Buying and Selling models to/from Europe

[melmerby]

10 hours ago, railroadbill said:

My similar experience with buying a loco form a German shop via E Bay went very smoothly and it arrived quickly.  Be interesting to here how your delivery goes, as you say ordering via E bay may not be a problem for future EU purchases.

 

 

It's the ebay outlet of this proper model shop:

 

https://www.mmt-versand.de/

Bahnhofstraße 7, D-63654 Büdingen

Edited May 15, 2021 by melmerby

[Enterprisingwestern]

18 hours ago, railroadbill said:

As a further experiment I've just bought some electrical connectors from a Chinese supplier via E Bay (outside EU obviously)  and E Bay charged 20% UK VAT of that (total cost just over £6), paying VAT is fair enough but the "no vat under £15" that used to be has gone.

 

If you go direct via such as Aliexpress you might do better.

 

Mike.

[Jason P]

Well after some time waiting for some Peco items to come into stock I've finally received my order from Hattons.  Total value just over £100 and VAT paid as Hattons are registered in Spain.  Used Royal Mail signed for.  On arrival had to pay 21,34€ which was 2,31€ VAT import charge, the remainder being admin charges. So all in all I've paid around £26 post and charges on an order of £100 - joy!

[Enterprisingwestern]

4 hours ago, Jason P said:

Well after some time waiting for some Peco items to come into stock I've finally received my order from Hattons.  Total value just over £100 and VAT paid as Hattons are registered in Spain.  Used Royal Mail signed for.  On arrival had to pay 21,34€ which was 2,31€ VAT import charge, the remainder being admin charges. So all in all I've paid around £26 post and charges on an order of £100 - joy!

 

Hmmm, I haven't had any extra charges added to any of my Hattons orders.

I think you've been had, I was under the impression that the idea of Hattons charging UK VAT is to avoid any further charges, but it might be that I am wrong.

Whatever you do, don't have anything delivered by DHL/SEUR, they do know how to charge!

 

Mike.

[SM42]

On 12/05/2021 at 19:24, Jonboy said:

 Not used Kernow but we use dpd a lot for work, be on the look out for emails and/or texts* about fees to pay as they only give you 72hours to pay any fees due, and then send the items back, which can take 2-3 weeks...

 

*we have to enter an email address and mobile number or we cannot book the consignment in...

 

This is just what we need, emails and texts

 

If I had a pound for every dodgy  "Royal Mail" text I have received about delivery fees to pay, I would be a very rich man. Wouldn't take much to change it to DPD instead of Royal Mail

 

Giving the scam artist a free pass here.

 

Andy

 

[Cor-onGRT4]

9 hours ago, Jason P said:

Well after some time waiting for some Peco items to come into stock I've finally received my order from Hattons.  Total value just over £100 and VAT paid as Hattons are registered in Spain.  Used Royal Mail signed for.  On arrival had to pay 21,34€ which was 2,31€ VAT import charge, the remainder being admin charges. So all in all I've paid around £26 post and charges on an order of £100 - joy!

I should contact Hattons about this, Hattons is also Vat registered in Spain, and so do ship DDP , after the Brexit my first shipmend from Hattons, by DPD by air, the shipmend suddenly went over to DHL and i had to pay dutch VAT and handling cost € 94,62,to DHL, so contacted Hattons.

They said they did ad the wrong custom papers to the shipmend theething problems they called it , so they contacted DHL, but  this didn't helped , so agree with Hattons to pay this amount and they refund me this amount at once when i send them the bill , so very good service about this.

Maybe the wrong papers added or Spain post don't know how DDP works.

Since the first shipmend that went wrong i have now had about 6 shipmends by DPD road [ cheap and fast] one by DHL, and everything goes fine now.

No fuzz anymore happened, tomorrow another delivery by DPD road , got a email, and nothing to pay.

So very happy with Hattons.

 

hope this will help

[railroadbill]

23 hours ago, melmerby said:

It's the ebay outlet of this proper model shop:

 

https://www.mmt-versand.de/

Bahnhofstraße 7, D-63654 Büdingen

Thanks Keith,

 

Looks a good web site there, .....    h'mm!!

[Marc Osborne]

On 04/01/2021 at 13:24, MR Chuffer said:

For reference, its currently 19% in Germany, with a reduced rate of 7% for some items - but not model railways!

It has been reduced to 16% which is a pandemic measure. It is a temporary reduction as far as I am aware. 

[Kylestrome]

18 minutes ago, Marc Osborne said:

It has been reduced to 16% which is a pandemic measure. It is a temporary reduction as far as I am aware. 

 

No, German VAT (MwSt) is back to 19% and has been since the beginning of the year IIRC.

 

David

PS. A bargain compared to Irish VAT at 23%! 

Edited May 17, 2021 by Kylestrome

[melmerby]

10 hours ago, railroadbill said:

Thanks Keith,

 

Looks a good web site there, .....    h'mm!!

I forgot to put their ebay shop link:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/str/oberhessen

[melmerby]

Parcel duly arrived this morning, without any demand for "extras"

I notice that the address label has what looks like a GB VAT registration and "paid" next to it.

 

So by buying from abroad and ebay collecting the VAT I have saved about 12% against a typical UK selling price.

 

[Neils WRX]

Think I've fallen foul of the VAT rules.

 

Purchased a set of 3 coaches from a German shop via Ebay for about £180. No demand for extra VAT from Ebay. Parcel is now in the Parcel Force office in Glasgow and if I look on tracking I have to pay customs (but no letter received yet). Interested to see how much I'm about to get stung.

 

Purchased from the same supplier a month or so ago no issues parcel came normal post, wonder if the issue is its a larger box so it becomes Parcelforce ?

 

Guess its back to being buyer beware.

 

Stay safe,

 

Neil

 

 

[melmerby]

39 minutes ago, Neils WRX said:

Think I've fallen foul of the VAT rules.

 

Purchased a set of 3 coaches from a German shop via Ebay for about £180. No demand for extra VAT from Ebay. Parcel is now in the Parcel Force office in Glasgow and if I look on tracking I have to pay customs (but no letter received yet). Interested to see how much I'm about to get stung.

 

Purchased from the same supplier a month or so ago no issues parcel came normal post, wonder if the issue is its a larger box so it becomes Parcelforce ?

 

Guess its back to being buyer beware.

 

Stay safe,

 

Neil

 

 

You will probably get charged VAT which as RM collects it will also incur a "handling charge" so expect 20% plus £8 (?)

 

With my purchase the price was quoted in Sterling, including postage and there was a note during the purchase procedure that that included UK VAT which ebay would collect.

This is the pertinent paragraph:

 

"Items delivered to the UK

Value Added Tax (VAT) generally applies to purchases by UK consumers, and prices on eBay.co.uk are shown inclusive of VAT.

Starting 1 January 2021, eBay is required to collect VAT on certain orders delivered to UK addresses:

Orders up to £135 sent from outside the UK

Orders where the item is located in the UK, but the seller is not a UK seller

You'll see the VAT included in your order total at checkout, and you can view and download a tax invoice from the Order details page in your Purchase history.

On orders over £135 imported to the UK, the recipient may need to pay VAT as part of clearing the parcel through customs."

 

Looks like you may have fallen foul of the £135 limit for which ebay collects the tax.

 

 

[Marc Osborne]

10 hours ago, Kylestrome said:

 

No, German VAT (MwSt) is back to 19% and has been since the beginning of the year IIRC.

 

David

PS. A bargain compared to Irish VAT at 23%! 

I should have known that as I've bought stuff off DM toys !!!!! Doh !!!!

[Marc Osborne]

I should have known that as I've bought stuff from DM Toys and Modellbahnshop Lippe !!!! Doh !! 

 

No problems from either by the way and no strange surcharges either. 

 

[railroadbill]

10 hours ago, melmerby said:

I forgot to put their ebay shop link:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/str/oberhessen

I'd been looking at their normal web site which you linked to, which is interesting enough .  Their e-bay shop has also  got a lot of interesting stuff....

 

I had the same GB VAT number and "paid" on the address label for my parcel from Germany so I guess that's how E-bay shows VAT has been collected.

[irishmail]

For information, this is what I had to pay extra on my recent order from Kernow.  No import duty but Irish VAT @ 23%  plus DPD fee + VAT.   Kernow deduct the UK VAT but when the Irish VAT and fees are added can make a bit more expensive, especially £12.00 DPD delivery  ( for Ireland) they used to offer option of Royal Mail but no longer do.

 

Shipment Details
Sender Name:  KERNOW MODEL RAIL 

Customs Tax:               17.95
Duty:                                0.00
Brokerage :                     5.00
Brokerage VAT:               1.15
Total Amount Due:      24.10
 

[Ron Ron Ron]

Many of you will be getting similar emails, to the one I received from UPS yesterday.

 

 

 

Dear Customer,

From 1 July 2021, there will be significant changes to the European Union’s Value Added Tax rules applying to the shipment of goods into the EU.

While these reforms primarily target B2C e-commerce imports, impacting both businesses and online shoppers, they may also impact B2B imports.

If you ship goods into the EU, we recommend that you begin preparing your business now.

Please consider how the following changes may impact your business:

Removal of the €22 VAT exemption for imports 

The VAT exemption currently in place for goods imported into the EU with a value up to €22 will be removed, meaning that these shipments will now be subject to VAT. These low value goods will therefore also require formal customs clearance, although most goods valued up to €150 remain exempt from customs duties.
 

 

Please ensure you provide a complete and accurate commercial invoice to reduce the risk of customs delays:

Follow our useful guide to completing a commercial invoice

Submit your commercial invoice electronically with UPS Paperless® Invoice so customs can start clearing your shipments before they reach the border

Launch of the Import One Stop Shop (IOSS) Platform for imports up to €150
The EU is launching an Import One Stop Shop (IOSS) platformto simplify the declaration and the payment of VAT for B2C imports up to a value of €150.

This optional platform only requires you to register with a single EU Member State to manage your sales VAT throughout the EU, removing the need to register for VAT in every country you are selling goods to.

If you are a non-EU based supplier or marketplace selling goods to consumers in the EU, registering with the IOSS means you can collect accurate VAT for the purchase from the consumer at the point of sale, which can then be declared and paid in a periodic VAT return.

Shipments containing a valid IOSS number will therefore not be subject to import VAT, which may help them move through customs quicker.

If your company does not have an EU-based establishment and you wish to register for the IOSS, you will need to appoint an intermediary to settle VAT through this platform. 

Registering for the IOSS platform is not obligatory and you can continue to declare and pay VAT on EU imports as you do today.
 

Here is a useful checklist to prepare your business for these changes:

 

Identify which areas of your business are impacted by the new EU VAT rules

Assess your VAT accounting needs for the EU: Systems and master data updates are likely to be required to identify and apply the appropriate VAT rates in multiple jurisdictions

You may consider registering for the IOSS platform if you want to use a single registration to pay VAT throughout the EU for B2C shipments up to € 150

If you register for IOSS, appoint an intermediary to handle tax compliance on your behalf in the EU in case you don’t have an EU-based establishment

Review and potentially cancel existing foreign EU VAT registrations if you wish to replace these with a single IOSS registration where applicable

If you choose not to register for the IOSS platform, ensure you have a valid UPS account to charge import fees to

If you are selling through an online marketplace, contact them to understand who will be responsible for VAT accounting for your B2C shipments up to €150

If you are using UPS WorldShip or H2H as your shipping system, please make the necessary system updates when they become available

If you choose to pass on import charges to your consignee, please inform them upfront that import fees will be due for their shipment

Want more information to prepare your business?

Download the UPS EU VAT Reform Guide
 

Make sure to also watch the UPS EU VAT Reform Webinar

We thank you for your continued trust in UPS.
 

Your UPS Team 

 

 

 

.

[railroadbill]

On 16/05/2021 at 07:32, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

If you go direct via such as Aliexpress you might do better.

 

Mike.

Thanks Mike, hadn't seen this website before, worth a future try.

[Jason P]

On 16/05/2021 at 18:25, Cor-onGRT4 said:

I should contact Hattons about this, Hattons is also Vat registered in Spain, and so do ship DDP , after the Brexit my first shipmend from Hattons, by DPD by air, the shipmend suddenly went over to DHL and i had to pay dutch VAT and handling cost € 94,62,to DHL, so contacted Hattons.

They said they did ad the wrong custom papers to the shipmend theething problems they called it , so they contacted DHL, but  this didn't helped , so agree with Hattons to pay this amount and they refund me this amount at once when i send them the bill , so very good service about this.

Maybe the wrong papers added or Spain post don't know how DDP works.

Since the first shipmend that went wrong i have now had about 6 shipmends by DPD road [ cheap and fast] one by DHL, and everything goes fine now.

No fuzz anymore happened, tomorrow another delivery by DPD road , got a email, and nothing to pay.

So very happy with Hattons.

 

hope this will help

Contacted Hattons who confirmed I should not have been charged by the Spanish authorities as they are VAT registered in Spain and have processed a refund of the additional charges. Likewise, very happy with the service from Hattons.

 

I have something on pre-order from Kernow...see how that goes!

[Cor-onGRT4]

8 hours ago, Jason P said:

Contacted Hattons who confirmed I should not have been charged by the Spanish authorities as they are VAT registered in Spain and have processed a refund of the additional charges. Likewise, very happy with the service from Hattons.

 

I have something on pre-order from Kernow...see how that goes!

Kernow deduct 20 % UK VAT , if shipping to EU , so at receiving then you have to pay Spanish VAT and additional cost like handling fee, as far i know Hattons is the only one who's shipping DDP to 7 EU countries.

 

hope this will help

[Colin_McLeod]

Although Hornby has a presence in the EU the way they handled an order I placed recently was to charge me the price with UK VAT deducted.  They did not charge me Irish VAT, but DPD raised a charge for Irish VAT.  DPD also charged a brokerage fee of €5.00 plus Irish VAT of €1.15.  These charges had to be paid before the parcel was submitted to customs for processing.  

 

The effect of Hornby not charging Irish VAT was that I had to pay DPD €6.15 for doing so, plus the extra hassle of a second payment, plus I now have two receipts to keep to prove how much I have paid, plus the whole process takes longer.

Edited May 20, 2021 by Colin_McLeod
sillu tgpo :(

[bbishop]

You may remember this post from Enterprising Western on 29 March:

 

"I've just taken delivery of a quantity of cable from the UK:

The initial total was £170, correctly supplied exclusive of UK VAT.

Additional costs were;

DHL carriage £54.25.

Spanish IVA   54.20 Euros.

DHL Admin fee. 43.31 Euros..

I'm left with the feeling DHL are taking the p!ss somewhat.

Mike."

 

I'm just wondering if any couriers are still taking the p!ss?   I think seven pound / euro is at the top end of acceptable.  Any more and we should be leaning on the supplier to use a different courier.  Bill

[irishmail]

7 hours ago, Colin_McLeod said:

Although Hornby has a presence in the EU the way they handled an order I placed recently was to charge me the price with UK VAT deducted.  They did not charge me Irish VAT, but DPD raised a charge for Irish VAT.  DPD also charged a brokerage fee of €5.00 plus Irish VAT of €1.15.  These charges had to be paid before the parcel was submitted to customs for processing.  

 

The effect of Hornby not charging Irish VAT was that I had to pay DPD €6.15 for doing so, plus the extra hassle of a second payment, plus I now have two receipts to keep to prove how much I have paid, plus the whole process takes longer.

Exactly the same as what happened to me with my recent order from Kernow!   

[Neils WRX]

Finally had the letter from Parcel Force, they say I owe them £47 which £35 VAT and £12 handling charge.

 

I contacted the shop I purchased the coaches from (by Ebay) and they say Ebay should have collected the UK VAT, so no idea why I've been stung. Guess I take the matter up with them ?

 

What I thought was a good price for 3 coaches is now a bit of rip off.

 

Stay safe everyone,

 

Neil