EU referendum, brexit and the aftermath

John Lewis customers are getting hit by charges too, they seem to sell a lot to mainland EU.

No longer soon...

But..but you need us more than we need you!

Apparently bikes we orders for customers are delayed due to customs, once they have updated then we’ll know.

This gonna be fun.

Isn't this the opposite way around?
Under £135, the retailer must collect VAT at point of sale, over £135, it gets left to customs

It's actually taken me by surprise, I'd never quite processed that it would happen like this. Seems like a lot of UK retailers could be in for a drop in sales. I didn't vote for Brexit, but even accepting that it's happened, I'm failing to see any benefits for anyone at this stage.

It's a consequence of hard Tory brexit. As Ed said they weren't honest at all about this either with the oven ready deal. Both oven and meal now incur customs fees 😁

Goods trade wise, it would never give any benefits in the short term, medium term I couldn't come up with anything either.

The UK is the smaller market...

Sure the UK can now set more rules but small fish, big pond...

It's the service charge by UPS that I was taking particular umbrage at.

Boils my piss too. There's no legal basis on which they can charge the recipient for it, but they do anyway.

More anecdata from a friend that works for a small luxury food company based in UK but sells globally:

shipping that would normally cost like £15 is being quoted at around £100 so we've just turned off shipping to the EU on our website now!

I asked what percentage of pre-Brexit sales came from EU: 5%, which is £20k.

Fishing is (predictably) already going tits up due to brexit red-tape delaying shipments.

And without a degree in law.

Empty shelves at Sainsbury's in Northern Ireland.

As a YouTube commenter sarcastically quipped: not empty but full of opportunity 🔥

I thought Hendersons were supposed to be plugging some of the supply chain gaps (hence the Spar branded goods in some stores). Sounds like that hasn't worked then...

Lidl near me is totally out of salad and vegetables

I've been trying fruitlessly to get a definite answer. Say you're in continental Europe, order a bike from UK. As far as I can see there's €32 Customs to pay then Import Duty which could be 14% or 4.5% if they're "bike parts"

https://www.bike-eu.com/laws-regulations/artikel/2010/04/import-duties-on-non-eu-bicycles-1018983?_ga=2.61544940.1771866141.1610473319-1275999366.1610473319

So a €1000 bike sent from UK has possibly €172 in charges.

Depends if you qualify for the FTA.

If it’s over £135 then you have to add duty first (the tariff is dependent on what the item is, ie 4.7% for bike parts, 19% for ck plate bikes).
Vat is then payable on the total including the duty.

€1000 (+€100 shipping) bike would have 19% duty = €209
Vat on €1309 would be €262
Handling charges approx €14
Total fees € 485

I ship bikes to and from the UK all the time.

Not for everything it seems.

My area doesn't have a Sainsbury's shopping at my local Spar ATM. So far so good but most fresh food is EU / NI or already outside and WTO.

Sainsbury's may have to get more from GB with new Irish sea protocol is causing big problems. And in a few months all food to GB will have to be checked too.

Or so then say...do we really trust Gove to uphold his checks promise?

https://m.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/business/northern-ireland/firm-angry-as-port-hold-ups-threaten-nis-lettuce-supply-39958017.html

I have a small online shop selling parts for people doing up old school BMX bikes, a niche market!. I stopped shipping to Europe on jan 4th and am still dealing with the backlog of lost and delayed items now.
EU customers (Germany france Italy spain) made up about 15-20% of my sales. I’ve had many messages from my regular EU customers saying they will not shop from U.K. any more. Even though the stuff I sell isn’t available there, they would rather go without than buy from U.K. with fees on arrival!

Thank you. That's absurd, a 50% increase in a £1000 purchase. That's loads of UK businesses for whom export to Europe is no longer economically viable.

Yeah - it usually works out about 44% for bikes.. (1.2)^2=1.44

I’ve had many messages from my regular EU customers saying they will not shop from U.K. any more.

Ah, but think of all the new opportunities you have as a result of Brexit to trade with other countries which you couldn't before. Like, er... Hang on, I'll get back to you on that one...

Can you find a courier who will handle the fees/duty/VAT and invoice you rather than the customer? At least that way it is customer friendly.

I've bought things from the US using that system although it might require more scale to be worthwhile. (eg Digikey - yes it was fulfilled from the US, it was sent FedEx tracked)

Sadly I think there will be many small / independent / niche businesses experiencing similar. I hope it does not impact you too hard.