Customs and Duties Query

[ashwinbalachandran]

Hi,

If i buy a razor from the UK and ship it to an address in Germany, will Germany levy customs / duties on the razor?

I am positing it here as I did not where else to post. Mods , you may move to an appropriate place but i am really hoping i get a clarification

 

[Multum in parvo]

Hi,

If i buy a razor from the UK and ship it to an address in Germany, will Germany levy customs / duties on the razor?

I am positing it here as I did not where else to post. Mods , you may move to an appropriate place but i am really hoping i get a clarification

Yes. Most likely you will pay the German VAT, duties and a lump sum handling fee from the courier. On the other hand the razor should be sold without UK VAT.

 

[Shaun asleep]

It depends. Is it a new razor or a vintage razor?
I have had vintage razors sent to me without custom hassle. Probably because the sellers list them as gifts.

New things are usually more tricky.

I think extra VAT and customs service only apply to things of 150 euro's and above.

@Iridian and @JAHE are German, they should be able to tell you exactly what to expect.

 

[Iridian]

You have to pay +19% VAT (and this applies to the value of the razor AND the cost of shipping) and above 150 EUR you also pay customs, the exact rate and category for a DE razor isn't known to me. On top of that all postal services demand a fee for handling this, which can be up to 9,xx EUR.

 

[JAHE]

You have to pay +19% VAT (and this applies to the value of the razor AND the cost of shipping) and above 150 EUR you also pay customs, the exact rate and category for a DE razor isn't known to me. On top of that all postal services demand a fee for handling this, which can be up to 9,xx EUR.

What @Iridian said.

19% import sale taxes are to be expected in any case on the sum of declared value of the goods plus shipping costs, no matter if its a new razor or a used one. Then the "last mile fee" charged by the courier (say DHL, UPS, FedEx) has to be added, too.

Fortunately, DE razors and blades imported from non-EU countries are free of extra custom duties if ordered by a private person.

Enjoy your new razor - btw, which one did you order? R41 GT?

Cheers!

 

[PintoPlain]

I haven't bought from the UK since Brexit, but friends have been charged Irish VAT, customs fees and administration fees on their UK purchases. I tend to buy from the EU where possible, even if the purchase price is more than the UK price. I can't be bothered with the extra fees.

I know there used to be a rate under which there were no fees, but friends have had different experiences with some being charged for purchases under 10€, and others have not been charged for 80€ purchases.

 

[ashwinbalachandran]

What @Iridian said.

19% import sale taxes are to be expected in any case on the sum of declared value of the goods plus shipping costs, no matter if its a new razor or a used one. Then the "last mile fee" charged by the courier (say DHL, UPS, FedEx) has to be added, too.

Fortunately, DE razors and blades imported from non-EU countries are free of extra custom duties if ordered by a private person.

Enjoy your new razor - btw, which one did you order? R41 GT?

Cheers!

Thanks for this !

I am guessing if I ship the same to USA , it won't attract anything.

And yes, R41 indeed. Fingers crossed

 

[Iridian]

I know there used to be a rate under which there were no fees, but friends have had different experiences with some being charged for purchases under 10€, and others have not been charged for 80€ purchases.

Customs, not only in Germany, are terribly ARBITRARY and often flat out WRONG and the chance to protest their arbitrary judgement are also universally, across the EU and the whole world it seems, about zero. They make it intentionally hard and then you get put on the backburner for ages.

It is modern highway robbery, the claim of protecting "the economy" etc... yeah, that argumentation is as hypocritical as it can get.

It is also telling that UK and EU could not agree on a better solution, the same applies for EU and USA.

One of the advantages of AliExpress is that it takes away almost all of these custom duties and pains. Though there are exceptions, sometimes they single out certain product categories. Shoes often get destroyed if they are fake (and a hefty fee for the service of destruction gets charged), watches are also often extra charged.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

It depends on the seller.

I think Edwin Jagger / English Shaving Company sends packages to EU with the relevant duty paid, up to a certain price limit, just as some EU companies do for us. I can't check for you at the moment, because their site isn't loading for me at the minute - but I'm sure I saw a banner to that effect when I ordered from them recently.

Gentleman's Groom Room and Connaught Shaving however, both specify that taxes and duties are borne by the purchaser. I think it all depends on whether the seller wants to handle the additional hassle or not of administering EU duties.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

I can't check for you at the moment, because their site isn't loading for me at the minute - but I'm sure I saw a banner to that effect when I ordered from them recently.

I just checked again, and the site is back up. Might have been updates or something. Anyway, here's the thing I thought I had seen.

EU Shipping Details

www.theenglishshavingcompany.com

Simplified ordering up to €150 for EU customers. I thought I had seen a higher value than that somewhere, maybe on another site, but that might have been imports rather than exports (i.e. UK customers buying from EU).

I don't know how many other UK vendors might run this scheme. As I said before, I only noticed it here by accident, while ordering a brush.

 

[euro]

Hi,

If i buy a razor from the UK and ship it to an address in Germany, will Germany levy customs / duties on the razor?

I am positing it here as I did not where else to post. Mods , you may move to an appropriate place but i am really hoping i get a clarification

Yes but that is IF customs snatch out your packet, it can slip through their fingers and you'll pay nothing. If the seller sends it via DHL then there is a huge chance you'll pay for it, if he sends it with the regular mail then there is a small chance you'll pay tax for it. It also depends if the seller sends it as a gift and or the value of the order.