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 send gifts internationally (not EU but surely the form is the same) just need to say what the item is, weight and the cost.
Never put the actual value of the item on the form or the recipient will need to pay. I always say each thing is worth less than £10.

Who is the 42% who apparently this this is no problem?
I'm guessing none of them own (or owned) a business sending stuff to the EU

YANBU.
There are other reputable websites in Spain if you don't want to benefit Amazon.es.

I am now worried. Why is there duty to pay on a gift ?
I have sent a birthday present to Germany 3 weeks ago with everyone’s cards inside but it has not been delivered yet. I had to complete a customs label at post office -here - value c. £50.00 will the recipient have to pay to receive it ?
it has been a disaster so will not send anything other than a card in future.

Honestly? Probably yeah.
It's absolutely mental now.

I have sent a birthday present to Germany 3 weeks ago with everyone’s cards inside but it has not been delivered yet. I had to complete a customs label at post office -here - value c. £50.00 will the recipient have to pay to receive it ?
it has been a disaster so will not send anything other than a card in future.

my mum sent me a thing from UK to here in Germany, she marked it as 60 pounds i think and i had to pay a total of about EUR 19, 6 of which is the post office handling fee.

We no longer send parcels and just use local websites to deliver presents (or Amazon. Needs must sometimes)

There’s duty to pay on gifts because the ‘gift’ option was abused to send non-gifts

Normally you can send a gift of small amount for no tax/duty
Like people say my nan used to send gifts to Canada all the time

@DarkMatternix well thats the Eu choice to have it set at that ? The import charges are decided by country so if cananda and australia can use some common sense why can't the eu

Also sending stuff across isn't too great for the environent especially if buying a gift you can get in spain rather that something that maybe can't be got there etc

@Eixample exactly that and they could have a higher gift value if they wanted , tbf its not gone up much for years and when family used to send to us from canada we had to pay, when we sent other way not too much ,
Countries could sort this out and £100 from private to private address not too much to consider moving it up to
People also send goods that shouldn't be sent via air etc sometimes as they have no clue on restrictions of certain items

@Figmentofmyimagination we’ve had this problem with `Spain, however last week I bought a toy from Amazon for my niece….. I selected international eligible, and it was fulfilled by Amazon EU. No tax charge at the other end!!

For info…. M&S have an internatational site, no tax there…. And george (Asda) do as well!

So plastic tat is made in China shipped to the U.K. then you re-ship it to Spain, not very environmentally friendly is it?
Wouldn’t it make more sense to send money or treat them next time you see them?

Don't bother. Costs a fortune and if parcel force lose your package like they did mine, they don't care. Despite it not tracking to delivery, they expected my recipients to fill in their forms to confirm they hadn't received anything. I never got any money back.

Sites to try in Spain:

El corte Ingles
Juguettos.com - they sell sylvanian families
Toyplanet.com also sell SF
Toyrus.es also sell SF

I have a friend in Italy, I used to send her presents but it isn't worth it any more. I've tried and tried to pay all duties and taxes and yet she still gets charged. The parcels usually sit in Italian customs for weeks too.

I'll buy her things and give them to her in person when I can - goodness knows when that'll be - but it's a shame as her family don't bother with her over Christmas. I've sent her a card but she hasn't confirmed she's got it, maybe middle of November wasn't early enough

I sent a package to my son in the UK containing his own, old, used clothing and we had to pay a fortune in customs duties. Never again. I also now won’t sell to UK customers on my Etsy shop and don’t buy from UK retailers without an EU presence. Not really a fan of Amazon - I used to try to order books from independent UK bookshops but that’s no longer possible. I cannot for the life of me understand how anyone could have thought Brexit would boost small UK retailers, when it was really obvious it would just cripple them.

I sent an old friend a gift for their birthday in Spain - it was so bloody difficult.

Absolutely ridiculous.

Why do you want to send gifts abroad anyway? Why can't your family and friends all just live in Britain? Are you all that unpatriotic?

We all just have to try harder to make Brexit work.

Nothing is good for environment🤷🏻

ODFOD 🙄

😂

Sorry, thought you were being serious...it's been a long week!

As you were...

Newsflash: Brexit was a stupid idea that benefits nobody apart from a few rich bastards. I hope you didn't vote for it. My advice would be to buy the present from a Spanish online retailer (Amazon.es, El Corte Inglés, etc.) and have it sent directly from them to your friend's house.

That old line, yawn. It was the UK that left and lose the benefits of the single market and customs union. Importing goods from Canada and the US is expensive too.

I don't have any family in the EU, but send regularly to Canada. Toys, clothes etc. nothing to pay by the recipient, although it does cost a fortune for me to post them. I'm regularly being asked for stuff to be sent