Brexit & Custom Charges (Part 2)
To all my shopaholics, here is a bit more information for you on your online shopping to Ireland after Brexit.
I have included over 50 retailers below. I will update this post when I get more information. Thanks so much for reading, it has taken a few weeks top compile all this information. If you know of any other stores to include, please send me a message on Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/motherofalldeals/?hl=en
Here is just a little background information about Custom & Vat charges, I have include more information in my previous Post “Online Shopping & Brexit Part 1”
Customs:
Custom charges are applied on purchases over €150 (please give my previous post a read about Vat & custom charges for more information). But Custom charges are applied by Irish Revenue when the parcel arrives into Ireland from UK.
The company you purchase from has no control over what customs are charged or how they are handled. The Irish Revenue check the value of the package when the package arrives into Ireland from the UK. The retailer doesn’t charge customs on deliver, it’s the Revenue who decides.
Vat:
The issue arising is you cannot pay vat in two countries, UK retailers can increase the price for EU customers to make up for deducted UK VAT.
It’s either Irish vat or UK vat you pay, you cannot pay both. VAT is paid in the country where the product is sold. You will know if Irish VAT has been applied because the total price on checkout should be 1% higher than the advertised price.
For example, £100 inclusive of UK VAT should change to £101 at checkout on a delivery to Ireland. UK VAT rates are different – (20% in UK, 21% in Ireland).
0% of VAT applies to certain goods and services. The ones I’m including here are the products we purchase online regularly:
Books, clothing and footwear appropriate to children under 11 years of age, but Vat is 17% on Wellington boots for example!
Electronic goods such as Computers, Laptops, Mobile Phones, Digital cameras, Video Games, headphones and musical instruments are all duty free.
Toys like Electronic Toy Trains, Pool Tables, Kids Bikes/Scooters.
Furniture like Wooden, Plastic Furniture, Metal beds.
Vitamins & Pro Vitamins & Whey Protein for example are all 0% Vat.
To the best of my knowledge, it is accurate but do not rely on it when shopping. Orders under €22 should not have any Irish VAT applied at all.
Honestly, with all of this, it is just far easier to purchase from Irish businesses until everything settles down and it’s all clear how much vat is charged.
Here's what you need to know:
Please be aware of the scams through emails and texts asking for payment
for customs clearance before delivery!
Gardai have warned that with online shopping and parcel deliveries increasing due to the Covid -19 pandemic the potential risk to people’s personal and payment data has increased.
Another point I want to make, if you’re following me a while, is I prefer to pay in £STG on UK websites, as the exchange rate is much better when your Irish bank converts to euro instead of the website. But I have noticed that some websites have massively inflated the euro v GBP prices.
Prices have massively inflated. A coat I was looking at was £54 on UK website v’s €87 on the Irish site.
I have received a lot of messages about retailers emailing customers about orders being returned before they get delivered. Mostly on orders that were made at the end of 2020. Emails stating they will receive their refund (which is taking some time!).
Online shopping:
Here is a list of companies: I will share the emails & messages I received from them on my stories & save in a highlight.
Most of them have a warehouse hub in the EU. Only few are coming from the UK & most are covering Irish Vat, either themselves are through the courier company.
Most websites it’s impossible to find any relevant information. It is very hidden!
Clothing:
Zara, Stradivarius & Bershka: are all Spanish stores & all deliveries arrive from Spain, so there will be no import duties from EU.
They sent me a message saying: “You will only be charged Shipping fee.”
Mango: “Please be advised that orders placed on our Irish webpage are dispatched directly from our warehouse based in Spain.”
H&M:
I emailed H&M and they replied:
“I completely understand your worry regarding the new rules and regulations being put into place, however, you will not be charged customs/extra fees. Our warehouse has been moved to the Netherlands for our Irish orders to ensure that your parcels reach you safely and without any additional fees.”
Asos: Are also similar, they moved their distribution center to the Netherlands.
Information from their website says: “How will Brexit affect my shopping journey on ASOS?
There’s no need to worry – you can still place your orders and shop as normal on ASOS after Brexit. We’re taking every measure to ensure that your shopping experience remains unchanged. If you’re placing an order for delivery to an address in the EU, you won’t have to pay any new customs duties or import taxes, as we will ship to that address from our EU-based warehouse.”
New Look:
Information from their website says; ”We've got you covered!
All orders placed with us WILL NOT have any additional duties or taxes applied by your country's Customs Authority. ROI customers: If your order is subject to clearance at customs, you may see a delay in the delivery time of your order.”
I also messaged New Look Navan store about returns & they replied saying: “If you can wait for the store to reopen to get a refund or you can post the items to New Look Returns, New Look Wexford, 18 North Main Street, Co. Wexford. If you choose to send to Wexford, you will have to pay the postage fee with An Post.”
Littlewoods: No charges. Here is information from the website:
“You don’t need to do anything different when shopping with us, we’ll take care of it all. Most importantly, there are no additional VAT or duty charges on your delivery. As an Irish registered company your consumer rights have not changed. There are no changes to our free delivery terms and conditions. We continue to offer free returns on all orders.
No additional VAT or duty charges will be requested on delivery by our couriers. The price on our website will be the final cost to you.”
Hollister / Abercrombie & Fitch:
Ship from Netherlands “Your order would be shipped to you from our distribution center in Europe, The Netherland to be exact.”
River Island: Information from the website:
Do I have to worry about extra taxes for orders delivered to the EU?
“No, they’re on us! You can shop knowing that the price you see is the price you’ll pay - no nasty surprises here! We will sort out any import taxes or duties for you.”
Argento: is a business form Northern Ireland so no customs from the North to Ireland “final price you pay is inclusive of vat, no extra Brexit charges’. They ship from Belfast.
Parfois: I emailed Parfois & they confirmed that their warehouse is based in Portugal & they received confirmation from their courier company that the delivery terms of orders to Ireland will not change, it means that orders will not be subject to customs control and additional fees.
“In response to your email, we inform you that our warehouse is based in Portugal, but we received a confirmation from the courier company that the delivery terms of orders to Ireland will not change, it means the orders will not be subject to customs control and additional fees.”
M&S : I searched their website & all it says is that if you purchase from marksandspencer.ie there is no customs. But there is no definitive answer on the website, it just says any orders outside the EU may be liable for other charges?! I did email them and waiting on clarification.
Next
Next have a distribution center in Belfast & there is no customs from NI to Ireland. But if your package comes from UK warehouse you will be charged. You wont know which distribution center your package is being sent from until you get the tracking information! Few people have messaged me to say that they have received deliveries form both distribution centers. I will email them to clarify & will update when I get a reply.
Pull & Bear: emailed waiting on their reply
Urban Outfitters: I have emailed them and they replied saying:
“Our orders are shipped from our warehouse in the UK and at the moment we are experiencing some delays with orders leaving the UK for the EU due to the new lockdown restrictions and the current brexit situation.
We don't currently have any confirmation that there will be customs charges added on to orders that are shipped to Ireland.
As import taxes are applied by the customs department, we have no control over these charges and as an international business, we are required to comply with all import rules and regulations.
We would advise that you keep checking our website for any updates as we will add any new information we receive regarding this to our website as soon as we have it.”
& Other Stories:
“Hi Karen, thanks for reaching out! We can advise that at this time, no further duties or import fees will be added to orders placed on our website to be shipped to Ireland. Should this ever change in the future, we will be sure to update our payment, delivery and checkout pages. In regard to our return policy for stores, once we open again, you will have 30 days to make any necessary returns.”
Topshop:
All orders are shipped from the UK. I have emailed Topshop & waiting on their reply. (I received a few messages to say they received their deliveries with no extra charges.)
Superdry:
Dispatch from Belgium warehouse so no charges.
Information from the website: Do I have to pay customs or delivery charges after Brexit?
We want to reduce the impact that 'Brexit' has on our customers, therefore we will not be charging customs fees or additional delivery charges for orders being sent to the Republic of Ireland.
The majority of orders to the Republic of Ireland are now shipped from our warehouse in Belgium. This keeps the items within the EU and means that we would expect your order to be delivered in the timeframe specified at the checkout. If our carriers make us aware of any delays that impact your order, we will let you know via email.
Boohoo: Information from their website; “Duty and tax for all EU deliveries will be paid for by boohoo.”
ChiChiLondon: ‘Maybe charged’. “You maybe charged for handling fees and taxes as your order passes through customs. Any charges on a parcel must be paid by the person receiving the parcel. Chi Chi has no control over these charges and we can’t tell you what they cost would be, as customs policies and import duties vary widely from country to country.”
I Saw it First: ROI Customers may have to pay taxes and duties and its the customers responsibility to pay these.”
MissGuided: I am waiting on their reply but I recieved messages saying that they are not charging. But I will confirm this.
Pretty Little Thing: message at the checkout pops up to say all charges will be covered by them.
Nasty Gal: Information from their website says “Duty and tax for all EU deliveries will be paid for by Nasty Gal.
Will I be charged export fees to send an item back from Europe to the UK?
When sending an item back to us please ensure that you send this via our returns portal, this will provide you with our European returns address and will mean that you are not charged any export fees on the return. If you do not use the returns portal to send back your returns, you may be charged export fees which we will be unable to refund and your refund may be delayed.”
Shoe Zone: ‘Unable to fulfill orders to Republic of Ireland duty to courier services temporarily suspended.”
Schuh: I made an order this year & there was no additional charges, it was sent from the warehouse in Ireland (think it was in Limerick). Schuh, a British footwear retailer owned by US company Genesco, opened an Irish distribution Centre to maintain deliveries to its Irish stores following Brexit. I messaged Schuh & they replied saying “Currently the price you pay included all taxes and duties so there will be no additional payments required when your item is delivered. This includes items being shipped from the UK.”
Clarks Shoes: “With the UK leaving the single EU market and customs union, we as a business took the decision to accept responsibility for duties and taxes payable on the products being shipped to ROI preventing out customers from this inconvenience.”
Clarks will take care of all duty charges for orders delivered into the Republic of Ireland, and for Returns delivered back into the UK.
I received a few messages about Clarks orders that were made at the end of the year or early this year asking their customers to pay DPD the custom charges and they will replay the customers.
“Regrettably due to technical issues at the time of processing, we write to inform you that on this occasion this has failed and we must therefore advise that your recent order will unfortunately be subject to such charges. DPD, our business partner will be contacting you in due course advising that you will be regrettably to required to pay duties and taxes on the goods. We ask that you kindly follow the steps provided and have attached details of the process for your information and guidance.”
Zalando: Replied saying “There are no extra Brexit charges when your parcel is delivered. We’ll keep you in the loop via our FAQ’s.”
Sportswear:
Nike: Most of their orders comes from Netherlands, you need to check if your order is coming from UK warehouse / from the EU before completing your purchase.
Sweaty Betty: Were the first to come out to confirm that they will be covering charges from their deliveries to Ireland.
My protein:
“For customers located in the EU, we will despatch from our distribution centre within the EU. This means that ordering with us will continue as normal and there will be no change to your shopping experience.”
M&M Direct:
Sent email saying;
“There are no changes to the way you shop with us, with all the same deals being available for you to snap up before anyone else does. For customers ordering from outside of the UK, we are covering all EU import duty and taxes so there is no additional cost to our customers. I hope this information helps.”
Regatta:
I emailed Regatta & they said:
“I can confirm that there will be no customs charges for your order. As an Irish customer you are not impacted by any customs charges as your order is with Regatta Great Outdoors Ireland Ltd.
If you order with us online, unfortunately you will not be able to return any items from an online order to a store when they re-open. We are currently offering free returns labels for all Irish orders, I will post a link below to more information on returns should you need it. https://www.regatta.ie/delivery-and-returns/
Mountain Warehouse:
I emailed Mountain warehouse & they replied saying:
“I can confirm that there are no extra charges for delivery.
We have extended our refund policy for 60 days so that you will not miss out on a refund or an exchange. Items can be exchanged or refunded up until 31st March 2021.
To return order via our website goods must be returned at your cost. We recommend you use recorded delivery to return any items to us as the goods are your responsibility until we receive them.
If you want to wait until your local store re opens, we have extended our refund policy for 60 days so that you will not miss out on a refund or an exchange. Unwanted Christmas gifts can be exchanged or refunded up until 31st March 2021.”
Adidas: Orders come from Germany, so no additional charges.
Gym Shark: From their website it says “As all orders are currently shipped from Europe, you may have additional import fees upon delivery.”
I have emailed them & waiting on the reply.
Sports Direct: The website says: “For customers based outside the UK but in the EU: the prices for goods on the Website include all applicable taxes.”
They replied saying “Sadly we have no control over the customs charges etc, so I cannot guarantee if you will be charged, or predict the amount.”
Sports Direct is registered in the UK but they also hold an Irish vat number : IE3415318BH, so Sports Direct Ireland will charge you Irish vat and should be business as usual.
They really do not make it easy on their website about their Brexit t&c’s!! I need to get in touch with them to confirm what their policy is!
JD Sports: No extra charges but you have to pay for returns now and they are being returned to England so more expensive. From their website it says “We ship a large portion of our orders from the UK and are therefore anticipating slower delivery lead times throughout January as we and our delivery partners make changes to our delivery services to accommodate the new customs process. Be rest assured, we won’t be passing any customs fees onto you and will be covering the full amount.”
Cosmetics:
Look Fantastic: (Part of Hut.com includes Beauty Expert, HQ Hair, & Mankind)
I did hear that they are opening an Irish hub mid Jan for faster delivery times etc. They just emailed today to say that they are “Coming to Ireland”.
Information from the website says “Lookfantastic are delighted to be able to say that your shopping experience post Brexit will not be impacted, and you will be able to continue to place orders as usual. For customers located in the European Union, most of our products will ship from our distribution center within the EU and therefore ordering with us will continue as usual.
For any products shipping from the UK to addresses in the EU, tax and duties will be settled on you behalf in conjunction with our courier, so there is no impact to you.”
Boots: I have received an email reply (29th Jan), it said: “I can confirm that there is no import charge when products are delivered to Ireland.
You can return your items to any Boots Ireland store, just take along your order number to help our store team process your return.” or they said you can print of the returns label and send back through An Post., details on their website.
Holland & Barrett: Ship from Dublin so no charges.
Cult Beauty: Paying for extra charges Tax calculated at the checkout but they are covering the extra charges.
From the website: “There's nothing to worry about, it's beauty business as usual for our European Cult Beauty Customers.
Are there any changes to your prices?
No, the price you pay is the same as it was before Brexit and includes all local EU VAT.
Will I be charged any customs fees?
No, there are no additional fees for orders which are shipped to the European Union (EU).
If duty applies to your order, it will be delivered duty paid (DDP).
Should you be contacted by your local customs office and asked to pay any fees please contact our Customer Service Team.
Has the cost of delivery changed?
No, our delivery costs are exactly the same as they were before Brexit.
£4.95/€5.95 for standard delivery via your local postal service
FeelUnique: covering the charges. Information from their website says “There will be no change to how you shop from 1 January. All our orders to EU countries will be delivered duty paid (DDP) and there will be no additional customs fees for you to pay.”
Charlotte Tilbury: I emailed Charlotte Tilbury & they replied saying “We have a warehouse located in Europe where your order will be shipped from, any charges for your order will be shown at checkout before you pay. Please ensure you are checking out on the website associated with your location.”
Beauty Bay: I received an email saying “ As you are aware following Brexit, the UK left the European Union on the 1st of January 2012. To keep things nice and simple for our EU customers, we’ve adjusted our pricing so the price displayed at checkout will be the final price you pay. Please be sure to check the correct shipping country is selected when on site, to view the correct prices.”
Other Stores:
The Works:
“Delivery charge including in €4.50 to offset the new customs rules, so no extra charges to Irish customers”.
I received an email from TheWorks.co.uk they said “All of the import costs are same, all items can be returned to store up to 30 days after they re-open.”
Book depository:
Owned by Amazon, but books are exempt from duty (Discount code is IE10)
Information from the website says:
“The prices on our website and what you pay at checkout is the final price. You will not have to pay any additional charges or fees at delivery.”
SnapFish: I messaged Snapfish & they replied “Our products are created in the UK and we don’t have any custom charges for our orders.” I am under the impression that the price you see at the checkout is inclusive of all taxes, no extra charges per customer.
To clarify these are Irish Businesses:
Cloud10 Beauty: Irish business so all taxes and charges are prepaid / looked after by Cloud 10
Simply Be & Oxendales: Irish Company based in Dublin
Belleek: Pottery is made in Northern Ireland, so no charges from the North to the South of Ireland, so no charges.
PigsBack: Based in Ireland and said their suppliers are legally and contractually obliged to ass all costs to their final price to include local taxes and charges on all items.
Thank you so much for reading, hope this clears up a lot of confusion. Happy shopping & please let me know if there are any changes and I will update this blog post.
Thanks so much,
Karen
Disclaimer for Information purposes only;
MOAD is not responsible for any charges added upon delivery and the onus is on the customer to check and to be aware of any hidden costs, if any, before proceeding with payment. I can only go with the information found at the time & what is available on their website or through direct messages from the business or email. Here is a list of business that is covering the import duties. Please read my previous post about vat & custom charges and all the details about how much you could be charged upon delivery if the item is coming from GB.