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!

Holly, for next time, if they're asking and have no clue, tell them they're commercial samples. They'll be exempt from tax and duties then (so are things marked as gift but that gets abused a lot so they'll probably stick you on some suspicious list).

Zeldaaa, yes, unless they ship DDP (Delivered Duties Paid). What the exact rules are and when and how much you'd pay, I don't know, the UK site is out of date this would probably explain why the couriers are confused and have just stopped shipping altogether.

Great thread OP. Its such a shame as others have said its just not going to be worth ordering from UK especially when you take into account the potential hassle if you want to return. I have just ordered a load of thermals from M&S.. I'm assuming because it was from their .ie site and they have a physical presence here that there will be no customs charges but it's certainly confusing given experiences of other posters. On a positive note at least we can look forward to the Duty Free booze once we can all travel again!

Zalando also has Sweaty Betty for the pp up thread.

Thanks for posting this. I have just looked though and some of the items have a surcharge for "long distance delivery"? Any idea what this means? It's really hard to work out where something is actually arriving from!

Could it be that those items aren’t coming from Zalando directly? It also sells some things from other shops “amazon marketplace style”, is it those items that have the extra charge? I used Zalando.de in Germany so maybe it’s slightly different in other countries.

German Amazon have much of the same stock as UK Amazon and will deliver to Ireland but you won't get prime delivery on the German site.

All of this can't possibly be a good thing for UK jobs. John Lewis used to be my first port of call for most things.

Thanks for all the updates.
I think it's confusing if organisations have a .ie or .eu website as it gives the impression that they have an Irish / European base but even if they do but are a UK company the charges will apply - so I'm not sure how that affects companies who are setting up European warehouses.
There is a warning about this on the citizens information page here in Ireland.
It will be interesting to see what happens with M&S etc now...

Oh my goodness, I have ordered a mattress from the .ie website of a UK company today - and then read this thread! Their website talks about Irish deliveries, all prices in Euros, etc, but it's a UK company. Have emailed them to ask if delivery duty is paid by them, otherwise I'll be cancelling the order. Will let you know what happens!

@Zeldaaa

Slightly off topic but if I’m in U.K. am I likely to be hit by custom charges coming into U.K. from EU? I buy from several EU sites ☹️

I’m interested to know this also. I buy most of my clothes from EU sites.

@AlexaShutUp

This thread makes me so sad.

Me too. Can I apologise on behalf of all the idiots who thought that Brexit was a good idea. It is causing a lot of headaches for the company I work for as well. We export a lot to Ireland.

I voted remain BTW.

Wondering how things are going to go in the North, talk of parcels not being affected for 3 months. But what’s happening after that?
Fortunately I have enough clothes for the rest of my life - but still....

@Zeldaaa @loadypoady
Yes it will be shit. This is from a Facebook group I’m on where we talk about our love for a French brand

“ Ok so ive just had a call with DHL, they have told me the following:

For all goods over £135:

20% Vat will apply, and
X % Customs Duty will apply depending on what the items are (was told to google Trade tarrif and find the relevant link on the .gov.uk website). Each type of item comes with a different charge.

If item under £440 you also pay a handling charge of £11

If over £440 the handling charge is 2.5%.

The charges dont come itemised unless you're a business and they can give you an invoice.

The customs duty can be waived if retailer provides DHL a preferential certificate of origin which shows the origin of the item(s) and if that origin is on some preferential list.

If you pay vat twice ie. With retailer at time of purchase and DHL on behalf of HRMC, you need to take it up with retailer.

If you return something he said you cant claim back the charges. “

Thank you for that information much appreciated although it has made me really sad that I will not be purchasing my favourite brands any longer 🥲

This article from The Irish Times might be helpful for those outside the UK

www.irishtimes.com/news/consumer/q-a-how-brexit-has-impacted-online-shopping-from-the-uk-1.4451435

If I'm reading it right, the important element seems to be where the item was manufactured, if it is made in the UK there shouldn't be additional tax (but maybe additional delivery/admin charges)

If its something that was made elsewhere and being sold by a UK site then that's where the charges really kick in.

I wonder what criteria are used to determine if something is "made in the UK", particularly regarding fashion. I remember reading an article about the production of Zara's items which can travel between several countries before the garment is actually finished.

This is a pain.
This morning I tried posting two items from Eu back to Uk. one return to Hobbs as product was faulty, one token gift to my parents. Post office refused to take them parcelled up in brown paper and labelled, and said they can only take now in official post bubble wrap Jiffy bags of small or set parcel boxes... and have to complete a custom form
Custom form is apparently an extra €3 if we get from post office, or free if we print off and fill in at home.

FYI - I’m wondering if ‘children’s’ items have the same fees. When I tried in amazon uk it seemed like all electrical items added import tax, but when I tried baby toys they showed no import tax?

We use Amazon.de a lot, but Uk was often cheaper for certain things even with postage..

Oh, and first world problem, my twinnings tea order of 600 tea bags from amazon.uk was cancelled and returned to sender! Twinnings themselves want almost €20 postage

Yes! It is all a total and unnecessary pain!
I'm now chasing some items that I ordered from UK retailers before 31 December and they have taken the money but not shipped the goods...apparently delays due to Brexit...but c'mon...they can take the money fast enough and they should have sorted all this out prior to the 31st. It's very frustrating!

I got a message from JD Sport that my order via their .ie site was being refunded. Their online orders come via the UK and clearly that's not working for them.

*Real time update:

I have just been contacted by customs agents (I'm in Italy) to ask me what was in the package they have at the frontier (beauty products from Face Theory as recommended by MN!) and that I may have to pay extra. I am rather miffed as I only bought from them because it says "shipped from the EU" on their website!*

An update on my update. I have now received an invoice (and four forms to fill in). On my 55 euro order I have to pay an extra 40 euros if I want to actually get it.

And the charge is for "managing the sanitary procedure" ???

Just paid €26 in duties (21) and service charge (5) for a 5 jan £99 Seasalt order due today. Pretty sure duties shouldnt apply under €150 here in France but want my boots before I start unravelling that.

@1frenchfoodie

Just paid €26 in duties (21) and service charge (5) for a 5 jan £99 Seasalt order due today. Pretty sure duties shouldnt apply under €150 here in France but want my boots before I start unravelling that.

No, you paid VAT, which you are required to do over X amount (usually around €20) and under €150. Over €150 you have to pay import duties on top of VAT, it really accumulates then. €5 service charge is really cheap though, minimum €15 where I am.

That seems like a huge bill on top Holly, have you contacted face theory about their 'shipped from the EU' claim?

Does anyone know what the costs are on ‘secondhand’ goods?

I’m considering getting anything I want sent to in laws in Uk, getting them to take packaging off, and posting it? Not for one item, but unurgent things they could accumulate and forward when they have a medium parcels worth. They send stuff for grandchild anyway.

Caspian, the rules are the same for secondhand goods.

If your parents are sending things they still need to fill out a form at the post office and note down the value. They can lie about this, of course, and mark it as under €20 (or whatever the threshold is in your country) but it's not a long term solution as the free from VAT threshold is being removed either in summer or by end of the year.

You also have the issue that if your parcel gets lost you can only claim the stated value.

Your parents are best off marking things as 'gift' as this does exempt you from VAT but this gets abused a lot so be prepared as packages are often held and checked and sometimes you'd still get charged and you have to appeal, etc. There's a higher free threshold but you still have to pay taxes over that (up to €45 where I am, €45-€700 euro: 2,5% fixed customs tax + 6%/21% VAT over total amount + processing fee

€700: 0-17% import duty + 6%/21% VAT over total amount + processing fee, but check where you are).

I'd also note that purposefully misstating value is fraud and your parents could be charged as a result. So easiest is just to accumulate things and take them back home yourself when you visit or someone comes to visit you.

botemp that's v useful info. I just wanted to add that in our rather depressing experience, if a parcel is marked "gift" it is more likely to go missing ... . We've had this happen twice now unfortunately.

Thanks.

Yes normally we would be going back a nod forth, haven’t obviously the last year. So I guess it should be temporary

We don’t order huge amounts or large value, but I have been getting baby stuff the last year as it was better value

Thanks botemp , would be a lot clearer if the French carrier (La Poste’s ‘colissimo’ parcel service working for DPD) used the term VAT (TVA) for the charge vs refering to it as customs duties. Means I’ve paid double VAT though perhaps UK retailers will come round to deductions for sales in the EU over the longer term..