Buying and Selling models to/from Europe

[Talltim]

1 hour ago, 5944 said:

Well I tried to place an order for some books and DVDs with Duegi Editrice in Italy last night. Last time I looked, postage to the UK for an order that size was €25. This time the cost was €70! Not sure I can justify that at the moment. Tecnomodel in Livorno are still saying free postage to UK, but I guess that means I'll get stung for the fees this end instead. 

To make it more confusing, you shouldn't need to pay UK VAT on books, not sure about DVDs

[5944]

1 hour ago, Talltim said:

To make it more confusing, you shouldn't need to pay UK VAT on books, not sure about DVDs

No wonder no one has the first idea about what to pay! 

 

I'm lucky that my aunt lives in Livorno. Tecnomodel is only 5 minutes drive away! £30 Ryanair flights are looking more tempting now, once we're allowed to travel. 

[Enterprisingwestern]

2 minutes ago, 5944 said:

No wonder no one has the first idea about what to pay! 

 

I'm lucky that my aunt lives in Livorno. Tecnomodel is only 5 minutes drive away! £30 Ryanair flights are looking more tempting now, once we're allowed to travel. 

 

I'm hoping so too, but once we're allowed to travel I can't see there being many £30 flights available, the airlines have got to try and top up their coffers somehow.

 

Mike.

[SM42]

5 minutes ago, 5944 said:

No wonder no one has the first idea about what to pay! 

 

I'm lucky that my aunt lives in Livorno. Tecnomodel is only 5 minutes drive away! £30 Ryanair flights are looking more tempting now, once we're allowed to travel. 

 

Don't forget the limits on personal luggage allowances for items that are being imported (whenever we get to do that )

or

If it's coming as a gift in the post then  you can still possibly expect a bill at this end.  Mind you, still may be cheaper than those postage costs.

 

I suspect they are either  paying an outside party to sort out their exports  or more likely  their courier has increased the price to cover their costs of exporting

 

 

 

Andy

[Maltazer]

20 minutes ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

I'm hoping so too, but once we're allowed to travel I can't see there being many £30 flights available, the airlines have got to try and top up their coffers somehow.

 

Mike.

 

You might be surprised - I booked Luton-Palermo for June on EasyJet for £16 (before all the usual add-ons).  That was until they changed it to Gatwick and I cancelled!

[etendam]

Shipping from the Netherlands to the UK now (as DPD suspended the shipping for Januari) is the Dutch post. (Or of course Fedex, DHL but they charge 2 - 4 times the costs) DPD charged € 7 in 2020 . PostNL now € 19,00 (Up to 1 Kg) and they will add € 1,20 for every additonal Kg. Last year parcels up to 30 Kg where € 9,50. So a parcel of 30 KG is now € 55. That is more then 400% increase just because the shipment leaves the EU. There isn't one cent of vAT in this!

Most buyers are also charged with a courier fee as well!

 

Ed

 

Edited January 29, 2021 by etendam

[Blandford1969]

Does anyone know how to get round the Ebay hikes on postage. I had a buyer who complained about the postage charge on his invoice, a check showed that it was over the top by several pounds. However it was not possible to change it. ?

 

TIA

 

 

[LimboBrit]

4 minutes ago, Blandford1969 said:

Does anyone know how to get round the Ebay hikes on postage. I had a buyer who complained about the postage charge on his invoice, a check showed that it was over the top by several pounds. However it was not possible to change it. ?

 

TIA

 

 

Do you use eBay's Global Shipping Program?

[Blandford1969]

1 hour ago, LimboBrit said:

Do you use eBay's Global Shipping Program?

Yes, but only on the basis it seemed you are guided into that. 

[Neils WRX]

I would opt out of Global Shipping, they seem to add quite a percentage. I tried to buy a wagon from America and the postage was double the wagon cost.

 

It seems for all purchases in and out of the EU at the moment its a case of "buyer beware". I'm sure things will settle down in due course but shipping costs have gone up significantly and a lot of retailers seem to want to charge their VAT and there is then the risk of paying UK VAT and a handling charge as well.

 

I've brought nothing from the EU on ebay this year as a consequence of the above.

 

Stay safe everyone,

 

Neil

[LimboBrit]

31 minutes ago, Blandford1969 said:

Yes, but only on the basis it seemed you are guided into that. 

IMHO the eBay Global Shipping Program is a complete rip-off and for me is now a show stopper when it comes to buying anything in the UK for shipment to the Netherlands especially from non-VAT registered vendors

[Colin_McLeod]

26 minutes ago, Neils WRX said:

 

I've brought nothing from the EU on ebay this year as a consequence of the above

 

And for the same reasons I am not selling anything on ebay at the moment as the cost to a UK buyer of buying from me would be much more than buying from a UK seller.

 

The only items I am listing are items likely to attract buyers here in Ireland.

[Talltim]

1 hour ago, Neils WRX said:

I would opt out of Global Shipping, they seem to add quite a percentage. I tried to buy a wagon from America and the postage was double the wagon cost.

 

It seems for all purchases in and out of the EU at the moment its a case of "buyer beware". I'm sure things will settle down in due course but shipping costs have gone up significantly and a lot of retailers seem to want to charge their VAT and there is then the risk of paying UK VAT and a handling charge as well.

 

I've brought nothing from the EU on ebay this year as a consequence of the above.

 

Stay safe everyone,

 

Neil

Before all this I compared the cost buying through the GSP with paying the VAT and fee at this end (buying from the US) and they worked out much the same. The GSP was basically doing the same as the courier does, it paying the VAT and making a charge for doing so.

There were pluses and minuses both ways. Occasionally you could get a parcel that slipped through the net and pay no VAT (and fee), however paying the GSP charge up front means that there is no card pushed through you door with the cost of your habit in for the wife to see

[LimboBrit]

1 hour ago, Talltim said:

Before all this I compared the cost buying through the GSP with paying the VAT and fee at this end (buying from the US) and they worked out much the same.

I think it very much depends on the value of the item and who you are purchasing from. You usually get stung twice for shipping costs and sometimes also twice for VAT if the vendor doesn’t deduct it from the purchase price which I understand is not straightforward when selling on eBay

[Colin_McLeod]

2 hours ago, LimboBrit said:

if the vendor doesn’t deduct it from the purchase price which I understand is not straightforward when selling on eBay

 

It can be easily done by way of a partial refund.

[etendam]

Regarding the VAT I would like to explain something:

 

Large Business sellers know how it work with VAT. They must not charge VAT if the order is over £ 135. Below that they MUST charge UK VAT .

Some businesses don't want to do this on any orders and just earn the VAT as a additional bonus as they don't have to hand over the VAT to the local TAX authority.

 

Smaller businesses are released from VAT  if their annual turnover is below the VAT treshold of that country. This differes in every country! (FI Germany € 22000, Netherlands € 20000) This is similar to the UK where the VAT Treshold is £ 85000. (in the UK you can register for VAT even if the VAT is below the Treshold, in other countries you can't! These smaller companies can't deduct VAT and are not likely to have a UK VAT number! On arrival in the UK you get the UK VAT on top of that.

 

So before just saying that you pay double VAT please first investigate what the issue is. This is also how it has been (and for lots of countries still is!!) on Ebay when a non EU buyer bought an item from a business with VAT). Ebay doesn't deduct the VAT, the seller ships the item and the buyer pays the import duties and VAT. The seller makes an additional profit as het doesn't have to hand over anything to the local tax authority.

 

This explains why lot's of sellers are listing items on Ebay.com only and make it available for export only. They earn 20% more then selling the same item locally or within the EU.

 

Ed

[etendam]

12 minutes ago, Colin_McLeod said:

 

It can be easily done by way of a partial refund.

But a business seller then doesn't get a Paypal refund so most of them won't do this. 

Ed

[Colin_McLeod]

11 hours ago, etendam said:

The seller makes an additional profit

 

..or he loses out on sales as he appears more expensive.

[Colin_McLeod]

11 hours ago, etendam said:

But a business seller then doesn't get a Paypal refund so most of them won't do this. 

Ed

 

If he wanted to, the business seller could still make a partial refund, reduced by the Paypal fee. 

[Philou]

Hello chums,

 

Just to let you know that a parcel arrived today from the UK (over the threshold value) by RM/La Poste. Joy! No extra charges or VAT payable - probably won't last!

 

Cheers,

 

Philip

[etendam]

On 23/01/2021 at 11:53, MikeB said:

The CE mark is not usually about design, it's to show that a product performs as required.  In most cases the user cannot test this, so the manufacturer has the product tested and the manufacturer or a third party body certifies the product as fit for purpose.  This applies to all sorts of things from seatbelts to hard hats to toys to electrical equipment.  The reason why many model railway items (especially in Germany) are labelled as not suitable for children under 14 is because the items do not meet the requirements for safe toys - they have sharp edges or small parts that can be a choking hazard.  While the tests  and requirements may be the same, from next year the CE mark is still used in the EU but the UKCA mark in GB.  For Northern Ireland it will be the CE or CE and UKNI marks.  There's a guide at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/using-the-ukca-marking

 

 

It isn't just that when items are labelled as not suitable for children under 14 they don't have to have the CE mark. Modeltrains are classified as toys (in the Tarif system) and therefor need an CE mark. The only exception is when an item is a collectors item (Exclusive made model) AND not suitable for children under 14. Both should be clearly on the box! 

 

Recently someone noted on another forum that Peco items doesn't have a CE marking. (Hornby and lots of others have) This is mandatory when items items are checked by the EU customs. When the customs find such articles the seller is responsible for showing the CE documentation within a a time period ore the shipment will be shipped back (at costs of the seller) or destroyed by the customs.

 

There is no difference if the buyer is a private person or a business, it is a sellers responsibility when bringing items into the EU! 

 

Ed

[Mikkel]

Well, I joined the fun today from across the North Sea. I live in Denmark and recently ordered some kits direct from Langley Models worth GBP 25,75. Received notification today that the parcel won't be released until I pay a total import fee of... GBP 25,15 

 

Interestingly - and outrageously - that fee breaks down as follows:  Actual import tax GBP 6,15. Service charge for Danish postal service to handle the import tax: GBP 19,00.

 

It is of course a real luxury of a problem compared to what else is going on in the world. Still, it does look like I need to start looking for non UK suppliers - much to my regret.

 

Edited February 3, 2021 by Mikkel

[Andy Hayter]

On 30/01/2021 at 11:59, Philou said:

Hello chums,

 

Just to let you know that a parcel arrived today from the UK (over the threshold value) by RM/La Poste. Joy! No extra charges or VAT payable - probably won't last!

 

Cheers,

 

Philip

 

It didn't last Philip - well for me at least.

Relieved of €41 for delivery of a loco this morning.  €26 VAT (French) plus €15 La Poste handling fee.

 

Slightly more annoying since it should have been shipped before Christmas but as a result of problems with the UK post office and DHL, the seller stopped shipments - which took us into the full Brexit era.

[letterspider]

I am thinking of a mailbox in a European country - the sensible choice would seem to be Germany which has the biggest shops and probably the best discounts but then I need to think about which country as lowest VAT I suppose.

 

I have used a mailbox service in New Zealand before and it worked well for private letters  -I don't know what the situation is with smallish parcels and how the customs declarations would have to be handled but at least I could send items to myself as a gift.

[Andy Hayter]

Letterspider

You are only allowed £39 worth of goods as gifts before VAT cuts in for import to the UK.

Edited February 4, 2021 by Andy Hayter