Best explanation yet of what is actually going on with goods purchased in the UK and shipped to EU countries post-Brexit

https://www.theguardian.com/politics...buying-from-uk

Welcome to Brexit; yes, it's here at last!

Direct transport told me that there would be a 6 month grace period for their transports.
I'm waiting for a post new year post transport to come through so we can know if that's true [so far] before placing any more orders for stuff from the UK.

I needed a very small ebay gizmo today; seller in Ireland! Yay!

There's stuff in English on the Portal das Financas (website) about bringing things over, having a Tax Rep and other post Brexit info.

Link is on this article

https://www.theportugalnews.com/news...xit-help/57552

Looked at buying some bed linen from UK seller on ebay yesterday,,all normal except Ebay seems to be getting sellers to use their shipping system (rip off) and before buying it says that import and VAT will be calculated after you have made the purchase........., didnt want to get involved in that so didnt buy.
But I guess if the items were made in the UK then they should not attract an import duty but they would require custom clearance, and Portuguese VAT........I suppose.
Just not sure if you are committed to buy, before you know the final cost.

Apart from the complete confusion the EU directive for charging VAT at point of delivery not point of sale comes in force June(?) but the UK are trying to implement similar starting 1st Jan. Looks like the "final cost" will be made of several things like item cost + delivery/customs clearance then VAT on the lot so the final cost can't be calculated at the item point of sale as previously. In the UK we've started getting two bills for items (non Ebay) from the EU also a lot of cancelled sales as EU sellers needs to register with HMRC and pay the VAT to them. Am wading through the Ebay t+c to try and understand if they are covering all the paperwork or running more then one system ie EU to UK is different then UK to EU but, basically, a quagmire.

Since Brexit if an item is exported from the UK to anywhere in the world it does not attract UK taxes.
However trying to persuade a UK based company/individual of this is almost impossible.
Being in Gibraltar which does not operate a VAT style system but an Import tax this has been a problem for the whole time we were in the EU.
Also this vat payment is now being offered at source by the seller although they cannot achieve this as the receiver has to go to the Gibraltar Post Office Parcel Store and deal with the taxes in person.
Basically the sellers are operating a fraudulent con.

Saw on news that John Lewis is stopping overseas deliveries.
A book I wanted from UK Amzn I ordered from Germany site (and found on France and Spain sites too). Courier delivery. Cost more, of course. Don't think I'll be ordering books from UK again.

The message is clear: don't order anything from the UK and stop your relatives/friends from even sending you food parcels.

Isn't it relatives and friends in the UK who might shortly be in need of food parcels?

Have you tried buying mens size 11 or womens size 8 equivalent shoes in Portugal?

I know the problem but I do not suffer except when they run out of size 43 in the shoes that I really fancy. Interestingly. I have just bought a Bosch car battery online here in Portugal and the same battery in the UK and in Spain was much more expensive. Online shopping in Portugal is much better now than it used to be 17 years' ago.

Prob with relying on getting items from Portugal is that being a very small country, no company will ever offer the range or products that the UK can and does.
UK is a decade ahead to any EU country when it comes to internet trading. (and the web sites work and quickly)
Certain items of course can be obtained at reasonable prices TVs for example.
Thats why people are miffed

I foolishly bought an item from Lakeland in the UK. Today I received an email from DHL offering to broker my customs costs. It is what I call a threatening letter! If we do not do this for you, you will be charged daily for storage and on the 4th day the item will be returned to seller. They want lots of paperwork and my Nif! They do not say how much they will charge!
I have bought items from th USA in the past with no problems. Is it a scam?
I am quite happy for the item to be returned to Lakeland. Obviously will not be buying anything from the UK until customs situation settles down.

A few years ago when I was in UK I bought a phone from China direct sent by air.
Done by DHL packet arrived at East Midlands airport and needed customs clearance.
DHL texted me with a cost of £10 to do it and deliver to me. No problem and package arrived at my house next day. So it took 3 days from China to me.

So a year or 2 later when I was in Portugal I decided to upgrade the phone with another from China.
Knowing the same thing would happen in Portugal I contacted DHL at the airport in Lisbon.
Their cost for doing exaactly the same as UK did for a tenner, was €95 !!!!
Needless to say I waited until I returned to UK...

There are delivery and customs clearance scam letters in my inbox every day.

Make sure the letter has your name on it, and some other verifiable numbers [order number, seller address, etc.]

I've made some buys from Germany; but most German sellers won't post to Portugal.