Information for EU Customers

If you are ordering from one of the 27 EU countries, please make sure to read this information before placing your order.

For orders from outside the United Kingdom, please note that the buyer is responsible for paying any additional VAT and import duties that they may incur upon import.

If you are ordering on behalf of a registered business, you must have a valid EORI number to import goods into the EU! Learn more about it here

We ship orders all over the world. Unfortunately shipping to EU countries has proven more difficult than any other destination, because of complex and unclear laws regarding customs and tax collection.

Parcels to Europe are shipped as "Delivered Duty Unpaid" (DDU), which means the recipient is responsible for paying any taxes and charges upon import. This fee is calculated and collected by your local customs agency. We do not collect taxes on behalf of any EU countries.

All of our deliveries are accurately marked with the following information:

  • Product name
  • Description of good
  • Country of origin
  • HS tariff codes
  • Accurate price

We affix a customs form which lists this out all the necessary information for your local customs agent to process the order and issue the correct charge. We also include a full commercial invoice on the parcel.

However, sometimes, customs will randomly spot-check deliveries and ask the recipient to submit the invoice directly to them. If this happens, please contact us to receive a digital copy of the invoice.

Estimated charges

In most countries, you will be charged VAT on the full order amount (this includes shipping cost). An additional 5-10 euro charge is sometimes added by the carrier (post company or DHL) to file the necessary import paperwork on your behalf.

VAT rates for EU countries can be found here (see Standard Rates)

Example: 

  • You are in France. You order a product at a price of €185, along with €15 shipping cost.
  • France has a VAT rate of 20%.
  • Your total VAT is 20% * (185 + 15) = €40
  • An additional €6 is charged for customs paperwork and processing fees.
  • Your total charges will be  €46 (collected by the postal company or DHL, on behalf of the French government).

What do you need to do?

As soon as your order has been dispatched, we will send you an email with a tracking number. Please monitor this tracking number periodically, as this is the best way to see if the order is stuck in customs, or if there is a fee to pay.

In many countries, the fee can be paid directly on your local postal service website. You can input the provided tracking number (issued by Royal Mail in the UK) into your local postal service tracking website, and search for it there. The Royal Mail website also provides a forwarding link to this site when possible:

Common Tracking websites:

 

Please note that if you do not pay outstanding fees or collect your parcel from the post office within a reasonable amount of time (usually 21 days after arrival) the parcel will be returned to us, and you will not be refunded the shipping fees.

A note to our German customers

Unfortunately we are unable to offer affordable shipping via Deutsche Post to Germany, as they have proven too unreliable, and frequently fail to deliver parcels, which end up getting returned back to us after a long delay. For this reason, we only offer DHL Express delivery in Germany, but at a reduced cost compared to other destinations.