EU Websites for nice clothes online

[caperplips]

I have been stung with the whole Brexit fallout of online shopping in Ireland using UK retailers and it really has made things prohibitive now. I will absorb the extra costs for the things I have ordered in the sales but going forwards I will look to EU websites.

I wondered if anyone had any good ones to share? I like clothes from Whistles / Jigsaw etc generally so anything else of that ilk?

It's all such a pity...

Thanks!

@Parttimepunk keep us posted!
It's hard to work the charges because as I said I ordered a £148 leather bag & was charged €53 custom duty.
Yet I ordered €225 from Whistles & the customs duty on that is €18
Perhaps there's more duty on leather? Hope not as I have expensive boots on the way!

@caperplips I will indeed!

Sezane is lovely

Sadly I am in the UK , We are finding EU sites wont deliver anymore ..

(bloody, bloody Brexit. )

I also like Zadig & Voltaire, Sezane, BA&SH and 24S as well as &OS, COS, H&M,
Lululemon now rather than Sweaty Betty.
I won't be ordering from the UK again.

I think that part of the issue with the import duty isn't just the tax itself, it's the administration fee charged for collecting the tax. That will vary depending on the courier. Some retailers (eg John Lewis) have stopped all international deliveries because it's too difficult to figure it all out.

For Irish MNers, I found this on the Revenue site, the examples are shocking!

www.revenue.ie/en/importing-vehicles-duty-free-allowances/buying-of-goods-online-for-personal-use/buying-goods-from-outside-the-eu.aspx

Thanks for that omelette.

@caperplips thanks for starting this thread, and thanks to all PPs who suggested websites; such a pain now that brexit has screwed up our online shopping 🙄 (shopping from Ireland too).

Brilliant thread- thanks OP, I wouldn't have thought to start one.

This thread makes me so sad.

Irish here also. I didn't think the charge would be that much, totally not worth risking it. I did get a delivery today off a piece of jewellery I had ordered from the a UK company worth about €180 and no charge (I had ordered it on the 31st) so maybe there is hope for other people awaiting orders, or I'll get a bill in the post!!

Thanks @anomletteandaglassofwine - as the new arrangements are, I think, EU wide that table should help others too. I’d seen the €22 and €150 references here in France too but not set out so clearly.

If we have to pay VAT and customs duties on import to the EU of purchases from the UK I thought they should be VAT fee at point of purchase - but the only company I use who has announced VAT free shopping for those based in the EU are a stationery supplier ( cultpens.co.uk ).

@1frenchfoodie yes, I understood too that if we're now paying VAT at point of entry to our countries then it should be deducted from the sale price by the seller. In the case of my bag this 100% did not happen (hence my point that the bag was in a sale but there was no further deduction) so effectively I have now paid VAT twice on the same item. Once to the UK seller & again when it was delivered. Now I'm (slightly) willing to give the benefit of doubt to the seller as I purchased the bag on the 26/27 so the new measures were not quite effective yet.
I'm actually going to go back into that site & check to see if I were to purchase now would I be offered a pre-VAT price since I'm in the EU. That will be v telling

I have actually seen this message box pop up on a couple of websites since. Only 1 or 2 & I wasn't actually shopping but following links to things posted by other posters on style & beauty threads so I didn't pay it too much attention..but I will be alert from now on!

So I've just gone back onto that website & checked if I were to buy a bag now would I be charged less than someone in the UK & the answer is no. So that's v disappointing.
I'm going to Check another website now

I'd file a claim with your tax authority OP you shouldn't be paying VAT and import duties on purchases made before January 1st (from the UK). You've now paid VAT twice so either the tax authority refunds you or the company you originally bought from should refund you them, although the latter would be the case if you purchased from the 1st.

Your courrier should have some information on their website how to appeal, I don't know what it's like in Ireland but it's not an enjoyable process IME as you need to find the right form but it does get sorted in the end (if a bit slowly).

I would also warn that every EU country has slightly different rules, the Irish examples are similar to where I am but not the same (eg. Purchases under €22 never get an admin fee on top they just get passed on without a fee and shipping costs are not calculated as part of the taxable amount under €150). So check your own country's tax site, they all have a page dedicated to it, Scandinavian countries have a much lower 'free' threshold.

Also, not to spread more bad news but as of July (may be extended to Jan next year) they're scrapping the current EU rules whereby the 'free' threshold disappears. Ie. No more cheap shit from China coming in untaxed, with the admin fees it'll lose all bargain appeal.

Ok I checked Grenson shoes website & add soon as I clicked onto a pair of boots a text box popped up outlining that because I was in EU VAT would be deducted & I would pay £50 less than the price advertised but would be liable to pay tax at point of entry to my country.
That seems more honest than the bag website.
I would be interested to know if £50 is the correct amount of VAT a UK retailer would have on a pair of leather boots? The UK price was £295 & the EU price £245

Tax is around 20-21% depending on where you are in the EU so that is an ex. VAT price. The tripping up point is over €150 as you need to pay import duties as well as VAT and it stacks up quickly, as per those examples on the Irish revenue site. Also the admin charges vary wildly per courrier. I'd expect to paying much more than £295 in the end. There are bigger sites like net a porter that deliver duty paid (DDP) and you'll just pay the price as advertised, best stick to those as a result of these measures.

DPD have suspended their parcel service from UK to Ireland until legal issues sorted. Not sure about delivery to other EU countries. Also we can forget free returns to UK clothing companies if we live in the EU!
I suspect a workaround will be that the bigger clothing stores will open EU warehouses and ship the clothes from there instead of the UK.

Thanks for posting this, I had planned to do similar. I think someone posted La Redoute above (just be sure it's the .eu site you use). Lindex is Swedish so maybe worth a look too.

Thanks @botemp
The 2 sites I bought from were UK independent makers- a bag from Ally Capellino & boots from Tracey Neul & neither are making any concession for EU customers which is massively disappointing.
The items are beautiful & I shall enjoy wearing & using them. But I won't be ordering again if those retailers don't offer the VAT free price. Neither are on their websites as of this morning.
Both my purchases were made before 31 December

They don't do boots, but Mishnoc in Galway do beautiful leather handbags and other goods, next time you're looking.

I live in Spain and buy a lot from next and marks and Spencer's - both the Spanish websites for the shops. Occasionally also H&M gap and Boden - I'm confused as to what's going to happen! If m&s and next have Spanish websites does that mean they have an operation in eu? The next clothes are cheaper on their Spanish site than the uk one so I'll be gutted if I can't shop there any more!

I'd still make a claim through your courier OP the companies you ordered with aren't at fault, they were required to do the paperwork per the new situation from somewhere late December (the 26th, I think)as a transition but it's purchase date that matters, not delivery date.

Speaking of returns, I'd also warn that if you pay VAT and import duties on an order you have to claim those back separately for your return (unless the company you are buying from specifically says they will refund these too, a lot of the DDP do, but always check) and it's again an annoying process that takes a while. The company you buy from will only refund you the ex vat price and you're left to chase the VAT import duties with your tax authority but you wil get it eventually.

It's a real shame for small independent companies in the UK as they're bound to lose a lot of business to this.

Salsa as in salsa jeans are Portuguese. Been buying from them for years and their customer service, returns policy is the best I have ever encountered. Their jeans are fabulous too!!

Quentin, check their FAQ/terms of services, it'll say in there. Even if it's a national website there's no guarantee but as a general rule large companies that are used to shipping internationally are already set up to deal with VAT and import duties and often have EU warehouses set up for this purpose in anticipation.

H&M is European so wouldn't expect any issues with them btw, unless you're ordering from the UK h&m site which I don't think delivers outside of the UK.