Receiving Parcels from the EU Post Brexit....

[Nine One One]

What a mess - what happened to the oven ready deal!

It got well and truly BURNT

[jeremyg]

What a mess - what happened to the oven ready deal!

It got well and truly BURNT

Watch out boys. You’ll get your wrists smacked for going off-topic!

[knapmann]

Im seeing a lot of sellers putting "no shipping to UK" on there listings now but otherwise happy to ship anywhere, Im not sure why. Surely private sellers arent expected to VAT register? or are they? and if so, this would only be the case if the item was under £135 wouldnt it? My assumption is that if the items is over £135 (which it often is) that they just mail it as normal and state the >£136 value on the paperwork as normal and thats it. We pay the tax on arrival etc. I dont see why selling me something over £135 is any extra hassle for them vs sending something to the USA or other non-EU country, or am I missing something?

I received a parcel from France that arrived via parcelforce that was valued at 90euro, I was expecting to be hit with charges but must have got lucky for once. It was from a private seller.

I received a Fedex parcel from France that was valued at £300, Ive never got lucky with Fedex they charge everything, it did arrive in 2 days though.

[911hillclimber]

I'm not optimistic.
My wife ran an export department 45 years ago, so pre-EU. The job was simply laden with paperwork (no on-line then, just fax)
She exported weighing machines all over the world, every country was different so the number of staff was high and very experienced, all women, 3 of my engineers married 3 of them, me included!

She saw all this coming with the exit from the EU, and so is being proved right. The trucks are going through the same routine in many ways today now we are OUT.

I worked within the EU for many years and did Standards work too with all the EU countries and it was great, the EU machine worked in terms of selling and money but of course not all things are equal, are they ever?

Long way to go yet, hope Darren's optimism is right.
Deals are never oven ready for long, they always evolve, maybe they will become simpler and more efficient....

[Jonny Hart]

Regarding eBay sales, the VAT collection imposed on OMPs is being rolled out across the EU from July.

In other words, Brexit or not, it was happening anyway. U.K. just did it first, EU delayed it because the Germans and Dutch weren’t ready.

https://www2.deloitte.com/uk/en/pages/t ... ming.html/

https://www.avalara.com/vatlive/en/vat- ... plier.html

[Darren65]

Im seeing a lot of sellers putting "no shipping to UK" .......

.....I suspect that's currently an automatic Ebay thing so the seller can allow for VAT if need. However I'm sure this can only apply to businesses as you cannot charge VAT otherwise, the revenue in the UK don't expect VAT on private sales......

.....I expect Ebay will evolve too as things move on because too many people will deal outside the platform as I've just done and that'll cost!

My package still in Frankfurt after 9 days, will chase again tomorrow!!!

[knapmann]

Im seeing a lot of sellers putting "no shipping to UK" .......

.....I suspect that's currently an automatic Ebay thing so the seller can allow for VAT if need. However I'm sure this can only apply to businesses as you cannot charge VAT otherwise, the revenue in the UK don't expect VAT on private sales......

.....I expect Ebay will evolve too as things move on because too many people will deal outside the platform as I've just done and that'll cost!

My package still in Frankfurt after 9 days, will chase again tomorrow!!!

No, I have seen it on many items people are offering on 911 parts groups on Facebook and on listings on ESR as well.

[Jonny Hart]

^ In July, the EU will bring in new rules that largely mirror what the U.K. have done. So paperwork will change for interstate sales. Wonder if they will they stop selling to other member states?

It’s all to do with clamping down on tax fraud.

[904GTS]

As Jonny says the same will apply in the EU after July, so UK businesses will have to register for VAT in at least one EU country and businesses based in the EU will have to account for VAT in the country to which the goods are delivered rather than their own country. Similar to here this only applies to sales under 150 Euros. The thing causing problems is that there doesn't appear to be an option for the EU seller to send goods for the UK buyer to pay the VAT on import, and understandably the couriers won't take parcels without the correct documentation to prove the EU business has registered for UK VAT.
I haven't found anything which covers how sales between individuals are supposed to be handled ?

The widely abused £15 limit below which no import charges were made has been abolished and replaced by a £135 limit below which no import duty is charged, but VAT is due on all imports regardless of value and whether new or used, or sold by a business or individual. This applies worldwide not just to imports from the EU.

Over £135 the EU is now treated like the rest of the world and the courier has to collect the VAT and any duties and will charge a fee for doing so.

Adding to the confusion is that online market places like Ebay are now supposed to collect the import VAT, if the seller is a business their selling price is supposed to include UK VAT, if an individual, VAT will be added to the selling price by Ebay. In all cases the buyer now pays Ebay who pass it on to the seller less VAT and their fees. This works with items appearing on Ebay UK, but maybe not if trying to buy through Ebay Germany, France etc ? I haven't seen anything about how the courier and/or Customs are supposed to know that VAT has been paid this way, do Ebay issue some form of customs declaration to the overseas seller to pass on to the courier ? Will the couriers charge an administration fee to the buyer ?

It will be interesting to get peoples experiences as things hopefully settle down.

[camperco]

We are still waiting for a number of deliveries from regular suppliers in the USA. Both via eBay and purchased direct.

[912uk]

It's not getting any easier. I've a container coming in from China and it's normally $2100 but this last shipment is $5400 slashing the profit margin. Plus new import paperwork all expected.
Anything I am getting in from Europe is also slow with the main carriers.. The China train I use with another company got stopped, not in Russia or anywhere you would expect but no.. boarder of Europe.. Anything for the UK? yes... stop here.

It's a concern as I don't want to p155 off customers and a new product is seasonal. So I have to be careful to not end up with a whole load of stock I have to wait 6 months again to sell. Then it's storage fee's. We can use air freight but that went from £150 sqm to £1500 !!!!! joke really. So at the moment working out manufacturer in the UK...but raw materials still need to come in..

It will get better I am sure but Europe are being an arse...... there is no way round it but to play the game.

[911hillclimber]

I thought I had hit a 'Brexit' wall today for some vintage car parts, all £22 of them. At first it seemed the German supplier had erased 'United Kingdom' from it's shipping list of countries, but turned out they had not translated the German wording for the UK and insisted that they will continue to ship to UK now and in the future.
My wife seems to understand a 1,000,000 languages and spotted the translation thing.

Difficult having a clever wife....

[IanM]

Recently bought something privately in Italy and the seller took it the the post office (poste italiane) but the day after that there was a problem with despatching it. We've been told that:

Declarations over €20, an invoice must be added to the shipping forms, including a proof of purchase, no matter if the content is a gift or not.

How can this be if the seller is not a business?

[Jonny Hart]

Recently bought something privately in Italy and the seller took it the the post office (poste italiane) but the day after that there was a problem with despatching it. We've been told that:

Declarations over €20, an invoice must be added to the shipping forms, including a proof of purchase, no matter if the content is a gift or not.

How can this be if the seller is not a business?

Since forever, even if you post something 'personally' from a UK Post Office to -say- USA, you have to fill in a mini customs form usually on a sticky label.

Presumably, it would be exactly the same if the Italian seller was posting the the USA, or Australia on any other non EU country.

Do EU countries really never send outside of the EU? And we poke fun at the Americans for being insular?

[BILLY BEAN]

Each EU country and the individuals selling/ despatching/ posting seem to be making it up as they go along without a proper grasp of what is necessary.
My daughter who lives in Amsterdam wanted to post a 'registered' letter to me which contained an A4 (single sheet) legal document. She was required to complete a customs form stating the contents of the letter and its value. Idiotic. The letter arrived four days later.