new EU €3 charge - but prepaid EU customs duty totally different per country also?
Summary: talbotroad shared their experience of losing a GBP180 sale to a German buyer after informing them of a GBP37.68 customs prepayment requirement by Royal Mail. They noted that the charge for France was significantly lower at GBP11.68 and questioned the need for different setup charges for each EU country. sml192 clarified that the new EU €3 charge applies to items €150 and under, not affecting the discussed sale, and mentioned that Germany requires customs duty to be prepaid, unlike France where eBay handles VAT. talbotroad confirmed the different charges on the Royal Mail site, and sml192 explained the responsibilities regarding VAT collection for France versus other EU countries.
I just had a possible GBP180 sale to Germany buyer cancel their offer when I told him according to the Royal Mail website, I would have to prepay customs charges of GBP37.68 and charge him for that.
The same package to France would have GBP11.68 charges applied on the Royal Mail site (do they charge the buyer an add-on customs fee on delivery?)
Are we really going to have to set-up postal (inc customs prepaid) charges for every country in the EU separately?
Anyone else had problems?
sml192
·1 month agoIf the item was £180 then that would be subject to normal customs charges and nothing to do with the new EU €3 charge as that only applies to items €150 and under. The customs charge should be the same for both France and Germany.
In terms of the new EU €3 charge eventually the intention is for it to be collected alongside the VAT by the IOSS holder but that hasn't been implemented yet so currently items need to be sent PDDP (duty paid upfront) or DDU (duty unpaid). Germany and Luxembourg are PDDP only.
If you opt into eBay's GSP/eIS then all VAT and cutoms charges will be dealt with by eBay.
talbotroad
OP1 month agoThanks for the reply.
If you go on the Royal Mail site you'll see the different customs charges to be prepaid.
The charges to France and Germany were as I stated.
sml192
·1 month ago · EditedApologies, for France eBay is responsible for collecting VAT on items of any value whereas for all other EU countries they are only responsible for items up to €150. The Royal Mail quote for Germany, therefore, is for VAT and Import Duty whereas the one for France is for Duty only.
talbotroad
OP1 month agothanks again for replying.
it's a minefield and a half, I appreciate your knowledge here!