UK to Germany shipping - cautionary tale

rsmillbern

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I just thought I'd share a current experience ordering from the UK, to Germany.

My girlfriend ordered a guitar stand from a shop in Ireland as a birthday present. They indicated that shipping and customs would not be a problem and there should be no additional charges, however, when he package arrived today the deutsche post wanted an additional 50
 
Can you tell us more details about the shop you've ordered from? You may have misread free shipping from their side. That means they don't charge you for that or simply were hiding the fact that the guitar is big or heavy enough to charge more for the shipping. I'd contact the seller and try to solve this issue. They owe you if you're right.
 
Can you tell us more details about the shop you've ordered from? You may have misread free shipping from their side. That means they don't charge you for that or simply were hiding the fact that the guitar is big or heavy enough to charge more for the shipping. I'd contact the seller and try to solve this issue. They owe you if you're right.

Double checked, shipping charges were included in the invoice.

The package was not so large or heavy, was a wooden stand for instruments, not an instrument itself.

The charge was for customs (Zoll). The question is wether tax should have been paid in Northern Ireland or Germany. I honestly don't think the shop was being dishonest. One their site it is listed that the price includes VAT, so my assumption was that we would not have to pay customs charges here in Germany.
 
Ah, our national self-harm coming to bite us.

It shouldn't have made any difference sending a parcel from Ireland to Germany because Ireland is still in the EU.

Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom and not in the EU.

The United Kingdoms and Ireland are both part of the British Isles.

It's a bit of a mess here at the minute.

I hope this doesn't put you off visiting our country. :uhoh:
 
I was about to buy from Eire the other day, but decided against it because of the horrible Brexit 'deal' our politicians made - I don't think anyone knows what's going on right now! :confused:

Edit: I bought from China instead - & it only took a few days to arrive.
 
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I just thought I'd share a current experience ordering from the UK, to Germany.

My girlfriend ordered a guitar stand from a shop in Ireland as a birthday present. They indicated that shipping and customs would not be a problem and there should be no additional charges, however, when he package arrived today the deutsche post wanted an additional 50

I wondered about where this thread might lead and the upset that it might cause ... on UU we don’t do politics but occasionally newcomers don’t understand that or realise where a thread might go off to. I had wondered about referring the original post to the Moderators. Brexit has happened and we all need to move on from it rather than dwell on what has been a most painful experience for both the U.K. and the EU. The current state of affairs isn’t great and at some point the politicians will agree a better way forward.

I’m really very surprised that the OP didn’t realise that import duties would be charged and mildly surprised that he took comments from the shop at face value. There’s been a lot of publicity about Brexit and its effects. At some point politicians will engage brain and allow shops not to charge VAT on goods that they post across the EU border and for VAT to (only) be charged by the receiving nation. Here in the U.K. I’m liable for VAT on goods imported from the USA and China so why not from the EU too? Knowing what was coming my last purchase from the EU was well before 1st January and currently I will not buy from the EU because I will be double (VAT) taxed, IMHO that’s a silly state of affairs that politicians need to sort out.
 
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Yes, this is, I believe, a problem with the Deutsche Post. We are now wading through their process..

Currently I am very eager to make it back over. My girlfriends parents live in Cornwall and I love the coast there. I do a lot of climbing and the sea cliffs are amazing.
I hope the issue get sorted to allow travel once more, it has been hard not being able to go.
 
I wondered about where this thread might lead and the upset that it might cause ... on UU we don’t do politics but occasionally newcomers don’t understand that or realise where a thread might go off to. I had wondered about referring the original post to the Moderators. Brexit has happened and we all need to move on from it rather than dwell on what has been a most painful experience for both the U.K. and the EU. The current state of affairs isn’t great and at some point the politicians will agree a better way forward.

I’m really very surprised that the OP didn’t realise that import duties would be charged and mildly surprised that he took comments from the shop at face value. There’s been a lot of publicity about Brexit and its effects. At some point politicians will engage brain and allow shops not to charge VAT on goods that they post across the EU border and for VAT to (only) be charged by the receiving nation. Here in the U.K. I’m liable for VAT on goods imported from the USA and China so why not from the EU too? Knowing what was coming my last purchase from the EU was well before 1st January and currently I will not buy from the EU because I will be double (VAT) taxed, IMHO that’s a silly state of affairs that politicians need to sort out.

Point well taken, and taken well.
My intent was not to open a political discussion in any way, only to give a hint to keep this in mind for now, as I failed to do so and am currently dealing with the hassle.
 
Yes, this is, I believe, a problem with the Deutsche Post. We are now wading through their process..

Currently I am very eager to make it back over. My girlfriends parents live in Cornwall and I love the coast there. I do a lot of climbing and the sea cliffs are amazing.
I hope the issue get sorted to allow travel once more, it has been hard not being able to go.

Cornwall is a lovely place, if a times spoilt by my fellow countrymen who invade Cornwall during our school holidays and who buy second homes there (which distorts the property market). The Cornish people, well those who haven’t retired to Cornwall, are generally quite poor. IIRC then, relative to the U.K. norm, only a small proportion of people in Cornwall are well paid; some of the Cornish even choose to weekly commute (they work a hundred plus miles away in the week, in better paying jobs, and return to their family at the weekend) - well that’s my recollection of how things once were.

The coast and cliffs can be lovely but there is much to see and to enjoy in-land too. I used to have relatives in Cornwall ... but people die and others have to relocate to where work is available; occasionally I still holiday there but always outside of the UK State School holiday dates.

We must look to the future, but with this Covid horror I fear that a visit in the late Summer and Autumn of 2021 will be the very earliest date that you can hope for - assuming that international travel is allowed and free moving then. Cornish weather is usually nice so time there in September and October might well be very pleasant. Hopefully the Uke Clubs will be meeting again by then and if I remember correctly Cornwall has several of them, perhaps something for you to check out in advance and if you chose to visit any of them then I feel sure that you’d be made welcome. We might have left the EU but, in my estimation at least, people in the U.K. are (still) very welcoming to our European neighbours.
 
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Cornwall is a lovely place, if a times spoilt by my fellow countrymen who invade Cornwall during our school holidays and who buy second homes there (which distorts the property market). The Cornish people, well those who haven’t retired to Cornwall, are generally quite poor. IIRC then, relative to the U.K. norm, only a small proportion of people in Cornwall are well paid; some of the Cornish even choose to weekly commute (they work a hundred plus miles away in the week, in better paying jobs, and return to their family at the weekend) - well that’s my recollection of how things once were.

The coast and cliffs can be lovely but there is much to see and to enjoy in-land too. I used to have relatives in Cornwall ... but people die and others have to relocate to where work is available; occasionally I still holiday there but always outside of the UK State School holiday dates.

We must look to the future, but with this Covid horror I fear that a visit in the late Summer and Autumn of 2021 will be the very earliest date that you can hope for - assuming that international travel is allowed and free moving then. Cornish weather is usually nice so time there in September and October might well be very pleasant. Hopefully the Uke Clubs will be meeting again by then and if I remember correctly Cornwall has several of them, perhaps something for you to check out in advance and if you chose to visit any of them then I feel sure that you’d be made welcome. We might have left the EU but, in my estimation at least, people in the U.K. are (still) very welcoming to our European neighbours.

Thanks for the tips r.e the clubs, I will keep that in mind.
My girlfriends parents are from there, moved away for work and then back when they retired. In that respect it is a little like some of the places I know from the US (I grew up in Kansas/Missouri).
I also look forward to exploring some other parts of the UK. I am actually an American, try not to hold it against me too much :).
 
I happened to be looking at my favourite auction site this morning and spotted a Uk made item that I’d very much like :drool: but aren’t good enough to justify buying :( . Whatever, it occurred to me that whilst the item offered typically sells to a USA bidder some do go to Continental Europe too. The thing is buyers in Europe will now have their Governments charging them a hefty import tax, there’s no point in going into the sad details again and the seller has loads of folk here in the U.K. and in North America happy to buy without import charges. So it’s really just a case of reminding European members to be mindful of additional costs imposed on import.
 
What's this"not good enough to justify buying", Graham? If you want such a thing you should not feel you have to be at a certain level before you are allowed it.

What is it?
 
When you import goods from non-EU countries (this now includes the UK) into an EU country, you have to pay duties (Zollgebuehren) if the declared value of the good exceeds €50. In case of Germany, this is 19% VAT and 3% import tax (for musical instruments). If the value can be determined by the customs office, the postal service (DHL/Deutsche Post) will collect duties when they deliver the shipment. If the customs office can't determine the value or they question the accuracy of the declaration, they will send you a letter and you will have to arrange payment with them. It doesn't matter if a shipment is declared to be a gift (this loophole was closed over a decade ago). If the value exceeds €50 (this includes shipping and insurance costs), you pay taxes, even if it is a gift. It does not matter if you buy something from a business or if it's sent to you privately from family or friends (this was another loophole).

The only exception is if the sender takes care of the duties in advance. There is a system in place for this, but I've only seen it used with imports from the US and Japan. It doesn't change what you pay, though, you just pay it in advance and don't have to deal with the customs office. There are also no import taxes due if you have sent something for repairing to a non-EU manufacturer and are getting it sent back to you, though in this case you need documentation.

This is not specific to Germany, but is a EU-wide thing. It's also much the same in most other countries, except partially the US, where things are more import-friendly overall.
 
The limit for importing without duties into the Netherlands is much lower unfortunately; €22.

From what I understand, EU-wide, the limit is going to be zero, starting this July first.
So then we will have to pay duties on *everything* from outside the EU, no matter how little it costs.

And for those little things, the handling fees of around €18 here makes it very costly.
 
That will suck. :( Well, I mostly bought ukulele, banjo and fountain pen related things from the UK, but I largely stopped doing this when they left the EU because of the customs hassle. The only things I've been buying from the UK and the US lately were smaller things, like banjo bridges, mutes, etc - all under €50. I guess in the future I'll have to find sources within the EU to not have to deal with the customs office. It's a relatively large market, so it shouldn't be too limiting, but it's certainly an annoyance when one's hobbies are less popular in Europe (banjos, ukes). Still, realistically, there are probably always good alternatives. I had meant to get a custom banjo from a UK luthier, but found one with 35 years experience in Germany, so I hired him instead. I also know of a good one in Spain.

Politics is off topic here (I see it as a philosophical take rather than a political one anyway), but I'll just say that I'd prefer more global unification and less isolation, but the trend goes in the opposite direction again. All the big problems our world has can be better solved when everyone works together, which is why I always liked the idea of the EU, but somewhere along the way some of the ideals seem to have fallen on the side.
 
The limit for importing without duties into the Netherlands is much lower unfortunately; €22.

From what I understand, EU-wide, the limit is going to be zero, starting this July first.
So then we will have to pay duties on *everything* from outside the EU, no matter how little it costs.

And for those little things, the handling fees of around €18 here makes it very costly.

The payment of VAT coming into EU will be automatic, so the handling fee will not apply after July 1. :) So smaller cheap items will actually get cheaper, even with the extra VAT

Paying double VAT shouldn't be necessary if the shop has procedures for selling VAT free to EU countries. Just ask them.

@OP You must not pay VAT or customs if sent from Ireland but if you buy from Northern Ireland it
 
The payment of VAT coming into EU will be automatic, so the handling fee will not apply after July 1. :) So smaller cheap items will actually get cheaper, even with the extra VAT

Paying double VAT shouldn't be necessary if the shop has procedures for selling VAT free to EU countries. Just ask them.

@OP You must not pay VAT or customs if sent from Ireland but if you buy from Northern Ireland it

depends on the origin of the item and not where it is sold from
 
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