Buying goods from the EU... now that we know what 'Leave' meant
- Thread starter Kelpie
- Start date
RobbieW
Well-known member
I may be a year or two out of date in this, but somehow I doubt it! Part of the problem is that some countries have embraced the online shopping and delivery far better than others. When in Licata, S Sicily, it was generally cheaper and a lot more reliable to order from UK and have the item shipped than order inside Italy where shipping could take 3-4 weeks. Some reliable online sellers have emerged, SVB24 for example, in other parts of the EU but theres a culture change for Brits to use them - and some of the product lines will be unfamiliar, we get used to what ASAP can supply and the quality of thier product.
JumbleDuck
Well-known member
Could you order from amazon.it instead? Your amazon.co.uk account works there too. I've regularly used amazon.de to have things shipped to Germany.
sailaboutvic
Well-known member
From their web site
Orders shipped after the 1st of January 2021 destined for countries outside of the UK and Northern Ireland will incur Import duties/tax.
sailaboutvic
Well-known member
Yes I can and I too tend to buy from Amazon de .
but funny enough they don't all sell the same brand .
Yellow Ballad
Well-known member
Well SVB24 have refunded me the VAT their end as they haven't shipped the order yet, ordered in December. I'll expect to get a letter from DHL (whomever) asking for the UK VAT which obviously I'm happy to pay I just didn't want to pay it twice!
Still a farce, along with the 90 day thing.
Still a farce, along with the 90 day thing.
dgadee
Well-known member
Yes, clearly, But you won't be paying UK VAT and they have experience of sending worldwide - unlike smaller firms.
CAPTAIN FANTASTIC
Well-known member
Just for clarity; Should we be describing Brit ex-pats as immigrants or migrants? (ex-patriate derives from Greek, which means "Exit/outside of the Fatherland"). Back to the main topic, today, I received my money back on an item that can no longer be delivered to the UK.
Frogmogman
Well-known member
What a great business The Wasabi Company is.
The Kyoto Kitchen Japanese restaurant in Winchester get fresh wasabi from them; off-the-scale brilliant, with some of their maki rolled in wasabi leaves, and fresh wasabi grated onto some dishes. Yum.
Buck Turgidson
Well-known member
Here in Switzerland I'm an Ausländer. 
Frogmogman
Well-known member
I think ex-pat or migrant implies you will be returning to your home country, whereas immigrant suggests that your move is permanent. An ex-pat is just posher/richer/whiter than a migrant.
sailor211
Active member
Why would the Vat and Duty not have be payable on goods from the USA. I have been hit by unreasonably high handling charges on items sent from USA and Canada.
Bobc
Well-known member
Just read an article stating that HMRC are expecting online platforms such as ebay and amazon to collect UK vat. VAT is to be charged and collected "at source" but for goods from China (where they have no hope in getting the VAT), they are holding the selling platform responsible for collecting the VAT. As a result, most Chinese products on these platforms are now 20% more expensive.
A good thing in my book. UK suppliers have to charge VAT, so it becomes a slightly more level playing field, and the VAT collected from ebay and Amazon will not be insignificant.
A good thing in my book. UK suppliers have to charge VAT, so it becomes a slightly more level playing field, and the VAT collected from ebay and Amazon will not be insignificant.
Yellow Ballad
Well-known member
John, Any idea what the breakdown of the charge was? Just the VAT or did DHL throw a handling charge on top?
CalicoJack
Active member
My son wanted a RipCurl wetsuit hood to go with his wetsuit. He was charged a £6 handling fee to cover the cost of importing it into the UK.
dgadee
Well-known member
Was that import duty, VAT and handling or just the handling fee?
dgadee
Well-known member
What will be interesting in the longer term future is what happens to trademark law in the UK. We currently work under the EU's regime - 'fortress Europe' it had been termed - where trademark owners can control imports from outwith the EU and prices in ways that they were never able to do before (when trademarks were just a mark of origin). One of the instances which started this off was someone selling Arsenal scarves outside their games and which went to the European Court of Justice. Trademark rights now mean that no-one can 'parallel import'. That's why Levi jeans cost so much more in Europe than if you buy them on Broadway. And why brand owners have become mega rich. Will there be 'getting back control' I wonder.
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john_morris_uk
Well-known member
DHL claim not to charge a handling fee IIRC
Here’s a copy of a bit of the receipt they emailed me;
It was a circumnavigation courtesy flag set (most of the common cruising countries visited in the world!) for $249. Cost including shipping $264 and for 67 flags I thought it a reasonable deal
Depending on the exchange rate £47.03 is 25% so it appears that it’s the EU VAT rate fir lots of places. This is confusing as our VAT rate is 20% which is what I assume I’d have to pay.
Even with tax it’s about £4 per flag. And no panicking about upsetting officialdom when you arrive somewhere.
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john_morris_uk
Well-known member
They would be, but it’s a bit of a lottery as to whether you get charged or not in my experience. I have imported several items of electronics from The USA and usually pay, but some items get categorised as tax/import duty free for reasons that escape me.
SvenH
Active member
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