Importing goods from EU - advice

[baronfloyd]

Hopefully this will help somebody else avoid some of the pitfalls of getting a bass to the UK from Germany post Brexit. This probably applies to other EU countries too so grab a brew and a biscuit or jump to the end for the short version.

I bought a very nice bass form Ovialexm of this parish (he is great by the way). Given Brexit, part of the deal was that I would arrange shipping. I knew and was prepared for the VAT bill and other possible charges and was prepared to take it on the chin (reluctantly – but 51% of the nation said that is what they wanted). I looked at the various couriers who were still willing to ship EU to UK. The prices are now approximately double previously. Again, I sucked this up. I decided to go for DHL thinking that they should have export from Germany all sewn up (being part of Deutsche Post). I completed the necessary paperwork requesting a pick up and declaring the value for the VAT and any duty (officially called the Commercial Invoice form – must be done regardless of price). I foolishly decided to be honest and declared the price of the bass and here starts the trouble. If I had been dishonest I would have paid less VAT and also saved a lot of time and trouble. The value was declared in GBP and was over £1000. The bass was collected by DHL (they missed their first booking and I had to arrange another collection). Within hours I received an email invoicing me for the VAT and the administration fee (20% for the VAT and a charge of £10 for the privilege of paying it). Super – another few days and my bass will arrive. Next day I check the tracking to see ‘Shipment on hold’. Later that morning I get a telephone call from Ovi (I said that he was a good guy). DHL had contacted him as the ‘Exporter’ and informed him that vital paperwork was missing. Neither of us knew what they were on about. DHL UK told me that it was simply an invoice stating the exporter’s name and address, the importer’s name and address (me) and the price in GBP. Soon sorted and emailed to DHL. Not good enough, because the value of the export was more than 1000 euro a separate form was also needed. This form is called an Export Accompanying Document. Simple eh? NO. After a lot of back and forth communications between myself, DHL and Ovi (have I mentioned that he is great guy to deal with) we reached a point where the help of another agency was needed – a Customs Agent (zollagentur in German). Finding one was not too difficult but the problem arose when they discovered that the shipment was being held by DHL then it was ‘sorry- can’t help you mate’ (only in German). I eventually managed to find an agent who could help (for another 50 euros). The guy worked wonders, produced the paperwork and the bass was released within half an hour. The bass then spent the next week and half traveling up and down the major cities on the Western half of Germany before being sent to the UK after I registered a formal complaint. Not over yet … (you should have got a few more biscuits). Once the bass arrived in this country it was held for another 24 hours while all the paperwork was checked at this end to make sure that it matched up with the paperwork in Germany. And so, after two and half weeks of waiting I finally got my bass so I am now happy but will not be getting anything from Europe for a while!

Short version

Bringing anything over the value of 1000 euros into the UK post Brexit – assuming that you are going to be honest and declare the actual value.

The sender is officially the Exporter and will need to include an invoice in the paperwork as well as a UK Commercial Invoice (downloadable form for this).

The sender will also need to include an Export Accompanying Document (Ausfuhrbegleitdokument (ABD) in Germany). This paperwork can be done via DHL for a cost of 9 euros, if you use them. German citizens can register the ABD via the Zoll Onine website if they can negotiate the bureaucracy. It must be done before sending the shipment. If you do not have this it will cause a lot of hassle and can only be completed in the exporting country by the exporter or their agent.

If the value is over 3000 euros then a different form and procedure is needed but I don’t know what that is – fortunately.

The UK person is the Importer and must pay whatever costs there are for VAT and any other duties (I only paid VAT).

 

I hope that this helps to smooth the path for somebody else or at least raises a smile for some. Just in case anybody missed it – Ovi (Ovialexm on this forum) is great to deal with. He helped as much as he possibly could and was super patient throughout (thanks Ovi).

Phew, glad to get that off my chest.

 

Hope that it helps someone.

[Reggaebass]

Wow , how things have changed, a few years ago I bought a 2k bass from Dirk Witte in Amsterdam, no paperwork or anything, I paid and it arrived just over 2 days later 🙂

[walshy]

Yeah I have just bought a bass from Spain, £1350 quids worth plus shipping and I've paid £286.86 fees with UPS. I got the bass at a decent price so its not too bad but I won't be doing it again in a hurry. Its easier and more straight forward buying from USA. Oh, much much more choice too

[Jazzjames]

TAKE BACK CONTROL

[drTStingray]

Interesting info in this thread (and those other threads covering the same subject).

In terms of organisations gearing up for this IIRC the deal wasn't agreed between UK and EU until Christmas Eve. So until that time all organisations involved had to exert effort on covering both for the deal and no deal scenario and even so the full details of the deal were still not available to organisations required to operate it within 1 weeks time. So the fact it took the politicians nearly 4 yrs to sort out should be put down to brinksmanship on both sides and they should be held responsible for the fallout by the population.

Recently it was announced trade between by far our largest trading partner and ourselves and vice versa had reduced by 68% since last year. 

However several days later it was announced the economy has shrunk the most since the 1700s, and attributed to Coronavirus. It seems the Brexit malarkey is now being shrouded behind the Covid issue.

Politicians should be held responsible for their actions (not least that slippery fellow/ring leader who is setting up his own anti Covid restriction party) - these people should clearly not be trusted and ought to be held responsible for many problems. 

Lets hope the EU export/ import nonsense are sorted over time - and if any members are from N Ireland you seem to have it even worse. Hold the politicians responsible not HMRC and carriers. They've been given very low quality bats and balls to play with!!! 😐

Edited February 15, 2021 by drTStingray

[Stub Mandrel]

Of course if the instrument contains ebony or rosewood you will probably also need CITES certification...

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/cites-imports-and-exports#import-by-post

[Rich]

Glad you finally got your bass baron, and good on Ovi for being so helpful. 
And on that Brexity bombshell...