I know that the Folksy team are working on ideas of how to get around the whole VAT/customs thing for deliveries to the EU after Thursday next week, and that a lot of you have decided to simply only post within the UK for now, but I’d like to try and carry on with EU orders if I possibly can.
Until a solution can be found, I thought I’d put a notice up on my dashboard along these lines - what do you think? Anyone got any other wording that’s better?!:
EU CUSTOMERS PLEASE NOTE: Due to new rules following Brexit, from July 1st 2021 all items sent to EU countries will be subject to increased VAT and customs fees which will be payable by you, the customer. Unfortunately, there are also likely to be long delays with items as they go through customs, so delivery times are likely to be significantly longer than those quoted in my product descriptions.
What do you think? It’s a bit gloomy, but I figure at least it gives people the choice and they’ve been warned…
7 Likes
I think it gets to the point without being too blunt - well done Sarah @PhotoFairytales
1 Like
The new rules aren’t anything to do with Brexit. This is an EU rule to collect VAT at the point of purchase, rather than at the point of delivery and applies to all online selling platforms both inside and outside the EU who are selling to customers within the EU. It’s apparently supposed to make things simpler and ‘overcome the barriers to cross-border online sales’ !!! 
1 Like
The rate at which they are charged VAT isn’t changing so I’d get rid of ‘increased’ in the first sentence. (They’ve actually been subject to paying the VAT etc on orders over 20euro since Jan, the change is that from July 1st market places should be collecting it at point of purchase rather than it being being delivered duty unpaid so the postal services collecting it. (originally they were going to make the change on Jan 1st like we did here in the UK but they decided to push it back by 6 months because of the pandemic))
1 Like
Thanks Sasha - so something like this do you think?
EU CUSTOMERS PLEASE NOTE: From July 1st 2021, all items sent to EU countries will be subject to VAT and customs fees which will be payable by you, the customer. Unfortunately, there are also likely to be long delays with items as they go through customs, so delivery times are likely to be significantly longer than those quoted in my product descriptions.
2 Likes
yup that works
(it will be interesting to see how the customs delays change - at the moment they are having to assess all packages whilst after 1st July in theory they wont have to assess those coming from sources like etsy/ amazon etc (if the seller has done everything correctly with the customs declaration and included the IOSS number) so it might get quicker)
5 Likes
Am I right in thinking that even when the VAT has been paid upfront before delivery there might still be other customs charges to be paid by the customer on delivery?
If the order is under 150 euro the VAT should be collected at point of purchase and there would be no more fees to be paid prior to delivery. If the order is over 150 euro then the VAT will NOT be collected at point of purchase and customs duty and VAT (and handling fee) will be collected by the postal service/ courier prior to delivery.
2 Likes
I believe it is always best to tell our customers up front. Hate for them to buy and then find out about the postage. Maybe we should all put this on our listings.
1 Like
Folksy have put this at the bottom of our listings for us
Please note that if your order is being posted outside mainland UK, you (or the recipient) may have to pay customs or VAT charges and a handling fee. The seller is not responsible for any charges or fees that may incur.
That doesn’t mean that people will see it so dropping them an email to confirm that they know about the customs charges before shipping is a good idea (and you can warn them about any delays at the same time).
7 Likes
I believe that may well be the case. I was reading about this online, but with so many different sites saying what’s happening but not necessarily the same story, I am as confused as you. I have added 'UK only due to BREXIT rules, but ask!
