Buying and Selling models to/from Europe

[SamThomas]

On 30/04/2021 at 08:27, WM183 said:

and for those in the UK modelling continental railroads, yet more barriers which may also prove impossible.

 

No problem at all - just order from a UK retailer, pay a little more than MSL and relax knowing the importers/manufactires will have already done the admin'.

[Guest WM183]

17 minutes ago, SamThomas said:

No problem at all - just order from a UK retailer, pay a little more than MSL and relax knowing the importers/manufactires will have already done the admin'.

Yes, except many UK retailers no longer ship to the EU.

[Georgeconna]

5 hours ago, irishmail said:

Has anyone had any experience of ordering from Kernow?   Just placed an order and it has deducted the UK VAT,  so would I likely to be charged when my item arrives in Ireland?    Have had a couple of low vale items arrive from Hatton's VAT paid without any issue which was sent via Royal mail and An Post.  Kernow now used DPD, no option for Royal Mail.

 

There Could be a chance this might be stopped, Vat and processing charged.

 

However my GT3 and some other High Value Purchased merrily sailed in from the UK and past the checks and into my house in Cork without paying a cent extra. These Came via the Postal service and not a courier looking to squeeze anything they can out of you.

 

I stopped using Kernow some time back due to their Stupid way of charging my card for a pre order and then re-debiting my Credit card thus costing me more Money in the Long run, It took 3-4 to re-debit and changes in the exchange rate cost me some valuable money so I moved now to Rails.

 

So Fingers Crossed this happens to you too and it come through without any hassle.

 

Edited May 12, 2021 by Georgeconna

[Colin_McLeod]

2 hours ago, WM183 said:

Yes, except many UK retailers no longer ship to the EU.

 

I don't understand. 

[SamThomas]

10 hours ago, WM183 said:

Yes, except many UK retailers no longer ship to the EU.

If you re-read my comment you will see that I was referring to EU to UK only.

[Andy Hayter]

The same applies for small suppliers and "uncommon" items.  Have a look around the UK suppliers for the company Novateur Models.  Producers of very nice early French railcars and wagons.

[Guest WM183]

4 hours ago, SamThomas said:

If you re-read my comment you will see that I was referring to EU to UK only.

So you did! My apologies.

Reading is hard. Whoops.

[Georgeconna]

12 hours ago, Colin_McLeod said:

 

I don't understand. 

Howes Models For instance, Only UK postage option.

 

=

 

[SamThomas]

40 minutes ago, WM183 said:

So you did! My apologies.

Reading is hard. Whoops.

No need to apologise - I was a little abrupt TBH.

[irishmail]

19 hours ago, Georgeconna said:

Howes Models For instance, Only UK postage option.

 

=

 

Same with Bure Valley Models and Derails in Gloucester, both UK only!  Pity as they quite often have prices better then the so called box shifters.

 

[Georgeconna]

10 minutes ago, irishmail said:

Same with Bure Valley Models and Derails in Gloucester, both UK only!  Pity as they quite often have prices better then the so called box shifters.

 

Yep Lots of others too which is annoying as I build model ships too so sometime the parts I need could be in one of these shops.

 

Narrow minded and a complete mis understanding or ability to do a simple export to the EU is Beyond me. ah well their loss.

 

There's always addresspal

 

nice up in Mayo these days?

[Colin_McLeod]

8 minutes ago, Georgeconna said:

There's always addresspal

 

Yep.  A great idea by An Post. I have used it a lot, but not since Brexit as I'm not sure whether that would cause me to pay both UK and Irish VAT.

 

If there was something of lower value that I can't get direct, I'll try it again and see what happens.

[irishmail]

Hi George, not too bad here in Mayo.   What is the addresspal service like these days?, have you used them recently.  I have not used it for a few years now and I think they have put there prices up to €6.00 and you no longer collect from your local post office.  Prior to Brexit I did use DPD parcel wizzard which I was happy with.

Edited May 14, 2021 by irishmail

[irishmail]

On 12/05/2021 at 17:28, irishmail said:

Has anyone had any experience of ordering from Kernow?   Just placed an order and it has deducted the UK VAT,  so would I likely to be charged when my item arrives in Ireland?    Have had a couple of low vale items arrive from Hatton's VAT paid without any issue which was sent via Royal mail and An Post.  Kernow now used DPD, no option for Royal Mail.

Had email from DPD this morning informing me that I have tax to pay,   which was basically the Irish VAT @ 23%  (which I was expecting as Kernow deducted the UK VAT) plus at €5.00 admin fee.

[Andy Hayter]

4 hours ago, Georgeconna said:

Yep Lots of others too which is annoying as I build model ships too so sometime the parts I need could be in one of these shops.

 

Narrow minded and a complete mis understanding or ability to do a simple export to the EU is Beyond me. ah well their loss.

 

There's always addresspal

 

nice up in Mayo these days?

 

Not necessarily narrow minded George.  Our model railways are duty free, but some of the items we might use are not.  There is also a problem of supplying a certificate of origin.  So it is not necessarily a simple export and the trader needs to (or at least should) quote the HS code for each item.  

 

If it is all model railway items the that is relatively simple, but once you start adding a catalogue, some screws and nails, adhesives, a couple of sheets of plasticard.............

[Colin_McLeod]

1 hour ago, irishmail said:

Had email from DPD this morning informing me that I have tax to pay,   which was basically the Irish VAT @ 23%  (which I was expecting as Kernow deducted the UK VAT) plus at €5.00 admin fee.

 

A good reason to purchase from shops that charge Irish VAT at time of purchase and thus save the admin fee.

[Georgeconna]

2 hours ago, Colin_McLeod said:

 

A good reason to purchase from shops that charge Irish VAT at time of purchase and thus save the admin fee.

5 notes aint too bad for processing

 

Look for lads that use the Royal Mail / An Post better chance of getting through without the 23%

[Georgeconna]

3 hours ago, Andy Hayter said:

 

Not necessarily narrow minded George.  Our model railways are duty free, but some of the items we might use are not.  There is also a problem of supplying a certificate of origin.  So it is not necessarily a simple export and the trader needs to (or at least should) quote the HS code for each item.  

 

If it is all model railway items the that is relatively simple, but once you start adding a catalogue, some screws and nails, adhesives, a couple of sheets of plasticard.............

 

I see what you mean but if the shops are not wiling to do this then they are loosing business and maybe they can afford to do so without dealing with overseas.

 

Most stuff also has COO on the boxes etc so it should not be that hard to rasise an invoice with such detail.

 

Narrow minded was perhaps a bit harsh!

 

 

[Georgeconna]

7 hours ago, irishmail said:

Hi George, not too bad here in Mayo.   What is the addresspal service like these days?, have you used them recently.  I have not used it for a few years now and I think they have put there prices up to €6.00 and you no longer collect from your local post office.  Prior to Brexit I did use DPD parcel wizzard which I was happy with.

 

Have not used Address pal since Jan, They were Brilliant before that TBH and dead handy to collect from the local PO too.

 

 Now just use  the postal direct and so far so good.

 

Loads of Basking Sharks around Achill yesterday, 42 of them in fact, Must be a fab sight to see. Must drag the kayaks up there at some stage.

 

[irishmail]

3 hours ago, Colin_McLeod said:

 

A good reason to purchase from shops that charge Irish VAT at time of purchase and thus save the admin fee.

Usually I order from Hatton's.   Needed some Peco streamline points and Hatton's have not had any in stock for a good while now, Same with Marks models in Dublin.  Unfortunately or should that be fortunately, Kernow had some in stock.  At least I have enough to keep me going now until hopefully Hatton's get more stock in. 

[Georgeconna]

9 minutes ago, irishmail said:

Usually I order from Hatton's.   Needed some Peco streamline points and Hatton's have not had any in stock for a good while now, Same with Marks models in Dublin.  Unfortunately or should that be fortunately, Kernow had some in stock.  At least I have enough to keep me going now until hopefully Hatton's get more stock in. 

Case here for Marks to up their game and stock to save us going across the pond. Especially for Evergreen, KS and Balsa products.

[Jol Wilkinson]

3 hours ago, Georgeconna said:

 

I see what you mean but if the shops are not wiling to do this then they are loosing business and maybe they can afford to do so without dealing with overseas.

 

Most stuff also has COO on the boxes etc so it should not be that hard to rasise an invoice with such detail.

 

Narrow minded was perhaps a bit harsh!

 

 

Sometimes Small Suppliers (rather than retailers) find that  dealing with overseas buyers is not productive/profitable. Items lost in transit (more common in certain countries)  have to be written off. A reluctance to deal with export orders may be more than just dealing with the rules and regulations. 

 

[Bernard Lamb]

14 hours ago, Jol Wilkinson said:

Sometimes Small Suppliers (rather than retailers) find that  dealing with overseas buyers is not productive/profitable. Items lost in transit (more common in certain countries)  have to be written off. A reluctance to deal with export orders may be more than just dealing with the rules and regulations. 

 

.....and then there is the matter of product liability insurance. More of a potential problem in some countries than in others. I know of one cottage industry type trader who will not sell to non UK customers for that reason.

Bernard

[railroadbill]

On 12/05/2021 at 20:22, melmerby said:

I have just (a couple of days ago) ordered some items from a German outlet via ebay. (Roco couplers, approx £41)

 

The item is supplied from Germany ex-vat and e-bay do the VAT collection & invoicing for you, (the price advertised in Sterling and paid is after the UK 20% VAT has been added)

Supposedly it should pass straight through HMRC without delay.

Delivery is claimed to be about 5 -10 days from order

Lets see how it goes, if all OK I wont worry about getting other stuff that way

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.

 

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.

[SamThomas]

4 hours ago, Bernard Lamb said:

.....and then there is the matter of product liability insurance.

 

Many Product Liability Insurance policies have historically excluded goods sold to North America so it's possible that the EU is now excluded too (in all probablitity when the UK was part of the EU product liabilty within the EU was automatic under EU law, now of course it is not).