Wednesday 21 April 2021

Thanks USA, nice doing business with you

Well I've knocked the US postal charges which increased dramatically end of last year and I thought would impact on my sales but quite the reverse, I just had my best US weekly sales ever and, thankfully, I don't get the customs duty hassles which all of us Brits are currently experiencing with the EU since Brexit.

My sales to EU countries have dropped because, almost arbitrarily it seems at times, they are imposing charges at Customs and sitting on the goods until the customer pays up. It can almost double the cost of a single small item because they impose a 'handling charge' for doing it. So the customer is charged VAT at a rate calculated by Customs PLUS their fee for doing it.
 
There are rules laid out by the EU as to what can be charged and there is a threshold beneath which no charge should be made at all. But each country seems to be interpreting it differently and it's very difficult to get consistency. Belgium and Denmark seem to be the worst so far while France, Spain and Poland seem to waive stuff through with no charges at all even when the amount is a bit over the threshold, which is actually set quite low at €22.
 
Contrast that with the good old US which has a threshold of several hundreds dollars before they start charging and it's pretty obvious where my favourite export destination is.
 
Grrrrr Boris for getting us into this mess.

Stay safe/
 
Ronnie
xx    
 
  

5 comments:

Roz said...

Hi Ronnie, that's wonderful news on the US market, congrats on the sales! How frustrating it must be dealing with EU countries. Did they really think through all the impacts of Brexit?

Hugs
Roz

Hermione said...

How nice to hear someone say something good about he USA for a change! Glad your sales there are doing so well.

Hugs,
Hermione

Anonymous said...

Glad to know that the over the seas bunch also enjoy the bend over and present your bottom. Your audience knows you sell canes, but whatever else must also be a hit.
bottoms up
Red

Fondles said...

It's good to hear that US sales are doing well. ANd as for the EU situation... sigh, I really wonder about how else Brexit is 'hurting' the locals.

ronnie said...

Roz - It wouldn't be so bad if all countries were the same then we would know where we are with charges. Thanks,

Hermione - Thanks. I've had more orders from the US just today:)

Red - They seem to like our UK canes:) Thanks.

Fondles - Thanks. Brexit is hurting a lost of small business that export because of the charges.

Love,
Ronnie
xx