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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!
boydsbikes-
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...
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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)
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Sadly I think there will be many small / independent / niche businesses experiencing similar. I hope it does not impact you too hard.
Brommers
jellybaby
tb
More anecdata from a friend that works for a small luxury food company based in UK but sells globally:
I asked what percentage of pre-Brexit sales came from EU: 5%, which is £20k.