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 need to add that our "royal mail version" was shote even 20 years ago😂 Didn't know they can do worse.

Nope. My friends are sending stuff witing eu and Switzerland just fine

I have just sent a small present to a child in the uk from the eu, and had the whole customs form declaration in the post office.
I work in a small business, and have to pay cash on arrivals about once a week.
This is nothing compared to companies who did, or try to continue to do, business between the uk and eu.
My dentist used to get crowns made by someone in London, it's very skilled work and she trusted him to do it exactly right. Now she's taken her business elsewhere. And so it goes.

It’s a huge PITA OP. I miss being able to send little presents to my friend in portugal - it was all so easy!

now I use local shops in portugal to buy presents for her but it’s not the same because she’s a huge anglophile and liked presents of british things she couldn’t get in portugal

still blue passports eh

I'm in Oz and have found sending anything to the UK a massive pain since Covid stopped a lot of the planes. Postage charges have gone up massively both ways too. I just send stuff from local sites now.

Another Brexit dividend!

This is a good site for toys in Spain www.toyplanet.com/es/inicio

We stopped sending parcels from EU to UK about 18 months ago (it was similar to what you describe, OP, last christmas already)

We just order gifts online - you don't have to use amazon, you can use other local suppliers, many companies have their websites in English, and most browsers translate them anyway. Most take credit cards or paypal

It works the other way too.
I'm in Ireland and ordering from British websites can be even more expensive now because of Brexit.
I bought a very ordinary pair of cropped leggings from Love Leggings £18 and with delivery and customs charges they cost me almost €40 !!!!
I don't order from UK websites any longer unless they have a EU website option.

@BarbaraofSeville a guide of some sort would be handy! I sent an emergency dressing gown from m and s Spain when she first went but have only used Amazon other than that.
Somewhere delivering chocolate would be good. I was v disappointed that Hotel Chocolat don’t deliver to Spain.

alwayscrashinginthesamecar1 · Today 09:19

^ScrollingLeaves · Today 09:05
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.^

I'm in Oz and have found sending anything to the UK a massive pain since Covid stopped a lot of the planes. Postage charges have gone up massively both ways too. I just send stuff from local sites now.

That is interesting about there being fewer planes from Australia since Covid, always.

I was actually being sarcastic because when you hear politicians speak about the various causes of the present economic crisis, mentioning Brexit is taboo.

I'm in Italy and while last Christmas was a disaster regarding things coming over from the UK, (both gifts from others and things I've ordered) this year so far is (touch wood) much better. I always check the customs duty is paid and most big online retailers are now covering it if they don't have their own EU hub like Next, M&S etc.
There are lots of lists online of retailers who cover any customs duties.

Try the Belgian companies or Lindt. Most have international websites. I've had Lindt and Leonidas sent here.

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?

From personal experience, yes. Had items from both The Netherlands and France held in Spanish Customs for weeks and when they finally arrived (one took 8 weeks) Customs had opened them, didn't have to pay anything but the delays were ridiculous and the postage costs not cheap either.

I'm in Ireland and have stopped shopping on British websites for this reason. I only buy on EU sites with an Ireland page.

@ryantubridysthumb
Why his thumb ?
I'm intrigued

I sent a Father's Day gift to my dad in Ireland back in May. There wasn't much to the parcel, just a few cards, a tin of biscuits and some sweets.

The box circulated through Irish customs for weeks, only to be returned onto my doorstep in England in late July with the declaration that it had been "rejected" by An Post. They didn't even bother opening the box. 🤷‍♀️ Such a waste of time and money.

I've had to become an expert in shipping documents as I frequently send patient samples to the EU. What used to be one of the easiest parts of my job is now extremely stressful because blood samples stuck in customs for a week or returned due to an erroneous punctuation mark (yes it's happened) are absolutely useless to anyone. Patients really don't appreciate being rung up to tell them that all the blood they gave last week needs to be repeated.

Yeah my sister lives in Portugal and we'd always send silly cheap gifts to each other. Not worth it now with the hassle and taxes. It's annoying because we both usually send gifts typical of the respective countries (I used to live there too) - so eg marmite and Colman's mustard for the UK, oregano, sugared almonds and piri piri sauce for Portugal - so using local delivery services isn't always possible 😐

my parents live in spain and told me not to bother sending gifts over from the UK as it costs almost as much for them to collect from their post office as it does for me to send them!
i'm now going to try Amazon.es

I hope that this is satire - it is the usual fatuous explanation reached for by the Conservatives every time someone attempts to point out that Brexit has become the crock of shite that many predicted it would be.

Before Brexit sending a parcel to Copenhagen or Cologne used to be as easy as sending a parcel to Coventry or Cardiff. You just went to the post office, or used DHL/UPS/Hermes/DPD etc. There was no customs paperwork, no admin fees, no pre-payment of VAT or duties etc. and the parcel could be delivered next day almost anywhere west of the Russian border.

While the post-Brexit issues described here are a pain in the butt for people trying to send a box of Christmas goodies to the niece in Spain or the daughter in Germany, think about the impact on UK companies whose entire business was based on sending goods to the EU. Whether selling cheese, clothes, software or anything else, or sending spare parts to keep factory machines or vehicles running, Brexit has made all of this far more difficult and costly - and in many cases has completely killed the business.

Havanananana · Today 10:19

^ScrollingLeaves · Today 09:05
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.^

I hope that this is satire

It is 🙃

Brilliant thanks @Geamhradh I will take a look.

I am quite glad I am not the only one who didn't get that😂

BosaNova · Today 10:43

ScrollingLeaves · Today 10:31

Havanananana · Today 10:19

“ScrollingLeaves · Today 09:05
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”

I hope that this is satire

“It is”🙃

I am quite glad I am not the only one who didn't get that😂

Sorry about that, BisaNiva
It is just that I have noticed that whenever the current problems are being discussed, everything is mentioned except Brexit. That is taboo.