UK Ebay seller won't ship to other EU countries?

rapido

Just noticed this seller (roxy*media*uk, Revaluation Books of Exeter) has the following text on their listings:

"International customers outside United Kingdom: We will dispatch globally but not European Union countries, except the United Kingdom. Please do not email querying postage cost to EU countries, the decision is final and we cannot be of assistance. We will dispatch to all non-EU European countries (e.g. Russia, Switzerland, Norway, Ukraine, etc.), and any other foreign country. Delivery time: UK 4-5 days. USA, Australia, Canada, Japan, and all other Rest of World 7-14 days by Priority Airmail."

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/uk-media-superstore

I'm a bit puzzled by this, so does anyone know a logical reason as to why a seller in Devon can't send a book to, for example, Dublin?

I have never seen another seller do this.

Before you ask, yes I tried to ask the seller, but Ebay refused to send it, giving the reason "due to the high number of emails this seller receives, they aren't able to respond to your specific question". I suppose they have their Ebay messages switched off.....

theonlywayisup

rapido wrote: »

Just noticed this seller (roxy*media*uk, Revaluation Books of Exeter) has the following text on their listings:

"International customers outside United Kingdom: We will dispatch globally but not European Union countries, except the United Kingdom. Please do not email querying postage cost to EU countries, the decision is final and we cannot be of assistance. We will dispatch to all non-EU European countries (e.g. Russia, Switzerland, Norway, Ukraine, etc.), and any other foreign country. Delivery time: UK 4-5 days. USA, Australia, Canada, Japan, and all other Rest of World 7-14 days by Priority Airmail."

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/uk-media-superstore

I'm a bit puzzled by this, so does anyone know a logical reason as to why a seller in Devon can't send a book to, for example, Dublin?

I have never seen another seller do this.

Before you ask, yes I tried to ask the seller, but Ebay refused to send it, giving the reason "due to the high number of emails this seller receives, they aren't able to respond to your specific question". I suppose they have their Ebay messages switched off.....

It is up to the seller, but it could be that recently Royal Mail changed their tariffs for international post, to just EU and NON EU. Coupled with a VAT addition now to EU post, it is more often than not (on business accounts) more expensive to ship to the EU than NON EU.

rapido

theonlywayisup wrote: »

It is up to the seller, but it could be that recently Royal Mail changed their tariffs for international post, to just EU and NON EU. Coupled with a VAT addition now to EU post, it is more often than not (on business accounts) more expensive to ship to the EU than NON EU.

Well I thought it *might* be a postage issue, but nothing makes sense.

The VAT change doesn't seem to apply to normal airmail, only Airsure.

Also I have never heard of EU and non-EU distinctions for... maybe 10 years? There is just "Europe" and "Rest of World".

But even so, Ebay allows the seller to charge different postage prices for different destinations...

terra_ferma

rapido wrote: »

Well I thought it *might* be a postage issue, but nothing makes sense.

The VAT change doesn't seem to apply to normal airmail, only Airsure.

Also I have never heard of EU and non-EU distinctions for... maybe 10 years? There is just "Europe" and "Rest of World".

But even so, Ebay allows the seller to charge different postage prices for different destinations...

Business post works differently, that's why you would not have heard of what TOWIU describes.
Maybe they felt they would get too much hassle from EU sellers who would not understand why the are charged more.

theonlywayisup

rapido wrote: »

Well I thought it *might* be a postage issue, but nothing makes sense.

The VAT change doesn't seem to apply to normal airmail, only Airsure.

Also I have never heard of EU and non-EU distinctions for... maybe 10 years? There is just "Europe" and "Rest of World".

But even so, Ebay allows the seller to charge different postage prices for different destinations...

VAT is charged on all EU international post for businesses, so I would imagine it is the same for personal customers but maybe not shown separately (much as normal shop prices).

No VAT is charged on 'rest of world' items, but ROW is the same as NON EU. Royal Mail just have two rates, EU and NON EU/ROW.

terra_ferma

theonlywayisup wrote: »

VAT is charged on all EU international post for businesses, so I would imagine it is the same for personal customers but maybe not shown separately (much as normal shop prices).

No VAT is charged on 'rest of world' items, but ROW is the same as NON EU. Royal Mail just have two rates, EU and NON EU/ROW.

I'm in the process of switching to a business account and IPP, non-business mail works differently, you have Europe (including EU and non-EU) and ROW. Vat is only charged on Airsure and I think some other bits.

... you guess one thing, the OP guesses another thing, it show how the human brain works, we use the info we have to make assumptions about what we don't have, and we often get it wrong...

theonlywayisup

terra_ferma wrote: »

I'm in the process of switching to a business account and IPP, non-business mail works differently, you have Europe (including EU and non-EU) and ROW. Vat is only charged on Airsure and I think some other bits.

Sorry, I am a bit unsure of what you are saying.

On a business account (high volume or Sorted) PPI or DE, for ALL international it is VATable for EU and non VATable for ROW/NON EU. Regardless of Airsure, ISF or any other enhancement.

From RM buisness website:

The way our international services work will change following the decision by HMRC to charge VAT on our contract services for mail destined to the EU. On this page you will find details of our new and improved portfolio of overseas services and below that you can see which of the current products they are replacing.

I have found my contracted terms, specifically page 5, which highlights BUSINESS USERS - ....and VAT being charged on the three services for business users.....UNSORTED HIGH VOLUME, ZONE SORT and UNSORTED.

So that is for HIGH VOLUME or ZONE sort, then VAT is added just to EU. For those plus UNSORTED it is added to all for other buisness users.

ftp://ftp.royalmail.com/Downloads/public/ctf/rm/International_packets_Guidelines.pdf

terra_ferma

theonlywayisup wrote: »

Sorry, I am a bit unsure of what you are saying.

On a business account (high volume or Sorted) PPI or DE, for ALL international it is VATable for EU and non VATable for ROW/NON EU. Regardless of Airsure, ISF or any other enhancement.

From RM buisness website:



I have found my contracted terms, specifically page 5, which highlights BUSINESS USERS - ....and VAT being charged on the three services for business users.....UNSORTED HIGH VOLUME, ZONE SORT and UNSORTED.

So that is for HIGH VOLUME or ZONE sort, then VAT is added just to EU. For those plus UNSORTED it is added to all for other buisness users.

ftp://ftp.royalmail.com/Downloads/public/ctf/rm/International_packets_Guidelines.pdf

I'm not sure what point you are making as you are talking about a business account, and I was referring to non-business post (I use smartstamps, but the price is the same over the counter at the Post Office).
http://www2.royalmail.com/customer-service/terms-and-conditions/vat-changes-2011#03

theonlywayisup

terra_ferma wrote: »

I'm not sure what point you are making as you are talking about a business account, and I was referring to non-business post (I use smartstamps, but the price is the same over the counter at the Post Office).
http://www2.royalmail.com/customer-service/terms-and-conditions/vat-changes-2011#03

Yes, which is why I said I was not clear what you were saying.

The OP has asked about a seller who clearly is selling volume. Whilst we cannot be sure, I would be confident that he is a business user on Royal Mail and subsequently paying VAT on either ALL international services, or just those from EU. I cannot see him queueing at the PO for private users rates?

I was answering the OPs post, I was not sure where your comment was going? I took it to say that you are moving onto a business tariff, but you are only paying vat on enhancements, ie air sure? Sorry if I misunderstood but the fact is that VAT is payable on non enhanced services by business users of RM.

terra_ferma

theonlywayisup wrote: »

Yes, which is why I said I was not clear what you were saying.

The OP has asked about a seller who clearly is selling volume. Whilst we cannot be sure, I would be confident that he is a business user on Royal Mail and subsequently paying VAT on either ALL international services, or just those from EU. I cannot see him queueing at the PO for private users rates?

I was answering the OPs post, I was not sure where your comment was going? I took it to say that you are moving onto a business tariff, but you are only paying vat on enhancements, ie air sure? Sorry if I misunderstood but the fact is that VAT is payable on non enhanced services by business users of RM.

Yes you misunderstood, I was responding specifically to this:

VAT is charged on all EU international post for businesses, so I would imagine it is the same for personal customers but maybe not shown separately (much as normal shop prices)

.

Happy_bunny

Surely the seller has the right to post wherever they choose? :eek:
I've stopped virtually all overseas posting due to the ridiculous amount of items reported as 'missing' regardless of the service used - when you consider the hassle involved in trying to pursue an international claim it makes perfect sense!