Sending Xmas gifts to Spain post-brexit what a palaver

[Figmentofmyimagination]

Has anyone tried to do this yet?

I just wanted to send a little Christmas present of some toys to a child aged 7 but the process looks so crazy and off putting now - customs forms, taxes etc and the thought of my friends having to mess around paying taxes on my present when it arrives ….. not exactly Christmassy.

Aibu to ask whether anyone has experienced this delight of brexit and persevered and what happened? My understanding is that this is the first Christmas with full-on Brexit nonsense in present sending.

I feel your pain. My brother lives in Germany and we used to send bits & pieces to & fro all the time, but it’s just a nightmare now. It’s really sad.

I’ve just stopped sending stuff to family in Spain. Takes ages, costs more to send and (worse!) costs my family an inconsistent but far too high for the gift amount. ☹️

Same here, we don’t send or receive anything from family in NL and Germany. Now we are a bit more organised and swap presents during half term visits.

It’s a shame really because at this time of year my in-laws would have sent a huge box of Dutch goodies.

It's a nightmare. I ended up paying over €100 for the Christmas gifts my parents sent from the UK to us in the EU last year. There are supposed to be different taxes on parcels marked as gifts and those that are direct purchases from companies but in my experience there is no difference made at customs and they charge full whack on everything. I put in a complaint and applied for a refund but even finding the right forms for this took me a few hours and then they just ignored the application.

Support a local business where they live - you can post on Facebook etc in expat groups and it saves any faff with delivery too. We've done it for years for our family in the US, and now also do it for family in the EU.

I sent a small present to Italy in spring 2021 and had the same malarkey. But I can remember having a German penpal before we joined the EU and it's only what happened then, or if you send to Australia or Canada or anywhere else.

I've got friends in Germany and we always used to exchange Christmas presents but we don't bother anymore. Although actually last year she did send me a small parcel and it got to me ok. I sent her a book via Amazon though.

How bizarre that the vote is 50/50. Brexit is such a peculiarly tribal thing - that there are people out there who think all this is positively a good thing, or else can’t bring themselves to admit what a pointless bureaucratic shower it all is.

people really wanted this, they dreamed of a day where this would be how things are, and they campaigned and ranted and eventually voted and they got this, which is what they wanted.

We sent some birthday presents recently, the duty was much more than the gift cost, so embarrassing.

brrrrrr I do not believe this is what people really wanted. I think it is just too painful to have to admit to yourself that you made a mistake - especially when you have the comfort of knowing 17+ million people agreed with you.

I have friends who tell themselves that the ‘decision’ was correct but that the ‘implementation’ was wrong, which means you can still be correct and at the same time, avoid feeling uncomfortable about it.

You mean like "This wasn't the Brexit I voted for, the version in my head was all perfect and wonderful, therefore I wasn't wrong"?

My dd is studying in Spain for a year. We sent her some small treats by post at the start (padded A5 envelope size). Took 5 weeks to arrive!
Now use Amazon.es. Much handier, even with my non existent Spanish.
Hadn’t thought of El Corte Ingles though. Away to have a look!

But so many people's lives were obviously being seriously blighted by being able to buy things and/or send them freely within the EU that when given the chance, they voted for it to end. So at least they don't have to suffer from this any more.

But seriously, WTF did they think they were voting for? So many benefits we had like this, due to being a member of the EU, wouldn't apply if we weren't in the EU.

Do they apply this thought process to the rest of their lives? Cancel their gym membership, but keep going to the gym? Stop paying for Amazon Prime, but still get free next day delivery on everything they buy? Why on earth did they think it was going to be any different?

I send gifts direct from Spanish shops now. El Corte Ingles is a good place to start as it's a department store so has most categories.

If it doesn't already exist, there's probably a market for the most popular websites that people use in all the EU countries for their online shopping to be available on a website, so you can ask for the French equivalent of Argos, Romanian John Lewis or Italian Marks & Spencer or whatever and use those to send things to friends and family living in those countries.

Yes, I think you can think El Corte Ingles to be a bit like a Spanish John Lewis.

This is what Amazon is for

Or Don Dino for just toys www.juguetesdondino.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=Sylvanian

Another one saying don’t do it. It cost me about €100 to collect all the parcels family and friends sent me last year. They were mortified that I’d had to pay. Birthdays and Christmas are now very different post-Brexit and not in a good way.

This is a big chunk of my job. I hate it.

The reason it is so difficult to send gifts to family and friends in the EU is the economic after-effects of the pandemic, and Putin’s war on Ukraine.

No it isn't.
I sent mine before it blow up.
It's a mess and this one has nothing to do with Ukraine war

@ScrollingLeaves That might be part of it, but surely Brexit has a big affect too.

Are there people in France/Spain/Germany etc currently unable to send things to each other without paying massive customs fees and suffering long delays?