RMweb Gold Colin_McLeod Posted December 13, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 13, 2020 (edited) I have been trying to find out if and how Brexit will affect my e bay activity. I am not running a business but use ebay as an "electronic car boot sale" from time to time. I live in Ireland and often purchase new or used model railway items for personal use via e bay. I also occasionally sell surplus model railway items on e bay and most of my buyers would be in the UK. I suppose things will be clearer when a deal (or no deal) is finalised. Please keep this thread restricted to the practicalities of post Brexit e bay buying and selling and let's not get into a debate about Brexit. Edited December 13, 2020 by Colin_McLeod Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Cram Posted December 13, 2020 Share Posted December 13, 2020 (edited) Maybe put the final paragraph warning in the heading as it will get lost very quickly. As for ebay I think it will not become clear until the New Year. Edited December 13, 2020 by Paul Cram 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium John M Upton Posted December 13, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 13, 2020 I think a lot of the problems are down to the fact that, with just 18 days left, nobody still knows what the plan is!! 2 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Enterprisingwestern Posted December 13, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 13, 2020 I, like many other exiled British modellers, await the outcome of all the shenanigans. I don't foresee a clear picture emerging for quite some while personally. Maybe I'll just buy all your stuff to keep things simple and within the EU?!! Mike. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bernard Lamb Posted December 13, 2020 Share Posted December 13, 2020 It's not just e bay Colin. With family in Germany I have no idea how the exchange of post will be dealt with. Looks as though we will have to wait and see. Bernard 1 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jchinuk Posted December 13, 2020 Share Posted December 13, 2020 (edited) I don't think it's anything to do with Brexit, but I understand HMG are expecting VAT to be charged by sellers (not specifically eBay) outside the UK. Some smaller traders have decided not to ship to the UK as the overheads required are not worth the income from sales to the UK. That said, I assume "private" sales would be exempt. It's only speculation on my part, but I wondered that, given the special status of Northern Ireland, it would be an advantage to hold model shows in Belfast (for example) to make life easier for traders from Continental Europe and the Republic of Ireland. jch Edited December 13, 2020 by jchinuk 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium cessna152towser Posted December 13, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 13, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, Bernard Lamb said: It's not just e bay Colin. With family in Germany I have no idea how the exchange of post will be dealt with. Looks as though we will have to wait and see. Bernard I'm in a similar situation. For some years I have been buying and selling on eBay.uk while using a German e-mail address for Paypal. Neither eBay nor Paypal have as yet advised me of any issues which might arise from brexit. Edited December 13, 2020 by cessna152towser 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold D9020 Nimbus Posted December 13, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 13, 2020 My understanding is that eBay are requiring business sellers in the EU to provide them with a price without VAT. eBay will then add UK VAT and collect this on behalf of HMRC. Private sellers, AFAIK, aren't affected but their customers would have to pay UK VAT. Any deal that is done (or not) makes no difference to this as it would affect import duties, which are 0% on "toys" under WTO rules. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Colin_McLeod Posted December 13, 2020 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted December 13, 2020 One problem is the e bay consider one a business seller even when you are not. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
burgundy Posted December 13, 2020 Share Posted December 13, 2020 7 hours ago, jchinuk said: I don't think it's anything to do with Brexit, but I understand HMG are expecting VAT to be charged by sellers (not specifically eBay) outside the UK. I am sorry but I really think it is to do with Brexit. While we were within the single market, you paid VAT or its equivalent in the country of sale. You did not pay again on import into a different country. By the same argument, you could go on a booze cruise to France to buy alcohol at French prices for consumption in the UK. Once we are out (currently assumed to be on 1 Jan 2021), we shall be a third country, so that sales from the EU become an export and have to be imported to the UK, at which point they must pay VAT. This is the situation currently if you buy items from Australia, on which you would have to pay VAT in order to recover them from the Post Office. I think the new twist is that HMRC are trying to involve a wider range of organisations in the collection process. Still, look on the bright side. You will get your duty free allowances again when you come home from holidays in the EU. Best wishes Eric 1 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crosland Posted December 13, 2020 Share Posted December 13, 2020 It's actually both Brexit and not Brexit. Not Brexit: For some time it has been rumoured that HMRC will make Amazon, and similar "marketplaces", collect the VAT from sellers. This is to counter the perception that there is large scale VAT fraud/avoidance by some sellers. Brexit: All imports from Jan 1st 2021 will be subject to a new VAT system. There will be no exemption (as at current) for goods valued under £15. The EU is also making changes to VAT, later in 2021, which will affect UK businesses selling to the EU. Again, the VAT free threshold will be abolished. Larger UK suppliers may no longer have to register for VAT in multiple countries when their sales exceed the local threshold. There will be an EU wide "one stop shop". 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold chris p bacon Posted December 13, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 13, 2020 4 hours ago, burgundy said: Once we are out We have already left the EU on the 1st Jan 2020. There has been a 12 month transitional period to conclude negotiations over trade which this thread refers to. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyman7 Posted December 13, 2020 Share Posted December 13, 2020 If its anything like non-EU purchases, then private sellers are not exempt. Many times buying stuff from the US I have had to pay customs fees which are made up of VAT at 20% (including postage) plus the Royal Mail collection fee. It matters not whether the goods are new, secondhand, privately bought or from a business. Until the end of this year the only exception was goods valued at under £15. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Dagworth Posted December 13, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 13, 2020 55 minutes ago, chris p bacon said: We have already left the EU on the 1st Jan 2020. There has been a 12 month transitional period to conclude negotiations over trade which this thread refers to. We left on the 31st of January. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Kylestrome Posted December 13, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 13, 2020 There will be an answer, let it be ... Or, as they say over here, "Tee trinken und abwarten". David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold chris p bacon Posted December 14, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 14, 2020 2 hours ago, Dagworth said: We left on the 31st of January. I knew I should have checked it.....Duh! I put 31st then changed it Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bernard Lamb Posted December 14, 2020 Share Posted December 14, 2020 Just seen the latest newsletter from Eileen's. They mention a possible problem with the requirement to supply Commodity Codes and there seems to be a lack of clarity as to just what the categories are for these. With around 12.5 k items they point out that this could take some time to set up. They say they will probably have to cease overseas orders until the situation becomes clearer. I presume other traders are facing the same situation. Bernard 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hayfield Posted December 14, 2020 Share Posted December 14, 2020 I presume its just the same as we now do for non EU sales, but now it will be all international sales. I rarely buy internationally, if I do its usually very cheap non electrical items (screws etc) with very cheap postage. I take advantage of the Chinese government highly subsidising my purchases. As I only am interested in UK model railway items (mainly kits) 99% of what I buy is British. As for sales abroad, they are few in number and the buyers have factored in the import costs Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted December 16, 2020 Share Posted December 16, 2020 (edited) At the moment when I buy from the States eBay bills me separately for postage and UK taxes. This quite often seems to be more than the value of the goods I bought. I'm expecting that if we don't have a no-tarriff agreement the same will happen to goods from the EU. Amazon do likewise, though some US Suppliers using Amazon now sell through Amazon UK using a UK address to ship from- the same item ending up a lot cheaper. However I have discovered that outside of eBay and Amazon some firms that use private couriers get an extra layer of "rip-off", in that the courier charges me postage, plus UK taxes, plus 10 to 20 US Dollars as a fee for collecting those taxes- which means a 50 Dollar purchase has cost well North of 100 Dollars by the time I get the goods. What worries me is that buying from Germany might see private couriers do the same- ie collect taxes and a handling charge. BTW- aren't toys zero-rated? When sending stuff TO the US I have to put "plastic toy train" on the customs slip. perhaps if we weren't so precious about precision models NOT being toys we might get through without tax? Just a thought..... Les Edited December 16, 2020 by Les1952 typos... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crosland Posted December 17, 2020 Share Posted December 17, 2020 21 hours ago, Les1952 said: BTW- aren't toys zero-rated? When sending stuff TO the US I have to put "plastic toy train" on the customs slip. perhaps if we weren't so precious about precision models NOT being toys we might get through without tax? Just a thought..... Whilst the overarching category is Toys https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/headings/9503?currency=EUR , model railways come under "reduced-size ('scale') models " in the customs tarif and are currently zero rated. You should use the correct tarif code to ensure they are treated correctly. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hayfield Posted December 18, 2020 Share Posted December 18, 2020 13 hours ago, Crosland said: Whilst the overarching category is Toys https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/headings/9503?currency=EUR , model railways come under "reduced-size ('scale') models " in the customs tarif and are currently zero rated. You should use the correct tarif code to ensure they are treated correctly. Whilst tariff (extra tax) free no doubt EU VAT to be paid by buyer Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crosland Posted December 18, 2020 Share Posted December 18, 2020 24 minutes ago, hayfield said: Whilst tariff (extra tax) free no doubt EU VAT to be paid by buyer Yes, unless the seller is big enough to be in a pre-payment scheme. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hayfield Posted December 18, 2020 Share Posted December 18, 2020 2 hours ago, Crosland said: Yes, unless the seller is big enough to be in a pre-payment scheme. Or a retailer who sends VAT free Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Colin_McLeod Posted December 18, 2020 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted December 18, 2020 1 hour ago, hayfield said: Or a retailer who sends VAT free I don't think this excuses the buyer from paying VAT. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hayfield Posted December 18, 2020 Share Posted December 18, 2020 The retailer sends it UK VAT free, the recipient then pays the appropriate import charges. Many years since I got involved in this, but used to give a form which the foreign visitor gave to the customs for a VAT refund, they then pay the appropriate taxes in their own country. In the EU for internal purchases you pay the VAT in the country of purchase. From Jan the EU countries will be treated just like any other country 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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