Ordering from the EU after 01-01-2021

[Lowki]

Important: this is not meant to be a political discussion, so not about what I or anyone else  think about Brexit, if it is good or bad. I just want to know if anyone has the same experience and knows if the following is correct or not. If this how it goes from now, things change considerably for me and not just me of course.

Last week I placed an order at an UK Re-Seller. Some paints, AoS books and miniatures. To my surprise I now get a request from UPS for import Rate to be payed of  roughly 25%. . I didn't expect that to be honest, as I thought there was a deal.  For what I know the only restriction for free-import is that the goods have to origin from the UK, maybe that is the reason (books are china?), but how can I know where. what is produced, or  proof it is from the UK from my side? 

The reseller, nor any other reseller warns or give any info about possible import Fees. Also UPS doesn't give any details, just send me a mail that I can pay. No specification either.  

Does anyone have the same experience or know if this is correct or can it be an error by the sender or UPS. Support page of UPS is a not helpfull at all, already trying to find a way to send a simpel mail with my question but end up in all kinds of automations that doesn't allow me to write down my question. I ahve send a mail to the Re-Seller.

 

Edited January 8, 2021 by Lowki

[Morglum StormBasha]

All hardback books and plastic scenery and endless spells are from China so probably don’t meet the rules of origin criteria. However this is guesswork based on what you’ve said above and some reports about other goods on radio 4 this morning. 

[Gaz Taylor]

Honest answer - I don’t know.

Without going political, businesses have been given no time to prepare for it and I think the idea from the masterminds behind it, is that things will just work themselves out. This means though at the moment nobody knows where they stand or exactly what needs to be done. It would be tough enough without a global pandemic as well!
 

Personally I would try and not order anything for a few months but that’s not helpful if you want to support that business.

[Lowki]

Yeah looks like things are not clear for anyone yet.

Governmental site in the Netherlands states for webshops same rules applies as for i.e. USA and China. This means 21% tax for orders exceeding 22 Euro, and additional import fee for everything above 150 Euro. I find elsewhere also statements that UK and EU agreed upon not  to charge the import fee though. 

Looks like I am better off with ordering straight from GW from now on, as long as they take the extra cost (as they announced)

[Beastmaster]

I just looked it up. The procedure for exporting goods from GB to the EU is a flowchart spanning 4 pages. It’s a nightmare. Also seems that in some cases, tax has to be paid beforehand, and can later be refunded. 
I can now fully understand any seller who doesn’t really know what to do. Personally, I’ll wait until the process runs smoother.

[jamie.white]

To be clear though - it’s not the job of the vendor  to warn or mention any import taxes you may have to pay .  
 

 

[Lowki]

45 minutes ago, jamie.white said:

To be clear though - it’s not the job of the vendor  to warn or mention any import taxes you may have to pay .  
 

 

Oh don't get me wrong, it is not a  complaint, I didn't do a thorough lookup myself upfront either. Just trying to sort out if this is what we can expect as of now. At least something to take into account next time I want to order something

I have good  experience with Resellers like Element Games, and they are normally quiet pro-active in these kind of things. And a lot of webshops like in the US or I.e. GW also mention it when you order from abroad, just as a friendly service to its customers, not because they are obliged to do that,

I consider Element Games a customer friendly shop, and feel that they would give some info if they could, but I get the impression  they simply don't know exactly either. And as Beastmaster says, you cannot blame them, the more I read about it, the more it becomes clear that is all relatively complicated, and no one really seem to know exactly as of now. It was a last minute deal so I guess it need some time before we can oversee all consequences. 

 

 

 

Edited January 8, 2021 by Lowki

[Beliman]

A friend found something that could be useful:

Quote

UPS Peak Season Surcharges
In order to prepare our network and continue to deliver exceptional service, UPS will implement a temporary Peak Season Surcharge to parcels that meet specifications for Large Packages and Over Maximum Limit as well as Additional Handling.

Effective from 1 November 2020 until 16 January 2021, the Peak Season Surcharge will be a flat fee per parcel charged in addition to existing rates, surcharges and/or fees.

 

[zilberfrid]

That is a bit sad. Just before new year's, an order was sent from Wayland that I ordered in october (availability of some kits was shaky). It hasn't arrived yet, and I can't track it.

I guess UK resellers are off the menu now.

[Marcvs]

7 minutes ago, zilberfrid said:

That is a bit sad. Just before new year's, an order was sent from Wayland that I ordered in october (availability of some kits was shaky). It hasn't arrived yet, and I can't track it.

I guess UK resellers are off the menu now.

just to provide with another experience (and maybe a glimmer of hope): I had also ordered from Wayland in November from continental Europe and received the items yesterday (whereas normally they arrive in around 7 working days)

[zilberfrid]

47 minutes ago, Marcvs said:

just to provide with another experience (and maybe a glimmer of hope): I had also ordered from Wayland in November from continental Europe and received the items yesterday (whereas normally they arrive in around 7 working days)

Was this with or without extra hassle?

[Marcvs]

27 minutes ago, zilberfrid said:

Was this with or without extra hassle?

no extra hassle, parcel showed up in the mailbox as usual -100% GW minis and paints, since that might have an impact I believe

[Doko]

I did a order to a spanish shop(im spanish) at 20 november,they delivered almost all in one week, but one box of sisters of the thorn wasnt delivered, and when i called i was told that they was waiting for gw send them.

I called them again some days ago anx they are waiting yet,more than one month waiting for one simple box from the same shop that i usually buy and in 2\3 days usually have all ready.

[Kramer]

5 hours ago, Lowki said:

Looks like I am better off with ordering straight from GW from now on, as long as they take the extra cost (as they announced)

Dont know where you livin’  in the Netherlands  

but my flgs in Leiden sells with 20% discount and does pick up and shipping for 6,95. 

[Lowki]

Well I read a bit more about it, and yeah it looks like it is what it is. Regardless of a trading deal, as the UK is considered a "third country" now, import taxes are 21% for anything imported to the EU with a value higher than 22 Euro. That counts as far as I can see for any European country as we share the same VAT system (but I am not expert, so don't quote me on that),

That's also the answer I got from Element. The trading deal probably has more benefits for companies importing to and from the UK, but for a simple customer of a UK webshop...this is what we have to deal with.  Unfortunate as that makes the hobby 25% more expensive for people in the EU, and also bad new for the UK Re-Sellers as I don't know how much of their business is with people in the EU, but I bet it is considerable

[Lowki]

12 minutes ago, Kramer said:

Dont know where you livin’  in the Netherlands  

but my flgs in Leiden sells with 20% discount and does pick up and shipping for 6,95. 

Oh great, do you have a link for me...or the name of the shop. Was already looking around for an alternative.

I am in the Hague, so relatively close by, pick up is an option

 

Edit: think I found it

Edited January 8, 2021 by Lowki

[Kramer]

15 minutes ago, Lowki said:

Oh great, do you have a link for me...or the name of the shop. Was already looking around for an alternative.

I am in the Hague, so relatively close by, pick up is an option

 

Edit: think I found it

Oh nice! De tafelridder its called.  It’s not much for AoS gaming sadly, but it’s a great store none the less. 
their site is integrated with their stock sadly. So not everything shows. But shoot them an email and they order it. 
for example they don’t stock the Warcry books (since they had to throw away a ton of 40k during the new edition). So they don’t show but they ordered them with 20% discount for me none the less. 

but if you ever looking for a game in the area, give me a shout. 
Was actually looking at the doubles tournament with a mate at the GW Den Haag last year. But couldn’t make it. 

[azdimy]

At least you can still order  gw products from the uk from resellers even if it may be not as good of a deal as it was. Many are not as lucky.The fact that gw can enforce uk resellers not to ship their  products  outside of the uk and  the eu is crazy

[Kramer]

2 minutes ago, azdimy said:

At least you can still order  gw products from the uk from resellers even if it may be not as good of a deal as it was. Many are not as lucky.The fact that gw can enforce uk resellers not to ship their  products  outside of the uk and  the eu is crazy

Wait where does that happen? 

[azdimy]

In the US, I cannot order gw products from uk online resellers like element games or others

[Kramer]

1 hour ago, azdimy said:

In the US, I cannot order gw products from uk online resellers like element games or others

But surely there are us resellers with discounts  right? 

Edited January 8, 2021 by Kramer

[azdimy]

32 minutes ago, Kramer said:

But surely there are us resellers with discounts  right? 

Of course but you d be surprise of the price difference. Discounts in the us are often capped at 15% of us retail prices

[hoonked]

4 hours ago, Lowki said:

Well I read a bit more about it, and yeah it looks like it is what it is. Regardless of a trading deal, as the UK is considered a "third country" now, import taxes are 21% for anything imported to the EU with a value higher than 22 Euro. That counts as far as I can see for any European country as we share the same VAT system (but I am not expert, so don't quote me on that),

That's also the answer I got from Element. The trading deal probably has more benefits for companies importing to and from the UK, but for a simple customer of a UK webshop...this is what we have to deal with.  Unfortunate as that makes the hobby 25% more expensive for people in the EU, and also bad new for the UK Re-Sellers as I don't know how much of their business is with people in the EU, but I bet it is considerable

Yeah, this is really kinda unfortunate as an EU customer. Wayland and it's free European shipping were great for getting miniatures and hobby supplies at a cheap price.

[Marcvs]

1 hour ago, hoonked said:

Yeah, this is really kinda unfortunate as an EU customer. Wayland and it's free European shipping were great for getting miniatures and hobby supplies at a cheap price.

I think there is still hope that it could work differently: goods produced in the UK (GW minis) shuold have no import duties, as for the VAT they shuold be exempted from the UK one (exports) and you would have to pay the EU rate -which, at the moment, is essentially the same. I will wait a few weeks to say if the situation is clearer, but otherwise I will just try a small order and see how it goes.

Edited January 8, 2021 by Marcvs

[azdimy]

I am concerned that gw in a near future treats the eu as  the rest of the world and prevents uk resellers to sell gw goods outside of the uk.  Something they could not do legally when the uk was part of the eu