For clarification I understand that this is a nightmare for some small businesses who are now facing paperwork and additional costs and I am not diminishing that at all, I was just asking specifically about the consumer experience.
As someone who has shopped and shipped globally I waa well aware for example of the challenges and price disincentives of buying from e.g. the US....more sophisticated operations being able to take charges up front and ship duty paid, some sending with the worry of those charges, including heavy admin charges at your door, or mostly just not shipping at all. So I wasnt surprised when this became the norm for EU purchases too.
VAT is a consumption tax across all member states at varying rates.
Technically, if VAT is being applied at source i.e. the price you pay for items on the website, and UK VAT being applied on import alongside other charges, I suppose the thinking is that you can apply to be reimbursed from the retailer which is a nightmare for the retailer, who knows. Or perhaps there are more changes to come.
Certainly it doesnt feel like a 'free trade' agreement as proclaimed, from a consumer perspective so I think it is understandable that this is why pps acknowledge this was unexpected.
Whether you were pro or anti Brexit it is surely possible to have a civilised discussion on whether this situation was always intended and if so whether it is a good thing, can be improved, or is a price worth paying for some benefit that I am personally struggling to see
Personally, I guess I loved the fact that ecommerce enables consumers to access global markets and thought that was a good thing, with appropriate duties paid seamlessly. But paying middlemen large charges simply for admin and paperwork is a bad thing and the opposite of frictionless trade.
Ho hum. Feel free to go back to truly unsavoury jingoistic squabbling about vaccines.