Postage from the EU

[robbo]

Is anyone else having problems with postage to and from the EU now that Brexit is complete?

I have had an order with an Italian supplier since November last year for a conversion but it was not completed until late December. He has now been told that Italy is not currently allowing shipment to the UK and he also need to register for customs declarations and that is going to cost him 700 euros. He cannot afford to do that for just one model so is having to cancel my order, not a happy bunny!

[Janval]

The good ol' import issue has caught up with you as I suspected! Customs fees and VAT. But 700 euros to register some papers sounds a bit extreme, unless it's an Italian thing for being able to export by the books.. Latter would be my guess, although it sounds strange.

What I can say is that for our sake, all abroad businesses can register and report revenues with Norwegian VAT in stead of say.. Italian or English. Almost nobody does this, except a selected few. In stead they will charge their own country's VAT which is bottomline just wrong by all accounts, then I would have to pay a customs fee as well as 25% VAT on top of everything in the end as well. It gets expensive real quick.

[CX820Joe]

You would think though, that if sellers have posted to (for example) America,  then it would be the same for posting to UK now we are out of the EU, just that we would have to expect to pay import charges on top of higher delivery costs?

Without getting political, I think it was great to be able to buy stuff from other EU countries and not have to pay over the top charges, and using T Toys as an example everything arrived very speedily.  I just have to avoid looking at the European sites now as am assuming the delivery costs will have rocketed. 

[robbo]

I suspect that this is also going to affect UK sellers going to the European shows (Zwolle) and also Euro sellers coming over to Spalding who may need to pay tax on their sales and purchases going forward.

I hope that doesn't stop us as collectors going to the Euro shows and that we do not have to pay tax on purchases when we get back to the UK. That would cost David an arm and a leg and Mr Softies car full doesn't bear thinking about  

[Stabliofarmer]

Bar Royal Mail suspending International shipping for a few days around New year's I've had no issues with posting out to Europe. I've had items going to The Netherlands and Slovenia in the last fortnight and should be shipping elsewhere in Europe this week. 

Postage costs have nearly doubled but the customs information required when using the Royal Mail Click and Drop website hasn't changed. All that's required is an item description, weight, value and number of units. Certainly not €700 worth of work! 

I am yet to receive anything from Europe and like you had an order cancelled for a trade box of Welly Scania from Germany. I may retry that order as it was placed just before Christmas. I am expecting a similar response to items from Japan or China above a certain value, where import charges are applied, plus Royal mails £8 handling charge, for each delivery. 

A side note here is that many of the cheap 1:32 diecast toy cars direct from China have doubled in price over Christmas. My assumption for this is that their delivery pathway uses somewhere in Central Europe as a hub, so items go China - Europe - UK and thus incure charges. 

[New Hollander]

47 minuten geleden, robbo zei:

I suspect that this is also going to affect UK sellers going to the European shows (Zwolle) and also Euro sellers coming over to Spalding who may need to pay tax on their sales and purchases going forward.

I hope that doesn't stop us as collectors going to the Euro shows and that we do not have to pay tax on purchases when we get back to the UK. That would cost David an arm and a leg and Mr Softies car full doesn't bear thinking about  

I´m not an expert on this subject, but I guess, when you guys want to visit a show such as Zwolle and buy some models, you are going to be taxed for customs by the UK.  

[robbo]

1 hour ago, New Hollander said:

I´m not an expert on this subject, but I guess, when you guys want to visit a show such as Zwolle and buy some models, you are going to be taxed for customs by the UK.  

That is certainly one of the issues to look out for. Does that mean that if we do come to the show and buy a model do we have to ask for an invoice to prove the price paid as that may be subject to 20% VAT in returning to the UK?

[New Hollander]

5 minuten geleden, robbo zei:

That is certainly one of the issues to look out for. Does that mean that if we do come to the show and buy a model do we have to ask for an invoice to prove the price paid as that may be subject to 20% VAT in returning to the UK?

not completely sure but I guess you´re right

[SPN]

The good news first.

Northern Ireland is in the UK and the EU at the same time, so there is an opportunity there, but you have to pay double shipping costs and you need someone in Norn Iron who will help you out (thankfully they are all helpful chaps n chapesses up that way)

The bad news (and there's lots of it)

HMRC requires any company, anywhere in the World, who wants to ship to the UK to register with them and collect VAT on their behalf. There is a cost to register, which may be the €700 referred to by Robbo. Most small businesses in the EU are not going to do that because it is not worth their while. This is causing a huge problem for UK bicycle shops in particular as they used to get all their parts out of Holland on a just in time basis.

One example of how ridiculous this is: Brooks make exceedingly good bicycle saddles in the UK. They ship all their product in bulk to a central warehouse in Italy from where it gets distributed out to customers. Because of the new HMRC rules and red tape, they have suspended all shipments to the UK.

So for the next couple of months, until Boris does his next U Turn, we can expect the whole thing to be a big mess.

Unless you are in Norn Iron, in which case you get the best of all Worlds.

 

[Tractorman810]

3 hours ago, robbo said:

That is certainly one of the issues to look out for. Does that mean that if we do come to the show and buy a model do we have to ask for an invoice to prove the price paid as that may be subject to 20% VAT in returning to the UK?

guess we wont be going if thats the case, takes off anything you saved there right away with the euro rate ,  all these little bits coming out now that the leavers didnt think about when banging their drums , bang goes our usual euro splash on the wine ect on the way back is out ,as customs limits are back on, extra insurance to travel ,  extra bits to do so you can drive in mainland europe, the list is endless

[smithy]

7 hours ago, robbo said:

Is anyone else having problems with postage to and from the EU now that Brexit is complete?

I have had an order with an Italian supplier since November last year for a conversion but it was not completed until late December. He has now been told that Italy is not currently allowing shipment to the UK and he also need to register for customs declarations and that is going to cost him 700 euros. He cannot afford to do that for just one model so is having to cancel my order, not a happy bunny!

Could you get it posted to a mate in Holland and then get them to send it on to you maybe or would they be in the same position  

[Tractorman810]

2 minutes ago, smithy said:

Could you get it posted to a mate in Holland and then get them to send it on to you maybe or would they be in the same position  

good idea,  then they post it on to you as a birthday present on the customs declaration , i know a few us sellers will do that if you ask, to avoid the tax, not many but some will .

[robbo]

6 minutes ago, smithy said:

Could you get it posted to a mate in Holland and then get them to send it on to you maybe or would they be in the same position  

That is under discussion at the moment.  This is a downside of collecting Italian tractors, the rare ones are in Italy

[SPN]

HMRC have updated their guidance as of today

As far as I can see the only loophole is to send via Northern Ireland as it is an internal market for both markets. (Only the Nordies could wangle their way into that sort of situation)

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/notice-143-a-guide-for-international-post-users/notice-143-a-guide-for-international-post-users

[trigger82]

I have 3 boxes like this coming from uk got one today so i just have to wait see if the other 2 come 

[justy 46]

Outside off trying to source models from ether UK to Europe or the other way round....its becoming a real messy  issue on all fronts . Supermarket shelves...manly fruit and vegies starting to get bare in many places like Tescos etc in both the North and Republic..Was talking to a truck driver 2 days ago that hauls alot to the UK..5 hours at a port on both sides off the Irish Sea is becoming a customs nightmare . It's starting to get very serious.

 

[Tractorman810]

8 minutes ago, justy 46 said:

Outside off trying to source models from ether UK to Europe or the other way round....its becoming a real messy  issue on all fronts . Supermarket shelves...manly fruit and vegies starting to get bare in many places like Tescos etc in both the North and Republic..Was talking to a truck driver 2 days ago that hauls alot to the UK..5 hours at a port on both sides off the Irish Sea is becoming a customs nightmare . It's starting to get very serious.

 

hence why most freight companies for the republic are going roscoff direct to dublin, so stenna have moved a brand new boat from the uk route to add capacity,suspect others like irish will do the same, will poss be a death nail for the uk ports mind, if they loose 50 plus % of their trade ,certainly isnt going to help them. its amazing how little people really thought this all out way back over here when they voted . mind you neither side campaigning did either as none listed these issues, or any real solutions to anything, was all just gusto and bulls*it  to get votes. either way we are just going to have to work around it now . 

[CX820Joe]

Again, not wanting to get political but I cant help wondering how the vote would have gone if all this had been explained beforehand, I dont really remember anything about deals, customs union or the divorce settlement before the vote.

Going back to my previous post, I cant view the T Toys site anyway now, saying my connection is not secure, or is that just an issue with my browser? (Chrome)

[justy 46]

21 minutes ago, Tractorman810 said:

hence why most freight companies for the republic are going roscoff direct to dublin, so stenna have moved a brand new boat from the uk route to add capacity,suspect others like irish will do the same, will poss be a death nail for the uk ports mind, if they loose 50 plus % of their trade ,certainly isnt going to help them. its amazing how little people really thought this all out way back over here when they voted . mind you neither side campaigning did either as none listed these issues, or any real solutions to anything, was all just gusto and bulls*it  to get votes. either way we are just going to have to work around it now . 

Your spot on Sean ..The UK was always our landbridge between us and mainland Europe, but it's the actual products produced in the UK and exported over to us and into our shops is what is suffering now. That's bad for us in terms off supply and it's bad for the UK in terms off exporting and the UK economy and off course the UK farmer who is producing it. It will be sorted ....but it's going to take along time by the looks off it unfortunately. It's very strange times at present.

[Arik]

41 minuten geleden, CX820Joe zei:

Again, not wanting to get political but I cant help wondering how the vote would have gone if all this had been explained beforehand, I dont really remember anything about deals, customs union or the divorce settlement before the vote.

Going back to my previous post, I cant view the T Toys site anyway now, saying my connection is not secure, or is that just an issue with my browser? (Chrome)

Try this link: Toys-Farm.com : Farmmodels and Carpet Farmer Toys (toys-farm.com)

They no longer participate in the T-Toys formula.

[trigger82]

I spent £220 and 3 boxes came from UK to Ireland and i did not have to pay any import duty at all 

[Gav836]

On 1/13/2021 at 8:39 PM, SPN said:

HMRC have updated their guidance as of today

As far as I can see the only loophole is to send via Northern Ireland as it is an internal market for both markets. (Only the Nordies could wangle their way into that sort of situation)

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/notice-143-a-guide-for-international-post-users/notice-143-a-guide-for-international-post-users

No loophole there for large scale import, we’ve looked into it where I work and there’s no difference it what it costs us to get a new machine into the north than what it would cost south of border. 21% VAT to pay in both cases, worse is if we send a machine into Ireland for a demonstration we have to pay import VAT to get it there then pay the VAT again to get it back here. 

[Udimore]

On 1/13/2021 at 2:48 PM, robbo said:

That is certainly one of the issues to look out for. Does that mean that if we do come to the show and buy a model do we have to ask for an invoice to prove the price paid as that may be subject to 20% VAT in returning to the UK?

Mike this is what my accountant says yes

Trading wise we need to advise what stock you take up front on an invoice and then create another invoice on your return and pay the tax on the items sold....Let's hope things change

[robbo]

That is my big worry Bazza, it is going to dissuade UK sellers from going to Zwolle and also Dutch sellers coming over to the likes of Spalding, a lose/lose situation for both sellers and buyers.

So the next question would be, do we, as buyers, have to pay tax on things that we buy at the show in Holland and then bring back home? There are one or two on here who fill up their cars with bargains or rarities that are not often seen in the UK, me for instance (although I don't spend as much as some others).

[Janval]

1 hour ago, robbo said:

That is my big worry Bazza, it is going to dissuade UK sellers from going to Zwolle and also Dutch sellers coming over to the likes of Spalding, a lose/lose situation for both sellers and buyers.

So the next question would be, do we, as buyers, have to pay tax on things that we buy at the show in Holland and then bring back home? There are one or two on here who fill up their cars with bargains or rarities that are not often seen in the UK, me for instance (although I don't spend as much as some others).

The answer is yes, and no - depending on the amount the way I see it. Pretty much the same rules as here in Norway, there's a limit (an allowance) and you have to declare any items or goods.

I found this information that you can use, I think it'll tell you what you need to know:
https://www.gov.uk/duty-free-goods/arriving-in-Great-Britain


Edit: 

The real problem is if sellers don't want to/or don't know the rules of trading across borders. That's why I keep to ebay for the most part, cause the global shipping programme handles the whole process. If I go to a website I risk paying a high customs fee as well as f.ex Dutch VAT and Norwegian VAT on top of everything. For the sellers these sales are VAT free (Export sales) in their country, the new rules states that they are responsible for reporting the taxable turnover in the buyers country, following their rules for customs. Unfortunately this requires the seller to be registered in order to do it the proper way, if that requires a fee to be paid - I haven't checked, but seems legit and logical to be fair. 

The old way of sending gifts may or may not work, in my experience it fails more often than not cause they are allowed to open and check any packages, withold them until receiving proof of origin if need be. Anyway, as long as you're not charged VAT in the country of origin this really shouldn't be a big issue. But that is sadly where the problem kicks in I'm afraid.

Edited January 18, 2021 by Janval