To wonder why shoppers are surprised at post-Brexit customs and duties?

[Wherrsmaclickypen]

Shoppers are apparently 'dismayed' 'shocked' and 'angry' to receive bills for import taxes and handling on their online shopping from the EU. It not just media reporting - there are lots of annoyed and confused comments on retail social media pages. Many are angry at the retailers for not posting UK specific warnings. 🤷🏻‍♀️

We have come out of the EU. What exactly did people think was going to happen?

PS If there are any pro-Brexit knitters out there, who enjoyed shopping at Hobbii, Ritohobby et al, you have brought this on yourself, and the rest of us.

what happens on ebay etc where you pay the seller - can you be taxed later?

I can't understand why people are surprised either. We pay customs duties on items from USA, Norway, Iceland.....of course we're going to pay customs on items sent in from EU.
But why on earth are people buying so much from abroad anyway? Unless its a very specialist item particular to that country, surely stuff can be bought at home. Better for British business too.

Buy British.

Because people were stupid.
Especially leave voting business owners whose whole business depends of exporting to the EU. And then they whing about being called thick.

@lockeddownandcrazy

what happens on ebay etc where you pay the seller - can you be taxed later?

Yes you can - this has always been the case for USA

If you buy a vatable item from the EU it should be sold to you with no VAT. This is currently 21% in Belgium, 20% in France, and 19% in Germany. The uk VAT is then chargeable on the imported goods. Before Brexit the VAT was charged by the exporting company. So if the seller has charged you the price including VAT they have overcharged you, and you will pay double VAT so should query it with the seller.

@justanotherneighinparadise

Surely the obvious question is whether the vendor made it clear to the buyer that there would be an additional charge on top of price paid? If not then I think I’d be annoyed too.

If you’re buying from a co.uk website the assumption is that you are dealing with the UK arm of a business or just a UK business period. The key here is transparency and allowing the buyer the choice of whether to order from X company that will incur and extra cost or order from Y company that won’t.

I take your point on transparency but the UK coming out of the EU is not the retailers choice, they have previously simply shipped to Uk destinations as per, until now. While some have geo-location sensitive content, most will state clearly in their terms and conditions they (the retailer) are not liable for customs and tax, as applies to all non-EU countries. Of course no one reads the small print, but it is hardly the retailers fault and they will lose a lot of money on refunds and rejected parcels, servicing outraged complaints from customers, and the inevitable loss of custom.

Of course these retailers can amend their websites, and make complex changes specifically for the UK market, or alternatively they might not think it profitable or worth the bother tbh, I suspect the latter in many cases.

Many will simply stop shipping to the UK. Vente Privee withdrew at the beginning of all of this (much to my huge regret.)

It seems from many comments that customers are clearly not checking point of origin of goods and have a expectation that goods will still miraculously appear from somewhere without duties, as this is a benefit we previously enjoyed as members of the EU. Ho hum.

This may be why my parcel STILL hasn't arrived from ebay.
BuyingBritish ia great but lets face it, there is more variety elsewhere and it was cheaper elsewhere.

ConspiracyOfOne
Don't come on the thread then if you dislike hearing exactly how angry we are.

Do you ever wonder if the reason people are still talking about it is because no one listened and what was warned about is happening.

I have as much right to tell you how pissed off I am that my country is being ruined as you have to be pissed off hearing about it.

I plan to do it for the next 40 years like the eurosceptics (who've morphed into covid sceptics) did.

@LooseMooseHoose

I don't really get why people are surprised either! And I can't feel much sympathy tbh.

Although I can recommend Wool Warehouse as a great UK based alternative for your yarn needs!

Yes indeed LooseMooseHoose they (WW) are very busy already.

It is of course good to buy British but the lack of choice and the absence of competition is unlikely to be a good thing. Plus UK retailers will have to pay much more to import many of their goods, so we shall see many familiar brands cost a lot more to buy here, sadly.

Yes.....😬

@SusannaSpider

Bloody pissed off though, it should be Brexiteers shouldering those costs, unfortunately that's unworkable though.

Myself and all the Brexiteers I know are all anti lockdown. Will the people who are pro lockdown compensate me the £100k I have lost due to the lockdowns? If so I will happily contribute towards brexit.

People thought there wouldn't be extra payments because we were assured there wouldn't be extra payments.

People whose job it is to know and deal with this sort of thing told us that everything would be ok and we could carry on much the same as before.

Whenever anyone asked "but how?" they were told that Remoaners were ruining the chance of a deal and shut up.

Most of the general population have grown up being told that the papers they read and the people in charge know what they're doing and have our best interests at heart (even if financial constraints mean they can't do everything they want to). Until something major happens to dislodge that thought they have no reason to doubt it.

Myself and all the Brexiteers I know are all anti lockdown

That figures.

Because they were constantly told it wouldn't be the case?

bp300

How do you not get that health is inextricably linked to the economy? Duh.

So no different to Us or other imports then. Shame for those wanting to import cheap maybe we will have a bit less throw away culture.

@ConspiracyOfOne

Do anti-Brexiters get sexual pleasure out of these threads? Every time they turn into a wankfest of superiority.

You'll find people surprised for having to pay for their own shopping ffs, as a cursory glance are MN will tell you, as well as import duties on stuff from outside the EU. You'll find people surprised by the fact that the earth is round and only women get pregnant.

Why start another bloody thread about Brexit so you can all congratulate each other on how clever you are? Take it to the Brexit forum.

I think I am as entitled to post as anyone else is, and I think my question is legitimate and genuine.

And I am not congratulating anyone, and I dont feel clever. I do however feel unable to access goods I previously enjoyed in a EU-wide marketplace. The difference being that I KNEW THIS WAS GOING TO BE THE CASE.

My question was why apparently, are so many people surprised? To me, it was one of the very few obvious consequences of leaving the EU. However, it may have been that promises were made about this not happening that I was unaware of. Or new more lenient tariffs are in the pipeline but are delayed. Or many other factors. I asked the question to an audience who are highly likely to have been EU shoppers and would also have a view of whether the surprise is reasonable.

Your view, which you are entitled to, seems to be just that a lot of people are stupid. OK.

@Theworldisfullofgs

bp300

How do you not get that health is inextricably linked to the economy? Duh.

We are ignoring pretty much every health issue other than Covid and destroying the economy at the same time.

I’ve got online retail business. Before Brexit about 20% of customers were from EU.
It’s still early days, but it’s around 10% Eu at the moment. I have it clearly stated on my site that they are responsible for any Customs charges and I message them before sending to confirm they are aware and if they still want to go ahead with order. Up to now all aware and ok.
Its odd that British folk are not aware, when they have voted for this nonsense.
I might also add, that I am certainly not feeling the benefits of this sovereignty when I am filling out reams of paperwork, to comply with new exporting rules. If only my new found sovereignty could be shared amongst the people that voted it.

Do you actually know anyone who works in health. It's grim.

If we didn't have lock down sceptics or covid sceptics and we had less people going "me, give me what I want" we would be in a better position in terms of the economy.
It's the lack of decisive action fuelled by sceptics that has brought the economy to this position.

People are surprised because few people understood or still understand all the complexities of Brexit. This is why holding referenda on complex constitutional matters that about 99% of the public do not understand is a fucking stupid ideal

@dreamingbohemian

No, not ordering food. Mostly looking at clothes/sports equipment because some items are cheaper in the UK or because I know an item from a British company is high-quality/fits well. Most companies are adapting, and I think things will be more streamlined in a year's time, but that's not much use if I need a new winter jacket now ;).

@DynamoKev

People are generally stupid. Except for special superior ones on threads like these of course.

you didn't need to be especially bright to know what would happen

No one could have been stupid enough to think that Brexit would ONLY have positive consequences, or no consequence at all.

@DynamoKev

People are generally stupid. Except for special superior ones on threads like these of course.

What explanation do you have? Did the Brexiteers know that they were voting for this? (Stupid move) If they didn't, why didn't they? (stupid move).