UKH

Hi there,

has anyone tried buying any kit from any Europe-based companies in the past few months. The missus would like to buy some boots at around 200GBP from Keller-Sports.co.uk who, on closer reading of their website are actually in Germany.

They do say, "We ship our products with Hermes from Germany to the UK. Shipping is free for orders over £150. Please know that there will be no additional VAT or duty charges requested on delivery by our carrier." But is that true or would we get stiffed with extra charges on delivery?

Has anyone any experience of this or a similar Europe based company trading via a '.co.uk' website?

Ta!

My mother ordered some heads from an EU company. First delivery was fine but last week she got hit with a £20 customs bill.

If you pay vat at purchase then you should be fine. Should being a key word there! 

I got stung for tax, £62 on Scarpa Phantom Techs (£262 + delivery). I wouldn't buy from Europe again.

Stuart

I bought a load of bike stuff from bike discount.de, normally a great place to shop, but had to pay over fifty quid in handling/tax/import/duty/whatever.  Bugger.  Much of the stuff just isn't available in the UK though, so not sure what to do in the future.  Be prepared for extra charges.

As I understand it, it depends on the individual company. Some, such as Bergzeit, Alpinetrek (Bergfreunde) - just as examples- are registered in UK for VAT. Some manufacurers (Mammut for example) are as well. You can buy from them without incurring Customs Duties/ additional costs. They also offer free delivery above a certain amount. They may also have UK addresses for returns.

Otherwise, there is a maximum value of £135/Euro150 limit, above which additional Duty/charges apply.

That's the situation as I understand it; I'm no expert.

However, (bearing in mind the above), I've ordered stuff from companies in Germany and Sweden since Brexit with no problems. Delivery seems to take a little longer, but that's all.

Check the delivery conditions on the individual retailer's website.

Hope that helps.

I ordered boots from Keller Sports a few years back and I had to pay a membership fee of £10 to get the deal, just like what Go Outdoors do. Problem was that the membership automatically renewed the following year and I had to get in touch with them to cancel it and get my tenner back. They were great about it actually.

The boots were still cheaper than everywhere, even when factoring in the membership fee.

I ordered new boots from AlpinStore at the start of the year. I waited 2 months before being told I had to pay a £30 ransom to the Bullingdon Boys Brexit Club - an inauspicious start to life in a pariah state.

Thanks everybody for your thoughts and help with this matter. I've done some digging and Keller Sports are indeed registered in the UK for VAT. So, as Robert indicated, we should be able to buy from them without incurring any customs duties or additional costs. 

Looks like the missus is going to get some nice new Hanwags - cheers all!

Are you sure she didn't ask for a handbag?

A friend who visited us last week runs a company selling skis & related stuff over the web & based in the EU. I asked him how Brexit was effecting his business & he said that feedback from customers suggested it was a bit of a lottery, some were charged taxes & 'fees', others not. He also said he's stopped using UPS as they had started adding odd fees  (but not always) which he didn't think were justified. All seemed a bit of a mess.

UPDATE:

The Hanwags from Keller Sports were delivered on Saturday - no additional charges or taxes have been charged (from experience, if there are additional charges dealing with Europe these days they invariably hold delivery until the monies have been paid to 'release' your goods).

The missus tested them - straight out the box - over a 35KM low level 'yomp' yesterday and was delighted with them.

Top marks for Hanwag & Keller Sports.