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Between the Battles & the Art ... => The Count's Tavern => Topic started by: Victor on September 03, 2019, 11:28:32 AM
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(If there has already been such a topic, I did not see it)
I guess most of us are aware that the UK is pretty much the center for miniature wargaming in general and most companies are located there. As the final(?) Brexit deadline is only a few weeks away, I thought it would be interesting to look at the possible consequences for the hobby when the UK leaves the EU.
From what I have gathered, miniature gaming has a very strong following in the UK, compared to many other countries. Therefore companies there have a strong home market, but regardless of that, most of their sales will be made with exports. If a No-Deal Brexit occurs, it will mean the return of import charges and taxes, which will lead to cost increases of at least 20-25% on everything other than the smallest of orders. Large companies like GW, who have subsidiaries in mainland Europe, can work around that. Small(er) companies on the other hand, who mainly rely on online-sales from the UK, will be hit hard I guess. But this also works both ways and buying something from a EU located company as a UK customer will be even worse.
What are your predictions? Will the No-Deal scenario crush some of the small businesses? Will the £ to € exchange rate drop so much as to compensate for the increased costs (from a EU customer perspective)? Will buying from the UK stay a reasonable option in the next years? Should those of us, who will remain within the EU (as you should), do some last chance purchases before the Brexit and vice versa? :icon_neutral:
P.S.: Personally, I have already made some panic purchases in the beginning of the year and might make another during this month.
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Being in the U.S., it has become less expensive to buy from England. Remains to be seen if that continues, no pun intended.
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Well, the Pound dropped from around 1.3 Euro before the Brexit referendum to 1.1 Euro now. With a no-deal Brexit, it is likely to drop even lower. That should offset to a large extent any costs from a no-deal Brexit. And if you are already prepared to pay GW prices, cost is not really the determining factor in your purchases, I should think.
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But if they don't sort out a customs union, you might have to pick up every order from the customs office. That I am not willing to do. If the pound drops some more, that might save the UK miniature companies export wise, but what will that mean for small EU companies? The UK is a very important market for them and UK customers will probably not buy under those circumstances. At least in the short run, someone will suffer one way or another.
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When you order something from the US or elsewhere outside the EU, you have to pay VAT and import duties. That is usually handled by the courier company, and the costs are added to the shipping costs. The end receiver does not need to collect it from the customs office.
The consequences for EU companies are, as yet, unclear. While the EU position and thus the costs for shipping to the EU are clear, that is not the case for the UK. In principle, WTO rules would apply. However, one idea floating around in the UK is to cut tariffs to zero on most imports (with the noted exception of agricultural goods and cars) - at least temporarily. Another is to waive customs checks unilaterally at the Irish border. How all that and the drop in the pound will affect EU companies is impossible to say, but the uncertainty itself will have a negative effect.
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Just to be clear, how does ordering from the US work for those in the EU? In the US, we don't pay taxes or fees on items from overseas, at least not from Ebay or even GW back when I could order directly from GW UK. While the label might say what the item is worth, it doesn't make any difference. The only time I would ever have to pay something is if for some reason enough wasn't collected at the time it was shipped, and I owe the difference.
There are times when I am asked to lie about the value of an item I sell on ebay (before the Global Shipping Program went into effect on Ebay), which I didn't, as I didn't want any problems at my end if it got lost or damaged, but I assume this meant the buyer was being taxed. When? How? Do these items sit at the Post Office till the tax is paid?
I could understand import fees on a car, but on miniatures?
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There was once fees on everything. We will see a return to that, I believe. I am a bit worried about what will happen with the hobby in Sweden since so much of the good stuff is british. Nothing is translated either, since we are pretty good at english. But if we will see a rise from other countries, well, I do not know what will occur.
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With some exceptions, customs duty is not due for goods provided directly to the buyer when the value does not exceed 150 euros. VAT is not due if the total value does not exceed a threshold, which varies according to the EU country. Here too, there are some exceptions.
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Where I am from, only goods from outside the EU with a value of 22€ or less are free of charge (importation VAT). Above 150€, like Fidelis has pointed out, you have to pay customs duty on top of that (which can vary). There are three scenarios when buying from outside the EU:
- If the value has been declared by the sender and the customs officer believes the declaration, you will get the package by post and might have to pay the importation VAT/customs duty when receiving it (for a value >22€).
- If nothing has been declared and you are lucky they will not open the package if they assume it's low value. (If you order some rubbish from China for example)
- If you are unlucky, the customs will open the package and you might have to pick it up from the customs office, which can be a real hassle if you don't live that close to the next one. You might also have to argue with them regarding the actual value of the items.
Maybe I am overestimating the possible troubles, but I'm really not keen on having to spend at least 2 hours to pick up an order from somewhere in person and having to pay for the pleasure on top of that. :icon_confused:
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I earn money in euros but am buying Warhammer stuff in the uk. This job just gets cheaper by the day!