Addresspal

[Georgeconna]

Some changes coming down the tracks,  Those small items will now become a bit more expensive.

https://addresspal.anpost.ie/how-it-works

 

 

[irishthump]

I wonder what will happen with Parcel Motel. Their business model could be dead and buried.

[WRENNEIRE]

Wont make any difference to local posting?

[WRENNEIRE]

 

British people applying for Irish passports will now face the following questions;

 

Q1: Please explain why the national news is broadcast at exactly one minute after 6pm?

Q2: Sean: "You wouldn't put the kettle on would you?"

Mary: "I will yeah"

Is Mary going to put the kettle on for Sean?

Q3: “Mammy is after going to get the messages.” Explain.

Q4: "Give 5 examples of where/when you can apply the word 'yoke'"

Q5: The immersion. Discuss.

Q6: In the event that you lose your passport, should you

(a) report it lost and apply for a new one

(b) apply for a temporary passport or

(c) pray to St Anthony?

Q7: A local man becomes successful. Discuss the reactions that this may illicit among his neighbours (300 pages or less)

Q8: Where were Miley and Fidelma caught?

Q9: Give 6 examples of how to use 'grand' and 'bollix'

Q10: Bye bye bye bye bye bye bye’ is an appropriate way to end a phone conversation, yes or no?

Q11: What does 'put the delph in the press' mean?

Q12: How well should you have known someone to attend their funeral?

Q13: Fill in the blank..."roll it there

Q14: If you living in one part of the country, having grown up in another part of the country - which is 'home' and which is 'home, home' Supplemental question - What is the difference between going 'out' and going 'out, out'?

Q15: Can you explain where yer man from up above lives ?

Q16: Aoifes leaving cert is next week. What concrete steps can Aoifes grandmother take to ensure her success?

Q17: Bridie: Are you going to take the dog for a walk at all? Dónal: I'll do that now in a minute

Q18: When will Dónal take the dog for a walk: -Now -In a minute -Other - please specify.

[Georgeconna]

25 minutes ago, WRENNEIRE said:

Wont make any difference to local posting?

You did not read it then!!  UK And USA only Dave.

[Edo]

Feckin Brexit

On the other hand - it might be a good time to open a model supplies shop here in Ireland for all the those with the new interest in the hobby - depending how much of a pain in the ar%e customs decide to be.............tho it looks like the current UK gov look like they want to make it as awkward as possible...................unless its all a bluff!

 

 

[jhb171achill]

18 minutes ago, Edo said:

Feckin Brexit

On the other hand - it might be a good time to open a model supplies shop here in Ireland for all the those with the new interest in the hobby - depending how much of a pain in the ar%e customs decide to be.............tho it looks like the current UK gov look like they want to make it as awkward as possible...................unless its all a bluff!

Let's HOPE it's a bluff - however - bluff or not, anyone opening or operating a business either IN Brexitland OR the rest of the world (well, the EU and China!), will be buried in new tariffs, by the look of things........thus, prices in such a new shop might have to be a lot higher than people might assume.

[irishthump]

45 minutes ago, jhb171achill said:

Let's HOPE it's a bluff - however - bluff or not, anyone opening or operating a business either IN Brexitland OR the rest of the world (well, the EU and China!), will be buried in new tariffs, by the look of things........thus, prices in such a new shop might have to be a lot higher than people might assume.

I’ve a feeling a trade deal will happen at the last second. Trump’s loss changes the dynamic more that people realise and there seems to be a lot of wobbling from The Bowel Boris at the moment.

[jhb171achill]

27 minutes ago, irishthump said:

I’ve a feeling a trade deal will happen at the last second. Trump’s loss changes the dynamic more that people realise and there seems to be a lot of wobbling from The Bowel Boris at the moment.

We may live in hope! I'm ordering a few bits from Marks Models and Hattons as we speak!

[Georgeconna]

On 17/11/2020 at 7:23 PM, Edo said:

Feckin Brexit

On the other hand - it might be a good time to open a model supplies shop here in Ireland for all the those with the new interest in the hobby - depending how much of a pain in the ar%e customs decide to be.............tho it looks like the current UK gov look like they want to make it as awkward as possible...................unless its all a bluff!

 

 

You want to get your stuff from Eur

Ebay now, Some fellas are gonna be caught with this

 

From 1 January 2021, eBay will be legally required to begin collecting and remitting VAT for UK imports. From that date, eBay will have to charge buyers the applicable VAT amount directly and remit this sum to the relevant authorities.

Irish sellers trading with UK buyers and listing on the UK or any EU site will need to provide both gross prices as well as the applicable VAT rate used to calculate the gross price on all listings. If sellers do not specify gross prices and VAT rates, eBay will have to assume that the price provided is the net price, and will add VAT on top of the price displayed to buyers.

We strongly urge sellers listing on eBay.co.uk or other European eBay sites to specify the applicable VAT rates on existing listings as soon as possible. All new listings should include a VAT rate. You will find the field for the VAT rate beside the price when you create or edit listings.

What you need to know:

- From 1 January 2021, eBay will start to collect and remit VAT for UK imports on all consignments with a value of up to £135. There will no longer be a VAT exemption for small consignments up to £15.
- In cases where the seller is a non-UK business and the goods are already in the UK, eBay will collect and remit VAT for goods sold to consumers within the UK, regardless of their value.
- Sellers should begin listing the applicable VAT rates on all their existing and new listings as soon as possible.
- From 1 March 2021, eBay will make it mandatory to add the VAT rate on all UK and EU sites when listing items.
 

[DiveController]

eBay UK is already dead for us in the USA with the GSP program. Some interesting little books and things come up from time to time that might be GBP 5-10 PLUS 22.89 shipping with Pitney Bowes, worst shipper I've come across in a while for the most expensive rate and prehistoric website/tracking, then the VAT/tax. Forget it.

Edited December 10, 2020 by DiveController

[Mayner]

 

International forwarding systems like Address Pal, YouShop and e-Bay GPS programme have made it a lot simpler for Governments to charge purchase and sales taxes on international e-commerce compared with individual packages sent through.

I used YouShop https://www.nzpost.co.nz/tools/youshop to ship high value large scale locos and track to New Zealand, the main advantage was paying the duty/sales and purchase tax up front compared to arranging customs clearance on arrival. 

The down side was having to ship two locos by DHL and wait a week for the models to clear customs as the value of the shipment/weight size of the package was too high for YouShop to accept the shipment, luckily a large scale modelling friend in the States was able to re-direct the packages by DHL.

In the end although I incurred several hundred dollars additional shipping costs I acquired two locos which would have been extremely difficult to obtain locally.

E-Bay never really caught on locally once Trade Me a locally established sales platform gained a foothold, with the Brexit business it would be difficult to see a British or European sales platform establishing a critical mass to compete with E-Bay in the UK and Ireland.

As a manufacturer/retailer registering for Vat for for overseas sales is a difficult question, put simply will greater price certainty translate into sufficient sales to cover the additional compliance costs or does the risk of having to pay Vat upon arrival put off enough customers to effect the bottom line.

The planned changes in VAT and Brexit will probably reduce the price advantage in Ireland of buying models from UK Retailers and Suppliers though probably not a significant increase in price. Retailers and Suppliers who are registered for UK Vat can export to Ireland at 0% rate and claim back the Vat on their purchase cost just like any other business.

The main issue in the UK at the moment is the survival of the smaller specialist suppliers because of the uncertainty of supply arising from the Covid situation and the shift in the hobby to rtr models from China.

 

 

 

[DJ Dangerous]

1 hour ago, Mayner said:

As a manufacturer/retailer registering for Vat for for overseas sales is a difficult question, put simply will greater price certainty translate into sufficient sales to cover the additional compliance costs or does the risk of having to pay Vat upon arrival put off enough customers to effect the bottom line.

 

It's not just the VAT upon arrival. For almost every non-EU parcel that arrives here, I pay 7% IGIC / local tax, and then a handling fee of €50 to €70 EURO for the luxury of having to pay the tax in the first place.

What may work out of benefit to non-UK buyers post BrExit is a fall in the value of Sterling. The weaker it gets, the more Sterling product you can get for your money.

I'm really hoping that Sterling doesn't fall any more, though, as our local economy survives on Brits having decent spending power - the more that their Sterling can buy, the better local businesses here will do.

[murphaph]

6 hours ago, DiveController said:

eBay UK is already dead for us in the USA with the GSP program. Some interesting little books and things come up from time to time that might be GBP 5-10 PLUS 22.89 shipping with Pitney Bowes, worst shipper I come across in a while for the most expensive rate and prehistoric website/tracking, then the VAT/tax. Forget it.

I get the impression a lot of sellers don't like it either. A lot of items are only offered with UK shipping these days and I think the GSP is largely responsible. It isn't too bad to Germany but I think some buyers are still amenable to simply posting items using Royal Mail if you cover the postage, but you have to ask. I use parcelwizard so I can safely bid on "UK only" items then ask the seller will they ship to Germany (believe it or not it's cheaper to post to Germany from the UK than to the Republic). If they refuse I give them my parcelwizard address in NI and it goes to the mother in Dublin for later collection. Of course you can always ask the seller in advance if they will post internationally with Royal Mail. Some will, even if they have indicated no international shipping or GSP only. In reality there is not much extra effort required for them and no extra cost.

[Mayner]

Until recently one of the issues was that it cost Customs Services more to collect Vat/purchase tax on low value items arriving through the mail services that it was earning in revenue, hence the shift to postal services using services like Addresspal and Youshop to collect the tax.

Until recently imports of less than $400 (200stg.)in value were not subject to duty or tax on entry to New Zealand, but Customs processing fees and Bio-Security levies applied on imports above $400 in value and had to open an account with Customs in order to receive imports above $1000 in value.

Similar changes to the UK & EU came into force in December 2019.

In my experience the physical size and weight of the package along with the value seems to be a factor in getting intercepted by customs. Small packages arriving by air mail seem to fly through under the radar, while heavy or large packages are usually intercepted by Customs. Couriers like TNT & DHL will declare packages upon arrival and try and charge for arranging customs clearance even when you already have an account with Customs.

[Mayner]

1 minute ago, murphaph said:

I get the impression a lot of sellers don't like it either. A lot of items are only offered with UK shipping these days and I think the GSP is largely responsible. It isn't too bad to Germany but I think some buyers are still amenable to simply posting items using Royal Mail if you cover the postage, but you have to ask. I use parcelwizard so I can safely bid on "UK only" items then ask the seller will they ship to Germany (believe it or not it's cheaper to post to Germany from the UK than to the Republic). If they refuse I give them my parcelwizard address in NI and it goes to the mother in Dublin for later collection. Of course you can always ask the seller in advance if they will post internationally with Royal Mail. Some will, even if they have indicated no international shipping or GSP only. In reality there is not much extra effort required for them and no extra cost.

I had an interesting experience buying a large scale loco on e-bay from the States a couple of years ago. 

The seller in a remote part of the Pacific North West was unable to ship by GPS & complete the sale due to some glitch in the E-Bay system, despite both of use contacting e-bay customer services.  Somehow or other we managed to get around the system contact each other by phone and complete the transaction. 

The seller ended up shipping the loco by the UPS which involved a long drive to the nearest post office, as opposed to printing out a GPS label at home and leaving out the parcel for pick up by a courier.

 

[murphaph]

It's the same in Germany. Heavy parcels tend to get a closer look. But that's all gone across the whole EU from June (it was supposed to be January but the commission pushed it back due to Covid and possibly Brexit). Nothing will be exempt. Everything will have to be processed by customs from then on. Small cheap gadgets directly from China will not be worth it but the likes of Wish (spit) and others have set up shop in the EU to import the stuff by the container load, pay the duty in one go and forward by local surface mail. I have received many items this way in recent years. We'll see a lot more of that model from June.

[Noel]

I was perhaps fortunate to have bought any spares, accessories (eg wheels, couplings, wire, white metal parts) and kits from the UK that I may need in the future already, one more parcel due, but it should arrive well before Jan 1.  I've been experimenting using amazon.de and German model shops this past 2 years and so far its been both cost effective and a smooth process. I've saved a fortune off model rail electronics by bypassing the UK channel which aside from brexit issues after Jan 1 seemed a bit of a price rip off anyway aside from Hattons who had good discounts and excellent postage rates to Ireland. Where will it all end Ted?  Hopefully we will all be watching 'reeling in the years' in the future reminiscing about CV-19 as a memory, long after it has passed.  AddressPal has been excellent these past few years, way more convenient than parcel motel.

[murphaph]

I can't fault Parcelwizard to be honest. It seems much cheaper for small items than the others unless I'm missing something with their prices. It's only €3.75 per parcel, forwarded to your home address in the Republic.

I wish I could find anything near that price to forward to Germany but the cheapest I've found starts at 14 Stg!! It's odd because regular shipping to Germany from the UK costs a bit less than to the Republic.

[Georgeconna]

Yes Address pal 100% record for Me and a lovely Post Mistress ensure I collect my parcels there!

New Revenue import system coming into play this Monday . Lots of late nights recently. The amount of manual work and red tape is beyond belief and beyond the capabilities of the carriers bring in the stuff so full implantation has been pushed back till December, Hopefully longer.

 

[murphaph]

Parcelwizard gone as an option from Friday

Brexit starting to have a negative impact already. If the only ones left are An Post with AddressPal you can imagine what they awil start charging. It's already much dearer than parcelwizard.

[skinner75]

24 minutes ago, murphaph said:

Parcelwizard gone as an option from Friday

Brexit starting to have a negative impact already. If the only ones left are An Post with AddressPal you can imagine what they awil start charging. It's already much dearer than parcelwizard.

Addresspal are doing away with the option to collect from a selected post office too, which was the cheaper option than getting the parcel delivered to your door.

Wait till the food shortages hit - NI in particular

[murphaph]

Major changes in regular parcel services from Germany to the UK (so presumably in reverse too and presumably to large parts of the EU if Germany is affected).

From January latest, in some cases before:

-DPD only serving business customers

-Hermes stopping all business

-GLS stopping all business

Edited December 7, 2020 by murphaph

[Georgeconna]

Word is it will be harder to get things into the UK than the other way around at the moment so no surprised there with that news. Temporary measures I wonder as staff to cover ll this extra work will be immense!

[Noel]

33 minutes ago, Georgeconna said:

Word is it will be harder to get things into the UK than the other way around at the moment so no surprised there with that news. Temporary measures I wonder as staff to cover ll this extra work will be immense!

Sadly from Jan 1, it will be bye bye online purchases from Hattons, Peters Spares, Rails, DC Kits, Silverfox, Eileen's emporium, etc, Guten Tag Keiskemper und ModleBahnShop, etc. Been using Amazon.de for the past two years for that sort of thing rather than amazon.co.uk. A sad sorry mess. If after Jan 1 UK online retailers are prepared to sell their products vat free, then paying Irish/EU Vat 21% at point of entry (ie delivery agent) may help their wares to be affordable, but I'm not paying double VAT (UK + IE vat) and possible tariffs as well. We are perhaps fortunate that the three main suppliers to the hobby here are all based in Ireland (ie Marks Models, Murphy Models and IRM).

Edited December 7, 2020 by Noel

[flange lubricator]

I think this will be the call all over the EU avoid buying anything from the UK nothing personal it’s business, even if the suppliers don’t charge UK VAT and it’s added on arrival in ROI the inconvenience of having to pay again is too much hassle, I don’t think the ordinary UK  citizens will fully grasp the loss of all this business until it’s too late. 

[Broithe]

31 minutes ago, flange lubricator said:

I think this will be the call all over the EU avoid buying anything from the UK nothing personal it’s business, even if the suppliers don’t charge UK VAT and it’s added on arrival in ROI the inconvenience of having to pay again is too much hassle, I don’t think the ordinary UK  citizens will fully grasp the loss of all this business until it’s too late. 

Grasping the reality of all this is not a national pastime there.

My 'favourite' conversation about it was -

"We drink pints and drive miles. We should never have joined!"

"How many feet in a mile?"

"Oh, I  don't know. About a thousand?"

Of all the numbers to guess...

[minister_for_hardship]

We had a knack for, let's say, less than legal ways of getting around a hard border with tariffs in the past. 

Who's up for some old fashioned smuggling?

[Broithe]

5 minutes ago, minister_for_hardship said:

We had a knack for, let's say, less than legal ways of getting around a hard border with tariffs in the past. 

Who's up for some old fashioned smuggling?

There are instructional videos available.
 

 

[jhb171achill]

10 minutes ago, minister_for_hardship said:

We had a knack for, let's say, less than legal ways of getting around a hard border with tariffs in the past. 

Who's up for some old fashioned smuggling?

I wouldn't DREAM of such a thing.

(See ye in the usual place - I've butter, women's stockings, dyed diesel, dodgy cigarettes, Craven coaches and 141s).............say nathin'.......

[murphaph]

The big UK retailers are well used to selling ex-VAT to outside the EU already so that's not a problem. Model railway stuff is zero rated for customs at WTO level so it's just the VAT that should be added back on.

It'll come down to the handling charges which An Post extract and how easy they make it to pay them.

Here in Germany I pay a flat €6 handling charge on stuff from outside the EU which customs have stopped but I must pay the guy the VAT cash on delivery. If I'm not home he takes it to the local post office where I have to go and pay before collection. It's not so bad but it would be nice if I could pay online in advance so the item is just dropped off even if I wasn't there.

But for sure whereas before I would often have bought from the UK I will be looking for a local supplier a bit harder. 

Imagine even in our little hobby the amount of sales the UK is forsaking. This can't end well.

 

[skinner75]

3 hours ago, murphaph said:

Imagine even in our little hobby the amount of sales the UK is forsaking. This can't end well.

 

I'd say that losing a few orders may be down their list of worries...
Operation Yellowhammer

[Irishswissernie]

Its in the EU's interest to get some kind of agreement done. They export far more to the UK than the UK does to them and this imbalance has been getting worse.

Figures from HMG

The EU, taken as a whole is the UK's largest trading partner. In 2019, UK exports to the EU were £294 billion (43% of all UK exports). UK imports from the EU were £374 billion (52% of all UK imports). The share of UK exports accounted for by the EU has generally fallen over time from 54% in 2002 to 43% in 2019.10 Nov 2020

 

[Noel]

Its in everybody's interest to have some sort of trade deal. No one wins, there are no sides, just hardship for ordinary citizens all round.  Flags won't keep anybody warm if it snows, and flags don't make good loo roll either.  

[flange lubricator]

25 minutes ago, Irishswissernie said:

Its in the EU's interest to get some kind of agreement done. They export far more to the UK than the UK does to them and this imbalance has been getting worse.

Figures from HMG

The EU, taken as a whole is the UK's largest trading partner. In 2019, UK exports to the EU were £294 billion (43% of all UK exports). UK imports from the EU were £374 billion (52% of all UK imports). The share of UK exports accounted for by the EU has generally fallen over time from 54% in 2002 to 43% in 2019.10 Nov 2020

 

When its all boiled down to gravy come the 1st Jan 2020 ,  27 countries will loose one trading partner (some bigger than others ), but one country is going to loose 27 trading partners I don' t think a lot of UK citizens are fully aware at the gravity of Brexit even with a deal there is no winners in this .