EU problems and Brexit

Timbuck

Timbuck

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I sold 3 sopranos on eBay this month all went to Europe. 2 to Germany and the other to Austria....Due to new Brexit rules and the EU laws I filled in all the new customs paperwork description of goods code numbers and all that stuff.. all this was all approved by the courier ..I paid all the fees , I printed out all the labels and barcodes fixed the recipients address twice on the packages ..the courier picked them up and off they went. ..None of these were delivered and all 3 are now on there way back to me...and I will have to pay for their return plus refunding the customers :(...the reason they did not get through apparently was their email addresses were missing...and I could not submit these as eBay do not allow email addresses in their correspondence for obvious reasons.

So my customers and I are not happy bunnies :mad:
 
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Aren't the regulations and directions for shipment published? Were you trying to ship by national mail service, or with a private carrier like UPS? If your situation over there is anything like ours over here, the private carrier makes sure that all necessary information is included in the shipping label before accepting the shipment, whereas the national mail service (USPS) couldn't care less, and is happy to take your package, only to return it to you weeks later.
 
I noticed that Ebay are now keeping the fees when you refund someone as well.

No politics here, but the whole situation we're in stinks.
 
That's what we call a Catch-22 situation (after the book and the movie). You need their email address, but eBay doesn't let people communicate via email.

I suggest that you find a clever way to send them your email address in a message on eBay. It's not easy because eBay seems to know all the tricks. If they have your email address, they can send you theirs. You can also contact eBay and ask them what to do.

Who would have thought that the UK leaving the EU would cause any problems? :D
 
I was going to post something about this but. There is no point trying to do it yourself. You have to use a broker service and ultimately... I don't think you'll do business in Europe. It barely gets through in the USA now. Sorry you had this problem Ken. Talk to me if you need help.
 
Timbuck said:
I sold 3 sopranos on eBay this month all went to Europe. 2 to Germany and the other to Austria....Due to new Brexit rules and the EU laws I filled in all the new customs paperwork description of goods code numbers and all that stuff.. all this was all approved by the courier ..I paid all the fees , I printed out all the labels and barcodes fixed the recipients address twice on the packages ..the courier picked them up and off they went. ..None of these were delivered and all 3 are now on there way back to me...and I will have to pay for their return plus refunding the customers :(...the reason they did not get through apparently was their email addresses were missing...and I could not submit these as eBay do not allow email addresses in their correspondence for obvious reasons.

So my customers and I are not happy bunnies :mad:
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One can but think that someone somewhere is making things far more difficult than they need to be. I am cynical but perhaps I could be forgiven for thinking along the lines that someone doesn’t like us anymore.

eBay do allow you to define where you won’t sell to so you might choose to exclude EU buyers. It’s a shame for EU citizens ... perhaps your EU customers would care to contact their MEP’s (Member of European Parliament) to vent their frustration. As for your losses, it’s a bit cheeky but I think that your EU customers should be invited to alleviate them - seems fair to me - and maybe your ‘expert’ courier actually owes you some compensation too.

I’d suggest that you do take Pete up on his kind offer. The situation is what it is and all any sensible person can do is seek to find ways to work with things as they are - the result of ‘kicking’ against ‘the system’ is usually ‘sore toes’. On the bright side there are a lot of folk in the U.K. who would like one of your instruments and you have the skill to turn your hand to making whatever there is a market for ... and there certainly is and will be a large market for a big variety of manufactured goods.
 
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Ken, would it not be possible to send the buyer a letter with your email address, requesting theirs, prior to shipping the ukes. Once the sale has gone through, you'll have their address. You could explain the the listing, that there may be a delay due to Brexit red tape. Just a thought. Mike
 
The work around is that you can send phone numbers in order to allow for collection. So at checkout provide your phone number and ask them to text you their details to arrange collection/delivery. Then you can text them your email address and away you go.
 
Graham Greenbag said:
It’s a shame for EU citizens ... perhaps your EU customers would care to contact their MEP’s (Member of European Parliament) to vent their frustration.
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That would be barking up the wrong tree, though. The UK left the EU, the EU didn't kick the UK out. It's not unexpected that Brexit would introduce economical inconveniences and downsides for everyone involved. The UK shed the responsibilities that came with the EU membership -- and lost the benefits that were part of it.

I used to buy instruments, accessories, and high-end fountain pens from the UK, because they had, and still have, the best specialized shops for those things, but I stopped doing this for anything that costs more than €50, because dealing with the customs office is a hassle, plus the extra delays. It's not a happy situation, but I don't blame my country or the EU for this.
 
Jerryc41 said:
Oh, come on! We have to blame someone! :D
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Well, someone voted for this! :p

It's my own fault, though. Instead of getting into ukuleles and banjos, I should have gotten into accordions and alphorns.
 
Mivo said:
That would be barking up the wrong tree, though. The UK left the EU, the EU didn't kick the UK out. It's not unexpected that Brexit would introduce economical inconveniences and downsides for everyone involved. The UK shed the responsibilities that came with the EU membership -- and lost the benefits that were part of it.
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My impression is that that perspective summarises the typical EU view, indicates why there was an appetite to leave and encapsulates part of the current difficulties. Brexit is an exceedingly contentious subject; it’s time to move on and to make the best of things, and it’s certainly time to both work at not falling out with friends and to work at building mutual understanding.

Anyway there’s no politics on UU, well very little and I think it’s best that way so let’s say no more on the politics of where we are.
 
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Graham Greenbag said:
and it’s certainly time to both work at not falling out with friends and to work at building mutual understanding.
Click to expand...

My British friends and colleagues, none of whom voted for Brexit, have a much stronger and more vocal take on this subject than my "typical EU view" expresses, but as you said, this is not the appropriate forum for a political debate. I just felt it was a little peculiar to refer frustrated European customers to the MEPs, because neither the European customers nor the MEPs are responsible for the decision (a democratic decision, no question) to leave the EU.

But anyway, the situation Ken deals with seems to be in large part because of eBay's policy regarding email addresses. That, to me, is an absurd policy that may make sense in communication prior to a successful auction, but once a payment transaction has taken place, the seller should gain access to the email address without workarounds.
 
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Just out of curiosity, how do you send high quality instruments abroad? I have a brand new Brueko no.6 that I want to post to a friend in the US. The cost is absurd. It's more than the uke is worth.
 
Personally think this is an Ebay problem..... was with Ebay for more than 15 years and the last sales / purchased I did with them....... promised myself I'd never use them again unless it was a half to case......

This company now pushes Rules and Regulations down one's throat. Ebay for sure is no longer small business friendly and they for sure don't allow for a custom business such as lutherie ..... Enough rocks on a bridge no matter the size will eventually colipase a bridge. Find another avenue for selling your product.

My two cents!
 
The US is not a problem - just a few new things. Europe is a headache. Use an intermediary - someone like Transglobal Express. They have it worked out. Recently they advocated for me and sorted out a convoluted delivery... Don't use eBay's services.

As someone who has shipped from the UK world wide for over 26 years, unless you live and work here you cannot begin to know what a challenge exporting is and has always been on every level. Brexit has made unregistered VAT businesses almost impossible to trade in Europe. Ken - you are definitely in trouble if you are sending your stuff abroad. I am concentrating on my home market and US clients. Europe? I dunno if I am ever going to do new business there.
 
Its not all bad news...One Ukulele got through to the recipicent in Berlin..he managed to get round the rules by talking personally by telephone to the Courior's...They must have felt sorry for him co's he finally recieved it yesterday but he had to pay duty....just a thought but what if he didn't have an eMail address lots of folks dont :confused:
 
This is why it's called Evilbay. One of my friends used to sell on it, but got off two years ago because of the ridiculous epense.
 
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