Take Care!

[Wheeze]

If you are doing any online purchasing, take extra care if the goods you are ordering originate within the EU. I recently bought a motorcycle helmet from Italy at a good price saving compared to local retailers. It was shipped to me by FedEx and I paid the shipping cost which ate a little into the cost saving but I was OK with that. A couple of days later I got a bill from FedEx for 'Import Charges'. The bill completely eroded any cost saving compared to buying within the UK. This probably represents the VAT element of the item which is now not shown when you peruse online.

I'm used to seeing import charges calculated when buying stuff from USA but my brain had not caught up with the fact that this will apply to the EU as well. Online retailers/EBay don't seem to have caught up either. So take care and remember what may look like a good online price may actually be no better than shopping at home!

[Hank]

One of the many benefits of having finally taken back control of our country.

[Wheeze]

It's not a benefit. It's just a change of fact to be aware of. I just posted this to flag it up to my forum friends. It's an obvious consequence if you think about it. I was dumb and got hooked in by an apparently good price. In the end the price was the same as I would have paid in the UK. Yes, it was about 20%.

[Mossdog]

It's not a benefit. It's just a change of fact to be aware of. I just posted this to flag it up to my forum friends. It's an obvious consequence if you think about it. I was dumb and got hooked in by an apparently good price. In the end the price was the same as I would have paid in the UK. Yes, it was about 20%.

It's a good head's up Wheeze - thanks for that.

I've got a new Swiss Army knife in transit now from Germany, and I'm wondering if I too will be clobbered with an extra bill.

[Mark G]

Is there a minimum price at which taxes take affect? I looked at ordering a kayak paddle from China - the price was good (not sure about the quality) but the seller stated that they 'tried to declare a cost on the invoice that avoided import charges'. Leaving aside the facts that it's probably fraud and once you've paid them they don't really care if you get charged import duty or not I reckoned that the savings compared to UK prices weren't worth it for an item of uncertain quality that would be very problematic to return if faulty. I bought one from the UK instead, still an import but from Norway, so I'm not sure if any charges were included in the price other than UK VAT.

[Hank]

It's not a benefit. It's just a change of fact to be aware of. I just posted this to flag it up to my forum friends. It's an obvious consequence if you think about it. I was dumb and got hooked in by an apparently good price. In the end the price was the same as I would have paid in the UK. Yes, it was about 20%.

Sorry, you're right, not intended as a dig. I'd only heard of it myself through a couple of news items in the last few days, and I think it's fair to say it's not been obvious to many people. My sarcasm comes from a belief there will be lots of these unintended (or at least not obvious to the public) consequences like this from Brexit, but hey, I might be wrong!

[Wheeze]

No, you're not wrong. There will be lot of unintended (or perhaps conveniently ignored)consequences of this divorce. Like any other divorce, it will take the partners some time to settle down into a new relationship. In the meantime its wise to keep your eyes open!

[Hank]

No, you're not wrong. There will be lot of unintended (or perhaps conveniently ignored)consequences of this divorce. Like any other divorce, it will take the partners some time to settle down into a new relationship. In the meantime its wise to keep your eyes open!

Indeed. I think in this divorce the UK is trying to maintain that this is the best thing for both parties and that perhaps we could be friends in the future. Unfortunately at the same time the EU is in the back garden burning a bin bag full of our precious old footy match programmes.

[Wheeze]

indeed. And saying our vaccine is no good!

[Travs]

Saying our vaccine is no good, but demanding we share it with them...