Thomann and deliveries to the UK

[Guest]

Thomann uses UPS Standard service for deliveries and returns. The latest update from the UPS site this morning is that this service is temporarily suspended in mainland Europe, even though the border has been re-opened. Therefore I would imagine nothing will move now until January.

[bubinga5]

I ordered a Sadowsky pre and Thomann told me there would be a delay, but I just got a text message from DHL to say it would arrive Tuesday.

[mcnach]

19 hours ago, peteb said:

Just got an email from Thomann to say that my order has now been dispatched. 

 

Same here. And another that I ordered around the 14th was delivered on Monday. Fingers crossed. Both appeared to be shipped by UPS.

[Monkey Steve]

As others have said, this all depends on whether the items have been sent by land and sea or air.  The Amazon item I ordered from France on Monday is out for delivery and will be with me this afternoon, because Amazon use air freight as standard

There might be quicker results if you select the express delivery options which do go by air, but these tend to be pretty expensive in comparison, so if it's not needed urgently you might prefer to save money

[Bassfinger]

Well, provided it gets through parliament we'll still have tariff free trade with the EU, which is a bug relief for us Harley Benton fans.

[peteb]

11 minutes ago, Bassfinger said:

Well, provided it gets through parliament we'll still have tariff free trade with the EU, which is a bug relief for us Harley Benton fans.

I would have thought that it is the other 27 parliaments that could be the bigger issue! 

Having said that, I'm sure that they are pretty confident that it will eventually get passed...  

[Bassfinger]

Not wishing to turn it onto a political  thread(!), but it seems the EU plan to enact it anyway and then vote on the matter retrospectively.

All Barnier wanted was for us to be able to get our Harley Benton fix. The whole fishing thing was a distraction to get Harley Benton in under the radar. 

[stewblack]

Been teasing myself with the idea of a new toy for a while now. Everywhere is out of stock, or overpriced. 

Except Thomann, which is neither. 

They make no bones about potential delivery problems beyond their control, so if I go with them I can't complain if everyone else gets stock in before my entirely unnecessary toy arrives. 

Maybe I'll wait and see. 

After all it's just GAS, nothing I actually need. 

[JapanAxe]

I had an item for sale on another forum and a guy in Slovakia expressed an interest. There was no land/sea delivery available so I gave him a price based on Express Air delivery, which he went for.

The item was picked up from my home Tuesday lunchtime and delivered to his apartment in Bratislava before 10am the next day!

[umcoo]

Still no delivery from my order on 15th Dec. UPS tracking says today is the estimated delivery date, but not 'out for delivery' as yet. Not holding my breath.

It's in the UK according to tracking, but there is a note saying it was delayed due to issues at the channel tunnel. No updates from Thomann.

[Monkey Steve]

Annoyingly I just tracked down an LP that I have been after at a reasonable price, and the German retailer who has it for half the price it can be bought for over here has put a temporary ban on any sales to the UK.  Amazon.de also has it...but for twice the price

I suspect it's get sorted once everybody adjusts to the new arrangements

[CookPassBabtridge]

I’m in much the same boat. I have a parcel from Japan that made it to the UK absolutely fine according to the tracking, but it’s now been stuck at Stansted for the best part of a week! 

I also want to buy some spares direct from Warwick but they’re not shipping to the UK at all either. Does anyone have any insight as to the rationale behind the German ban and when it might be lifted,  given the border with France has reopened and other countries appear happy to ship here?

Edited December 31, 2020 by CookPassBabtridge

[Old Man Riva]

2 hours ago, umcoo said:

Still no delivery from my order on 15th Dec. UPS tracking says today is the estimated delivery date, but not 'out for delivery' as yet. Not holding my breath.

It's in the UK according to tracking, but there is a note saying it was delayed due to issues at the channel tunnel. No updates from Thomann.

Same here. Ordered/bought a bass from a different German store on 21st December. It was couriered via UPS (collected on 22nd). Status says delivery is scheduled for today (prev. was due yesterday) but that it is currently delayed due to “Eurotunnel traffic disruption”.

UPS services (Standard delivery) were paused around Christmas time and a note on their website says that they will resume Standard service from 4th January, so imagine the bass will arrive next week at some point.

My order has a reference as Stanford Le Hope as the location but I’m assuming that’s the next intended location rather than where it currently is as it doesn’t show as arriving there.

My understanding (from the Government website) is that, as the item was purchased/couriered before 1st January, there won’t be any unpleasant additional cost surprises due to our new trading arrangements with the EU.

So it’s just hurry up and wait! 

Edited December 31, 2020 by Old Man Riva

[Monkey Steve]

I wonder if there's some advice circulating in Germany advising shops to wait for further guidance on shipping to the UK, particularly given how the trade deal has only just been approved

It might be worth dropping one of the sellers a line to ask how long they anticipate it taking before they are accepting orders again.

Very annoying about Warwick, and no help that my next place to recommend for their spares is Thomann  Might be worth contacting a UK Warwick stockist to see if they have a better route to getting hold of stuff - Andertons for example

[Guest]

Stanford le Hope in Essex is their last depot for trucks going to and coming from Eurotunnel. If it has a scan into this warehouse for a delivery from Germany then thank your lucky stars it made it over the border before 1st Jan. I had a return to Thomann which has fortunately made it to Germany. They resumed std services that were already in transit on 30/12 (ignore what their website says). Getting a bass through customs from the US at Christmas is proving to be an even harder challenge (held up in customs - asking me to prove which rosewood variety the fingerboard is made from FFS!!)

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, Monkey Steve said:

I wonder if there's some advice circulating in Germany advising shops to wait for further guidance on shipping to the UK, particularly given how the trade deal has only just been approved

It might be worth dropping one of the sellers a line to ask how long they anticipate it taking before they are accepting orders again.

Very annoying about Warwick, and no help that my next place to recommend for their spares is Thomann  Might be worth contacting a UK Warwick stockist to see if they have a better route to getting hold of stuff - Andertons for example

If my understanding of VAT is correct then from 1st Jan Thomann and other European sellers should be advertising prices to UK with no (local) VAT - it’ll be applied at customs entry as it is today for shipments outside the EU. If there is no duty then the only overhead (other than adding a week to transit times for customs clearance) should be the VAT rate difference between the EU country and the UK, and the customary (boom-rush) “handling” charge.

[CookPassBabtridge]

13 minutes ago, Monkey Steve said:

I wonder if there's some advice circulating in Germany advising shops to wait for further guidance on shipping to the UK, particularly given how the trade deal has only just been approved

It might be worth dropping one of the sellers a line to ask how long they anticipate it taking before they are accepting orders again.

Very annoying about Warwick, and no help that my next place to recommend for their spares is Thomann  Might be worth contacting a UK Warwick stockist to see if they have a better route to getting hold of stuff - Andertons for example

Thanks, I’ve had a hunt around and the only other seller I can find that stocks all the Warwick parts I need are...in Germany 😂 But they don’t appear to be refusing to ship to the UK so might give them a go. Failing that I’ll ask Andertons as you suggest or perhaps just wait a couple of weeks - surely Warwick can’t be refusing to ship to the UK long term. 

11 minutes ago, FDC484950 said:

If my understanding of VAT is correct then from 1st Jan Thomann and other European sellers should be advertising prices to UK with no (local) VAT - it’ll be applied at customs entry as it is today for shipments outside the EU. If there is no duty then the only overhead (other than adding a week to transit times for customs clearance) should be the VAT rate difference between the EU country and the UK, and the customary (boom-rush) “handling” charge.

Yeah that’s my understanding too, I would imagine (hope?) the only change will be paying VAT on arrival to the UK and handling charge, which may add an extra day or two, but otherwise work out at more or less the same cost. 

[Old Man Riva]

5 minutes ago, FDC484950 said:

Stanford le Hope in Essex is their last depot for trucks going to and coming from Eurotunnel. If it has a scan into this warehouse for a delivery from Germany then thank your lucky stars it made it over the border before 1st Jan. I had a return to Thomann which has fortunately made it to Germany. They resumed std services that were already in transit on 30/12 (ignore what their website says). Getting a bass through customs from the US at Christmas is proving to be an even harder challenge (held up in customs - asking me to prove which rosewood variety the fingerboard is made from FFS!!)

My courier status shows the location as Stanford Le Hope. However, in a more detailed view, it doesn’t show that the item has arrived at the facility - in a similar way that it showed it had ‘arrived’ at Herne Boernig in Germany on 23rd Dec and ‘departed’ Herne Boernig on 24th.

It’s a mystery of Scooby Doo proportions! 

[CookPassBabtridge]

Actually, I’ve just checked the Warwick website and they now appear to be shipping to the UK again. Must have updated in the last 24 hours, hooray. UK prices also appear to be sans VAT too, so they’re ready for 1st Jan. 

Edited December 31, 2020 by CookPassBabtridge

[Monkey Steve]

1 minute ago, CookPassBabtridge said:

Actually, I’ve just checked the Warwick website and they now appear to be shipping to the UK again. Must have updated in the last 24 hours, hooray. UK also appear to be sans VAT too, so they’re ready for 1st Jan. 

Glad it's sorted

I also wonder if sellers who send significant volumes to the UK - Thomann perhaps, who have a UK website - will take the approach that Amazon do when sending stuff from the USA, to take payment of the VAT so that it can be declared and paid at their end to speed things up, and so you receive your order with no nasty surprises

[Monkey Steve]

1 hour ago, FDC484950 said:

Stanford le Hope in Essex is their last depot for trucks going to and coming from Eurotunnel. If it has a scan into this warehouse for a delivery from Germany then thank your lucky stars it made it over the border before 1st Jan. I had a return to Thomann which has fortunately made it to Germany. They resumed std services that were already in transit on 30/12 (ignore what their website says). Getting a bass through customs from the US at Christmas is proving to be an even harder challenge (held up in customs - asking me to prove which rosewood variety the fingerboard is made from FFS!!)

I feel your pain.  I also had the rosewood question (or, rather, can I confirm which type of wood the guitar is made from, perhaps to see if I slip up by declaring something forbidden under CITIES) when getting sent something from the US last year.  The fact that I was actually getting a Bigsby didn't stop them, and when I pointed out that it wasn't a guitar, it was an aluminium part for a guitar, they then went back to the seller to get confirmation...why they did't ask the seller in the first place is beyond me, in fact, why isn't this covered on the standard forms that the seller completes in the first place?

Have to say though, my seller used UPS who dealt with it through their depot on this side of the pond, as well as the payment of all the duites due, and it wasn't too painful

Edited December 31, 2020 by Monkey Steve

[nilebodgers]

17 minutes ago, Monkey Steve said:

Glad it's sorted

I also wonder if sellers who send significant volumes to the UK - Thomann perhaps, who have a UK website - will take the approach that Amazon do when sending stuff from the USA, to take payment of the VAT so that it can be declared and paid at their end to speed things up, and so you receive your order with no nasty surprises

I just looked at their website - Thomann do this for Switzerland, but no mention of the UK yet.

https://www.thomann.de/gb/faq_question_information_for_non_eu_countries.html

[CookPassBabtridge]

17 minutes ago, Monkey Steve said:

Glad it's sorted

I also wonder if sellers who send significant volumes to the UK - Thomann perhaps, who have a UK website - will take the approach that Amazon do when sending stuff from the USA, to take payment of the VAT so that it can be declared and paid at their end to speed things up, and so you receive your order with no nasty surprises

Cheers. Yes that would be a helpful/logical thing to do - I think EBay does something similar with big sellers. I’d hope European businesses that sell a lot of stuff to the UK would see the benefit with introducing such a system as it’s a permanent hurdle that will have to be dealt with from now on. 

[jezzaboy]

Update!

After Thomann telling me in an e mail that DHL would be sending all orders to the UK back to Thomann, I got a text from DHL on Tuesday saying that they would be delivering my parcel yesterday which they did.

But it is more than likely going back to Thomann as I got sorted with parts from Northwest guitars, delivered in 24 hours (had to pay £5 for next day delivery) and whilst they weren`t the same parts I ordered from Thomann, they will do fine. The lack of coms from them is disappointing but after the year that we have all had, it`s a minor event.

[nilebodgers]

Found this: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/vat-what-to-do-if-youre-an-overseas-business-selling-goods-in-the-uk

Looks to me that EU shops need to apply for a UK vat reg number and charge uk vat at the point of sale which they then remit to the uk government.

So, if I have interpreted this correctly then provided Thomann et al Do things the correct way, buying things as a uk customer should look no different to pre-1st Jan.

How do people with more vat expertise than me interpret it?