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Buying pinball bits from the EU now?

new forest pinball said:
We just had a order from ministry of Pinball arrive this morning. (Order value 848 euro). Delivered by the post office with no additional charges at all.
We are expecting a similar size order from pinball center Germany Wednesday from UPS. will update this thread with what happens with that one.
K.
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James said:
Under the limit, charged in country with repatriation by the seller.

Over the limit, charged here.

Issues will arise if:

- Seller charging and not repatriating - what happens then?
- Seller charging, UK charging - as we have seen happen. Don't forget this compounds over the initial charge, so a 20% charge on a 20% charge is a 44% true uplift.
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The magic 44% just happened to me on a 500 euro ministry of pinball order. Not great. I can get the vat back on the uk side, but if you are a private customer and not a vat registered business then this is going to suck even more than it does now. So be careful people! Not even sure you can complain to HMRC once they've charged you wrongly, or even sure who's at fault. Its extra hassle not needed though. I assumed that because ministry were collecting 20% tax (netherlands own vat rate is 21%) I was paying the uk tax upfront, but then they mark the invoice with the full inc vat value and no mention of the tax paid, great....

Tried to tell ministry of pinball they ****ed up and shouldn't be collecting the uk vat if they aren't declaring it correctly on the paperwork, radio silence in reply...
 
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Where you vat register with them before brexit
I have stopped using eu now Marco is much easier these days and most things in stock plus shipping is now £30 from ministry no surprise radio silence from Bert
 
CHRIS B PINBALLS said:
Where you vat register with them before brexit
I have stopped using eu now Marco is much easier these days and most things in stock plus shipping is now £30 from ministry no surprise radio silence from Bert
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Unfortunately many things are only available from a single supplier so you have to go where the parts are available. This is always going to be the issue now
 
CHRIS B PINBALLS said:
I have stopped using eu now Marco is much easier these days and most things in stock
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Valid poiint... Thinking about it, If you order from the EU then you would pay the price (usually xUSD+exchange costs, plus the middle man markup), plus then shipping, plus VAT/Duty..... If ordering from the USA you pay USD (so currently approx 0.707 x the value because of £ vs $) and then the same import fees...
The only difference would have been the larger shipping fees from the USA... however with retailers in the EU stinging people for shipping, i'd argue there isnt much in that either...
 
Why I recently placed an order with Marco and they had everything rather than ordering from here there and everywhere.
If I can get it in the UK that’s still my first choice when possible.
Marco’s packaging is pretty good and doesn’t take long to arrive, faster than MOP!
 
Just keep an eye on the vat you are pre paying. In my experience there is a charge included in that fee on top of the calculated vat. I have no problem with an admin fee but I’ve noticed it creeping up in value. I’ve raised it with Marco who say they don’t levy an admin charge themselves but it’s charged by iglobal. Haven’t had a reply from them. If you see the admin part of prepaid vat rising it might be worth raising the concern with Marco.
 
Paul said:
Valid poiint... Thinking about it, If you order from the EU then you would pay the price (usually xUSD+exchange costs, plus the middle man markup), plus then shipping, plus VAT/Duty..... If ordering from the USA you pay USD (so currently approx 0.707 x the value because of £ vs $) and then the same import fees...
The only difference would have been the larger shipping fees from the USA... however with retailers in the EU stinging people for shipping, i'd argue there isnt much in that either...
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My order was a nos playfield, shipping from Europe 25 euros. Not available anywhere else and I doubt Marco would be anywhere near shipping wise that even if they did have it..
 
Well god damn, might be game over for pinball parts from pinball centre now for me to, though again i needed this order as there were parts not available easily anywhere else. Look at the UPS brokerage charge compared to keiths from february. What the actual ****? Now i can get the vat back thanks god, but not this 'magic ups party fund' fee. Jesus Christ...

Screen Shot 2021-05-18 at 14.38.31.png
 
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Ouch.

At least it's not sat there waiting for someone to do something... (this has flown in from Australia and cleared customs last Thursday)

Aud Package.png
 
We are finding this in work at the moment. Because, commercially, everything now needs to go through a company that are registered to commercially ship to the EU, a laptop (and a real life case here) shipped from Spain to the UK that used to cost circa £100 overnight using DHL, now costs 3k with DHL via a 3rd party.

Thats fine... we wont bother then.
 
The ups magic charge is actually making the parcelforce 'magic fee' look rather cheap now! or if you can pay in advance and hmrc accepts it (ie you dont get the 44% charge) then thats the best way obviously.

I will be seeking some clarification on what they actually did for the £42.40!!

Interesting that UPS site states:

"UPS Brokerage services are provided at no extra cost for routine customs clearance. Our aim is always to provide the one-step, seamless process and quick customs clearance that is crucial to on-time delivery."

LOL :rofl:
 
Well for anyone interested I got a reply from ups via my account manager

apparently because pinball centre itemised the invoice on the export form instead of just a single total I was charged £2.50 'brokerage' for every line after 5 lines!!!!

You can’t make this **** up... The rules are just nonsense and you roll the dice each time.

.......

So in case is useful for others, check if ups is shipping your order to uk and try to get a different courier used is my advice.
 
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myPinballs said:
Well for anyone interested I got a reply from ups via my account manager

apparently because pinball centre itemised the invoice on the expert form instead of just a single total I was charged £2.50 'brokerage' for every line after 5 lines!!!!

You can’t make this **** up... The rules are just nonsense and you roll the dice each time.

.......

So in case is useful for others, check if ups is shipping your order to uk and try to get a different courier used is my advice.
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I'd say "you couldn't make it up" but they obviously do
 
I received an LED back kit frame + Deadpool Pro translite from Stern EU.
GBP cost was 162.00
DHL was the courier from Germany.
Last few times I used these guys - DHL came all the way to my door before brexit for 15 euro.
I had to pay 25 euro this time for DHL shipping but they handed over to Parcelforce at customs.
I then had to pay Parcelforce another 45 quid to receive my order.
🙄
 
are you sure about that?

I've just had a look and ever order for years from Stern Parts EU has been DHL (which is the local German post) then to parcel farce and then me. Stern EU also don't charge the vat for Germany.
 
Neil McRae said:
are you sure about that?

I've just had a look and ever order for years from Stern Parts EU has been DHL (which is the local German post) then to parcel farce and then me. Stern EU also don't charge the vat for Germany.
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No, not 100%, think your right….but got charged the additional.
You can see they handed it to Parcelforce in UK then it went to customs….2ACA26C2-457C-4C9C-874F-0E4203427AAA.png
 
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