Specifying country of origin for item for vinyl album when it's made in the EU

[jjambadger27]

I'm about to list a vinyl album by a UK act - the back sleeve states "Made In The EU",  but there's no option to specify EU as country of origin (which is fair enough as it isn't a country!). With the label being Universal, it's probably more than likely that it's pressed by GZ Media in the Czech Republic/Czechia, whilst the label headquarters address stated on the back sleeve is in the Netherlands. Just wondering what people would put down - I imagine the Netherlands is probably the safest bet as there's no mention of the Czech Republic on the sleeve. 

[*vyolla*]

I'd agree with that and put Netherlands. 

It gets confusing because Discogs put the origin country as the one where it's going to be released (market). 

[technthread]

I reckon if you find it on Discogs, their listing would confirm the country. Failing that, yeah I’d go with Netherlands myself. 

[technthread]

Interesting. I always thought it was the country of manufacture. 

[*vyolla*]

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@technthread wrote:

Interesting. I always thought it was the country of manufacture. 

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For some reason it's not:

[edwardian-dreams]

Iirc the only reason they’re doing this is to bad items   made in China  because trump has imposed massive tariffs

so I suppose whatever eu country you chose won’t make a dufference

just my take 

[jonatjonatjonat]

I’d go with Netherlands

[honeymonster007]

Could you leave it blank,  put a mention in the description and a closeup of the sleeve

[xyz307xyz]

I've no idea what is right but personally if it has a barcode, I would go with that.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_GS1_country_codes

[4_bathrooms]

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@*vyolla* wrote:

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@technthread wrote:

Interesting. I always thought it was the country of manufacture. 

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For some reason it's not:

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That's the country of release; it isn't the country where the vinyl record was actually manufactured which is what a customs declaration's "country of origin" field should be concerned with. In the OP's case I would actually put "Czech Republic". That said; I don't know to what effect HS "harmonisation" rules are in play here.

For US tariff purposes it wouldn't really matter. Both the Netherlands and the Czech Republic are in the EU so the tariff/customs charges would be the same.

[4_bathrooms]

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@honeymonster007 wrote:

Could you leave it blank,  put a mention in the description and a closeup of the sleeve

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Doing this might cause it to be classed as originating from China/Hong Kong by default for potential US buyers which could savagely bump up how much they would ultimately have to pay.   

[davidian66]

or eBay could just add in EU or Europe to the listings, I have the same problem with CD's, You can't just add a country in, someone will complain, that you have listed an item with a Netherlands country of origin and it is actually Europe, leaving yourself wide open for a "item sold not as described" refund.

Go on eBay let us use EU or Europe 

[4_bathrooms]

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@davidian66 wrote:

or eBay could just add in EU or Europe to the listings, I have the same problem with CD's, You can't just add a country in, someone will complain, that you have listed an item with a Netherlands country of origin and it is actually Europe, leaving yourself wide open for a "item sold not as described" refund.

Go on eBay let us use EU or Europe 

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eBay can't do what you want because "EU" is no longer a valid "country of origin" entry for export declarations.

I believe where media such as films, music CDs, vinyl records etc. are concerned it is the country of release that counts as the country of origin as that is where the sleeve would have been printed. 

[jjambadger27]

That's not how it always goes - there are CDs/vinyl that have only been released in the UK for example, but it clearly states on the sleeve that it's been manufactured elsewhere. 

[4_bathrooms]

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@jjambadger27 wrote:

That's not how it always goes - there are CDs/vinyl that have only been released in the UK for example, but it clearly states on the sleeve that it's been manufactured elsewhere. 

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In the grand scheme of Trump's Tariffs it shouldn't really matter - music CDs are now specifically exempted from the tariffs. If the country of manufacture is stated as EU I'd just pick one or find out where the distributor's EU pressing plants are located. Sony DADC (manufacturer of Sony Music Entertainment-owned labels)  has pressing facilities in Austria and the Czech Republic. They also have a facility in the UK that - prior to 2020 - would also have counted as being in the EU.  

[jjambadger27]

That is true re the exemption of vinyl/CDs etc. from tariffs. I have been told by a member of eBay's Irish customer service team that tariffs are not being applied accordingly for this category if sent via GSP but have to hear if any seller can corroborate that.