If you know of a supplier of sound decoders with British sound files in the EU I would be very interested. Ordering online from the UK in my experience is not an issue providing you avoid using PostNL and the supplier deducts UK VAT
I can beat that. Sound decoder ordered from YouChos on 16th December, shipped 18th. Arrived in Netherlands on 22nd and has been stuck with PostNL awaiting customs clearance ever since. I called PostNL yesterday and they told me it was with Dutch Customs which is a barefaced lie because that is not how it works. The website of Customs even states that couriers often claim it is with Customs when using track and trace when in fact it is held at the courier's warehouse. Customs only very rarely physically check a shipment when they have a suspicion that it could contain something illegal. PostNL even refuse to accept a complaint until 30 days have passed. Roll on Saturday!
If I am ordering stuff from the UK and it gets shipped by Royal Mail once it arrives in NL it is handled by their partner PostNL. It is standard that it then gets stuck for three weeks or more for them to pull their finger out and get it cleared by Dutch customs. They also require payment of VAT/duty/clearing costs before delivery. Usually I get a request for payment in the post one day before the deadline after which they return goods to sender.
I thought so too. The last time I bought from a UK based seller on EBay I requested the UK VAT to be deducted from the asking price which they did. This is not so easy to do when it involves a private sale. Sure enough, Ebay then added Dutch VAT.
If there are large variations in temperature is it possible that expansion/contraction could affect track and scenery? Then again, I have never seen problems of plasterboard cracking when using this technique for stud wall construction.
EBay is required to take care of VAT. It doesn't matter if you have an Ebay shop or selling second hand stuff privately. This is why, for me, buying stuff on Ebay from a UK based seller is no longer interesting (unless it's REALLY cheap of course).
Quite possibly but doesn’t need to be. I work for a company developing LCD displays (glass) for the automotive industry. Our packaging engineers go to a lot of trouble in design to make sure goods arrive in one piece. Packaging is drop tested before being released for production.
For small suppliers of niche products that could be but my experience with the larger suppliers is not too bad just don't talk to me about shipping times using Royal Mail and their partner PostNL.
I think it depends a lot on who you’re buying from. Certainly second hand stuff has become more expensive. If the VAT is dealt with properly it’s not too bad providing you don’t get stung by shipping costs.