So the Brexit has been in full effect for a month now. I don't want to start a discussion about the politics involved here (follow my twitter account :-)), but I can say a thing or two how it will influence my wargaming purchases.
(Addendum: As I said, I don't want to start a political discussion here. Comments regarding experiences ordering wargaming products from/to the UK are welcome, but other Brexit-related comments - especially if politics-oriented - are not. Such comments will be deleted. And yes, I already deleted a couple ..)
There have been reports in the press about small businesses hit hard, especially when sending orders across the channel. VAT should (or should not?) be added, custom duties are in order, carriers charge more because of extra paperwork. This creates confusion with the customer. After all, nobody likes to pay an additional sum that comes as a surprise, or that you weren't aware of before.
I am old enough to remember what it was like to buy wargaming items from the UK before the single market. During the early 90s, I made regular trips to London to go shopping (often combined with some other visits). Many products (I was heavily into Games Workshop and into roleplaying at the time) simply weren't available here in Belgium. Mail order was something that was not always easy in the pre-internet days. I still remember going to the local post office, and transfer money using postal money orders in the hope that the full amount would be transferred to the seller some days (more often weeks) later. Ordering from the UK was considered carefully, often trying to group several orders with friends.
Since the single market, but also thanks to the internet, that all changed. Ordering from abroad (or in my case for wargaming, the UK), was made very easy. But it has been made a bit more difficult now.
So, what's the effect on my personal shopping habits?
Since long, I have ordered many books through Amazon UK. An update was probably long due, but I switched to Amazon DE and NL. Now, in practice, this might not make much of a difference, since Amazon's processes were probably already optimized, but for me as a customer, it's a psychological shift.
For wargaming, I tended to order quite regularly from smaller UK companies. But I have put all my UK orders on hold for the time being, and I am going to wait till the dust has settled before ordering again. I have enough wargaming stuff lying around to keep myself busy, so that's not the problem. But I will also take a more active look towards manufacturers and companies this side of the channel, and that might be business lost to the UK wargaming companies permanently. Sure, one customer might mot make a difference, but if more people act like me, it might become a problem.
I might even consider postponing all my purchases till CRISIS 2021 (if it will happen). With the cancellation of CRISIS 2020, CRISIS 2021 might even become a huge shopping spree. Not only for me, but for many wargamers this side of the channel. We'll see. Hopefully, all the wargaming companies present during past years will still make the trip to Antwerp. Brexit has all sorts of weird and unforeseen consequences after all ...
Hi Phil, yes it's a nightmare. I've been helping a friend who exports as a Business to Consumer (B2C) retailer, around the world and I now understand why this has come about. As we all know the UK left the EU at the end of 2020. At the same time, the EU were going to replace the then MOSS (Mini One-Stop Shop) VAT scheme with the IOSS (Import One-Stop Shop) scheme. These schemes allow importers to the EU to register once and pay VAT through that scheme. Please be aware that every EU state charges VAT at a different rate and between different products, so importers to the EU now have to register with each individual country (my friend exported to 21 EU countries last year) as there is no longer any MOSS scheme for B2C imports. As the UK had left the EU it is treated as a third country (as USA), so VAT rules are different and VAT is charged at the point of import, not point of sale, which now applies the other way for importing from the EU. Then it all went wrong. The EU weren't ready to implement IOSS on Jan 1st and have pushed this back to July 1st. Hopefully that will resolve the issue and this brief explanation explains the mess, which has not been caused by Brexit, but the EU changing the point of taxation to the same as the rest of the world. So you may be alright by the time CRISIS happens.
ReplyDeleteThe registration regulations and paperwork businesses have to adher to w.r.t. import/export is something you're not immediately aware of as a customer. As a customer, what is visible, is the extra hassle and fees on the customer's side which are the result of these processes.
DeleteBut no matter what the cause is, the end result is that (many?) EU wargamers will rethink at least part of their UK purchases. So, I feel sorry for all my wargaming friends that run a wargaming business in the UK, and I feel sorry for us as a wargaming community.
Without wishing to offend the first post is misleading on many levels. MOSS applied to digital services, not goods.
DeleteThe simple fact is that being a member of the EU meant that for goods traded between member States the process was simplified; if you supplied B2B with evidence of VAT registration, then VAT was applied by the customer in their country (reverse charge). If B2C VAT was charged by the seller. If you sold goods to other EU states, you normally completed an EC sales list.
Any supplies of goods from outside the EU were imports, to those countries, exports. The paperwork for proof of exports, duty declarations etc was and is considerable. Get it wrong meant all sorts of problems, delays and extra costs.
The UK leaving the EU means for all but NI, any sales became imports and exports with all the issues that entails. It has nothing to do with what the EU did or does.
Sadly, the lack of understanding and misleading information is what categorized the Vote Leave campaign. I cannot help but think the first post has a political spin; it is certainly ill informed.
Same for me. The extra VAT (often you will already have paid local foreign VAT included in the final price) & administrative charges slapped on by Belgian Post make ordering from non-EU very expensive. So no more UK mail order for now.
ReplyDeleteFortunately I've found alternative EU sellers for a lot of gaming hobby stuff, but yes there are some things which are now either out of reach or ridiculously expensive :-( For rules I'll probably buy pdfs and then have those printed here locally. I already do that with a lot of American stuff.
It's nothing to panic over and perhaps it might even get partially resolved by mid-year (partially, because a big GW Box or Kickstarter may be above the €150 treshold of the IOSS scheme). I realize now that buying from the UK was in some cases just a habit, and I could always have bought from french or german businesses at similar prices. So even if it gets fixed, I'm not sure I will switch back to buying from the UK if I can get it from within the EU.
I think you worded it correctly: "I realize now that buying from the UK was in some cases just a habit, and I could always have bought from french or german businesses at similar prices."
DeleteI might even start taking a closer look to European figure manufacturers, something I never did on a regular basis before. Perhaps wargaming might prove not to be as anglo-centric as I thought it was :-)
if you come across any interesting European manufacturers, let us know via your blog! ;-)
DeleteI see a big problem for the Crisis: The many dealers and manufacturers from the UK who come over to the Crisis will have to pay taxes when they import their goods to the continent. And when they drive back with the remaining goods they will have to pay tax again when they import the stuff back into the UK. In addition, the bureaucratic effort could be very high, because an extensive customs declaration maybe required for both processes. That is practically impossible and will make no commercial sense.
ReplyDeleteI expect that the Crisis will shrink and that we will all meet again at the Kinepolis... if we are lucky. In 2022.
I took precautions and ordered a lot pre-brexit. We will see what happens in the near future, but I have enough stock to keep going for at least a year (or two)!
ReplyDelete