# Ordering from the EU instead of the UK to avoid customs hassles and charges



## Thirsty (27 Jan 2021)

Has anyone swapped to amazon.de or amazon.fr for orders?  Any tips or tricks?


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## odyssey06 (27 Jan 2021)

Thirsty said:


> Has anyone swapped to amazon.de or amazon.fr for orders?  Any tips or tricks?



No free delivery I think is the issue there, and if ordering electrical items you may need converters.

I've read reports of people using Amazon.co.uk prime at the moment, no delivery charge, and then for items under £22 you aren't charged any VAT (some exemption until summer).


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## Zenith63 (27 Jan 2021)

Thirsty said:


> Has anyone swapped to amazon.de or amazon.fr for orders?  Any tips or tricks?


I haven't used them since Brexit, but I have ordered from the German, French and Spanish sites a few times.  For any expensive items it's well worth heading along to the likes of  and see which site is cheapest, in some cases the savings can be fairly chunky.


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## meepman (9 Feb 2021)

Thirsty said:


> Has anyone swapped to amazon.de or amazon.fr for orders?  Any tips or tricks?


I did recently use german site for some computer parts. It was cheaper than uk site even with the bigger delivery cost.


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## rustbucket (17 Feb 2021)

Just by way of comparison I ordered stuff from a uk website the other day and safe to say I won’t be doing it again if it can be avoided. I spent two days trying to find the exact thing I needed in Irl but couldn’t.

item cost £15
Shipping £13 (would only send Dpd tracked international even though items small enough to post)

total £28

email this morning from dpd
Customs fee €6
Brokerage fee €5
Vat €1.66

item cost £15
Transport £13
Customs etc €13

madness


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## Leo (17 Feb 2021)

rustbucket said:


> Just by way of comparison I ordered stuff from a uk website the other day and safe to say I won’t be doing it again if it can be avoided.



It might be worth pulling together details of UK companies who have gotten their act together and can complete the required customs declaration so the consumer isn't hit with charges...

In the meantime, I'd only purchase from companies who confirm they have this sorted.


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## Steven Barrett (17 Feb 2021)

A lot of UK based companies have .ie websites for the Irish market. It isn't until you have purchased the item that you realise you are buying from the UK. This wasn't an issue pre Brexit but can be now. Thankfully, I haven't been lumbered with extra charges yet but there is a noticeable delay in getting the packages delivered. Being able to track your package, you can see it being picked up from the seller within a day or 2 and then going nowhere for a week before suddenly going out for delivery.


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## ginslia (18 Feb 2021)

I attended a webinar on this topic recently and the key takeaways were:
1) check where the seller is located - .ie or .eu web domain is not enough
2) check where the goods are made - if made in Britain then no customs duty should apply (examples given were hotpoint, dr martins, marmite, cadbury, certain cars)
3) check who is liable for these extra charges - some sites are dealing with it on behalf of customers so that product arrives DDP (delivered duty paid), others are not and as the buyer you become the importer for customs declaration purposes

Calculations also make things complicated. 
For VAT purposes the value is the (cost plus handling, transport and insurance, plus any customs duty).  Its this "value" that needs to be under the €22 limit, not the cost of the goods only. Irish VAT is calculated on the value.  (No UK VAT should be charged)
For customs, the value is the cost plus handling, transport and insurance to see if the €150 threshold is met.  If value > €150, then customs duty is applied to the cost only.

The real fun starts if you need to return goods to the seller, complete export declarations and try to reclaim the related VAT or customs duty paid!


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## jpd (18 Feb 2021)

The joys of having a 3rd Country as a neighbour


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## Early Riser (18 Feb 2021)

ginslia said:


> For VAT purposes the value is the (cost plus handling, transport and insurance, plus any customs duty). Its this "value" that needs to be under the €22 limit, not the cost of the goods only. Irish VAT is calculated on the value. (No UK VAT should be charged)


 I ordered something from Amazon UK recently. It came to €25.36 (£21. 91) including Irish VAT but free postage. It arrived fairly promptly with no extra charges.


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## NoRegretsCoyote (18 Feb 2021)

I've tried both and German Amazon is MUCH better than French Amazon.

Price is in general lower and selection better. You'd be surprised how wide the selection of English books there are on amazon.de.


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## Buddyboy (18 Feb 2021)

Same here, using amazon.de now rather than amazon.uk.  Even with the cost of delivery it still works out similar or cheaper than the UK.
The English translation is perfect, so no problems so far.


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## elcato (18 Feb 2021)

I used the de site also. Only problem was it took a while to get here, more so than UK.


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## meepman (18 Feb 2021)

This us a useful site for comparing all the different amazon region prices.


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## Thirsty (24 Feb 2021)

Amazon eu sites have worked out great so far. 

Meepman's hagglezon site is brilliant!

Delivery a little more expensive, but have already made savings using the hagglezon; so it balances out.


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## Jim2007 (26 Feb 2021)

NoRegretsCoyote said:


> I've tried both and German Amazon is MUCH better than French Amazon.
> 
> Price is in general lower and selection better. You'd be surprised how wide the selection of English books there are on amazon.de.


You can get all English books on Amazo.de.  If you can’t find it, look it up on Amazon.com and use the ISBN to find it on .de... .uk has not worked in mainland Europe for a while now so .de is the go to for English books.


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## mathepac (26 Feb 2021)

Book Depository: Free delivery worldwide on over 20 million books
					

Book Depository is the world's most international online bookstore offering over 20 million books with free delivery worldwide.




					www.bookdepository.com
				




and deliveries are FREE, worldwide.


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## PMU (26 Feb 2021)

Since Brexit I have  had no problem ordering books from Amazon UK  There is no VAT on books in the UK or in IE so there is no additional  tax to pay.  And you can still select to pay in GBP.

I've had problems with the Amazon Italy site; either the site at checkout stage saying it does not deliver to IE (although it says it does on list of countries to which it delivers) or the site changing the price from EUR to GBP at checkout.  So I bought from Book Depository instead.


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## johnwilliams (26 Feb 2021)

PMU said:


> There is no VAT on books in the UK or in IE


thanks pmu for that info ,looking at getting some books


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## roker (27 Feb 2021)

rustbucket said:


> Just by way of comparison I ordered stuff from a uk website the other day and safe to say I won’t be doing it again if it can be avoided. I spent two days trying to find the exact thing I needed in Irl but couldn’t.
> 
> item cost £15
> Shipping £13 (would only send Dpd tracked international even though items small enough to post)
> ...


did they sell to you ex UK VAT?


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## Merowig (27 Feb 2021)

SBarrett said:


> A lot of UK based companies have .ie websites for the Irish market. It isn't until you have purchased the item that you realise you are buying from the UK. This wasn't an issue pre Brexit but can be now. Thankfully, I haven't been lumbered with extra charges yet but there is a noticeable delay in getting the packages delivered. Being able to track your package, you can see it being picked up from the seller within a day or 2 and then going nowhere for a week before suddenly going out for delivery.



Ordered 2 Vorwerk vacuum cleaners from their .IE site on the 15th of January - I knew though it will be routed via the UK. They arrived only today - normally it would had been 5-7 days...  Thankfully no extra charges.
I will need some more accessories but I will get them via their German site (also because they are cheaper and you get more extras in Germany)


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## rustbucket (1 Mar 2021)

roker said:


> did they sell to you ex UK VAT?


No. UK vat was applied

I think the problem is the total value of items and shipping exceeded threshold. So therefore Irish customs applied plus vat on customs charge plus brokers fee.

it’s kind of annoying to include the shipping charge in the overall value

strangely I’ve had 3 Amazon parcels from in delivered today where the price I paid at checkout was less than advertised. They removed uk vat as it was going to IRL but I got no extra charges upon delivery.


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## fayf (1 Mar 2021)

I have ordered from all Amazon sites across Europe. In many cases the uk one is still cheaper, for items i am buying which are usually under €50 as its free postage, and the UK vat comes off and irish vat goes on, which amounts to a euro or less.
Have ordered a few times since January 1st. 
The free postage on UK site often makes up, for any prices difference, as postage from .fr,.de,.es,.nl, it is often about 7 to 9 euro for the items i am buying.

It all depends on what you are buying. Shopping around,  is as usual, the best advice.


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## Early Riser (1 Mar 2021)

rustbucket said:


> strangely I’ve had 3 Amazon parcels from in delivered today where the price I paid at checkout was less than advertised. They removed uk vat as it was going to IRL but I got no extra charges upon delivery.


Had they not added IRL Vat at checkout in place of UK VAT ? Amazon add IRL Vat to my recent order. No problem with delivery.


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## fayf (1 Mar 2021)

When i order from amazon UK, (i am not a prime member)the UK vat is removed, but “import deposit” is added on, at checkout, which equates to roughly 21% Irish Vat.

This happens, when the order value is above about €20. If its under the threshold, you don’t pay any import deposit, but its full UK price including uk vat + postage is added.


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## rustbucket (1 Mar 2021)

Early Riser said:


> Had they not added IRL Vat at checkout in place of UK VAT ? Amazon add IRL Vat to my recent order. No problem with delivery.


No. No vat at all


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## rustbucket (1 Mar 2021)

rustbucket said:


> No. No vat at all


Item was £17.60 including uk vat

at checkout it was reduced to £14.67
No p&p
No vat added
No mention of import deposit etc

Charged €16.95 to my card

is this right?


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## fayf (1 Mar 2021)

rustbucket said:


> Item was £17.60 including uk vat
> 
> at checkout it was reduced to £14.67
> No p&p
> ...


Looks odd. As the item is under the threshold, the UK vat should not be coming off. There are no import fees when item is under the €20 (roughly).

Are you a Prime Member ? As postage normally applies to amounts under £20, for non Prime Membere


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## rustbucket (1 Mar 2021)

fayf said:


> Looks odd. As the item is under the threshold, the UK vat should not be coming off. There are no import fees when item is under the €20 (roughly).
> 
> Are you a Prime Member ? As postage normally applies to amounts under £20, for non Prime Membere


Yes I’m a prime member. I ordered 4 of the same thing as individual transactions to avoid it going over the threshold. 2 more are due to arrive tomorrow but exactly the same amount on the transactions


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## SparkRite (1 Mar 2021)

fayf said:


> Looks odd. As the item is under the threshold, the UK vat should not be coming off.



UK Vat should be coming off.
Items under €22, UK vat off no Irish vat applied.

Enjoy until July 2021. Rules changing. :-
[broken link removed]

Remove the hyphens above for link to work.
Don't know why I couldn't link normally ????


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## fayf (1 Mar 2021)

SparkRite said:


> UK Vat should be coming off.
> Items under €22, UK vat off no Irish vat applied.
> 
> Enjoy until July 2021. Rules changing. :-
> ...


For the items i select under €20, the UK var is not coming off, odd


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## SparkRite (1 Mar 2021)

fayf said:


> For the items i select under €20, the UK var is not coming off, odd



Are they items 'Dispatched from and sold by Amazon. ' or are they items from 'MarketPlace' or are they items just dispacted from Amazon?

Also they need to be individual purchases and packages under €22.


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## rustbucket (1 Mar 2021)

SparkRite said:


> Are they items 'Dispatched from and sold by Amazon. ' or are they items from 'MarketPlace' or are they items just dispacted from Amazon?
> 
> Also they need to be individual purchases and packages under €22.


That’s what I thought which is why I ordered my packages in individual transactions (2 of the same thing) but they actually arrived in the same box. So the value of the package was over 22 euro in theory m


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## fayf (1 Mar 2021)

SparkRite said:


> Are they items 'Dispatched from and sold by Amazon. ' or are they items from 'MarketPlace' or are they items just dispacted from Amazon?
> 
> Also they need to be individual purchases and packages under €22.


All Amazon purchases, sold & dispatched by Amazon.
Maybe there are different rules, for different products, the items i buy are vinyl records


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## fayf (2 Mar 2021)

Actually, apologies, i am incorrect, checked again, and i can see the uk vat does indeed come off for items under €22, but postage is then added on as under the limit for free postage


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## peemac (9 Mar 2021)

this lasts until July1st when it changes and all purchases of all values will be subject to vat


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