost or damaged parcels must be fully refunded, and getting any compensation from carriers is rarely straightforward.

Nearly all of our negative reviews are about shipping. That stings, because the moment a parcel leaves our hands we have very little control over what happens to it. And it is not just the shipping cost itself. Add the box, packaging materials, labor, and the free items we include in every order, and the actual cost of getting your order to your door is significant. We price shipping as transparently as we can and do not make money on it.

Submitting claims or getting compensation from carriers is often a lost cause. They are effectively monopolies with little incentive to improve. Lost parcels, broken items, and fake delivery scans all happen. When we raise these issues, carriers point at us. When customers raise them, they are pointed back to us. Nobody takes responsibility, and there are no real alternatives to go to.

What we have stopped offering, and what we recommend

We have stopped offering DPD for Belgium. Parcels from the Netherlands to Belgium, a distance of a few hundred kilometers, were regularly taking more than ten business days. Packages were not being scanned, or were simply lost. When we raised this with DPD, they pointed at us. When customers raised it with them, they were sent back to us. Nobody took responsibility, so we removed the option.

Calling any of the major carriers for help tends to produce the same result: "You will need to contact the sender." We are the sender, and we have exactly the same tracking information you do. It is a frustrating runaround that benefits no one except the carrier.

If you are placing an order and want the most reliable experience, especially if it includes live ants, we recommend UPS Express. It is more expensive, but it is the carrier we have had the fewest problems with by a wide margin. For live animals in particular it is the fastest and safest option.

We appreciate your continued support and patience. None of this is ideal, and we wanted to be straightforward with you about where things stand. If you have questions about a specific order or shipping option, our contact page is always open.

The Esthetic Ants team