Hello all, I want to downsize my studio as I have accumulated too many synths that I don’t use.
I live in the UK and I wanted to sell them to Europe as well, to have a larger market. My listings are not doing well and I think the prices are good, so I blame the cost of living crisis here in the UK and I hope the market would be more receptive in Europe.
Problem is, does the buyer in Europe have to pay VAT on what they buy from me? I’m not a business, just an individual. I read here and there that after Brexit customs will charge VAT when my delivery crosses the border, but my intuition tells me it would be unfair as I already paid VAT on the instruments when I bought them new.
Anyone has been through this?
Yep, when I moved from UK to France I had to pay bullshit charges on things I already own!
Did you bring them with yourself, or ship them? From what I understand by reading on gov.uk, if you bring stuff with yourself when moving out, it’s a different case as they are personal belongings.
I sent them to myself. It was an old iMac, a PS4, some music equipment like sound cards and cables and a bunch of books. I marked them way below actual value. Still had to pay the UPS driver 30€ in cash 
If you are selling goods UK-EU (or vice versa) the buyer will be liable for any VAT, shipping/handling and import charges that may arise, and they most likely will arise.
Not to mention that you will have to fill out all the necessary customs forms and invoice (to be fair, there’s not a huge amount, but it is a ballache the first couple of times you do it).
All this adds up to probably no-one in the EU being interested, as they can probably buy it cheaper within the EU (unless it’s particularly rare or sought after).
As ever, there are ways of avoiding/evading some of the tariffs, but none of them are legal/practical for non-business seller/buyer.
Just correct me if I’m wrong, but how does the UK thinks it’s fair to levy VAT two times on an item? First time was when I bought it from a retailer, second would be when someone buys it from me. I can understand tariffs and duties, but VAT?
A cautionary tale…
A friend had an item sent back from Germany recently, because the buyer didn’t want to pay the import charges. Ebay refunded the buyer as the item got returned to a UK sorting office and then for some unknown reason was resent to Germany, where this time, with the buyer already receiving their money back, paid the customs fees and took the item as well as receiving a refund. It was a very expensive item.
German ebay appears to work differently than UK ebay. It doesn’t have English speakers available (from the 2 times my friend tried to contact them through a UK ebay concierge putting him through to them) and generally makes a decision quickly and it might not go your way.
It’s probably a very rare occurrence when things go wrong like this, but the item was worth more than most music gear items and has been an eye opener to me and a real surprise that the communication with a German outlet of a Global US brand might not have people that speak English to deal with international disputes. So might be useful if you intend selling there.
If you’re selling to the EU, the buyer will be liable to pay VAT at the rate set by their government, not ours.
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Your buyer will be charged EU VAT.
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“Just correct me if I’m wrong, but how does the UK thinks it’s fair to levy VAT”
Just this is a good question.
This is a very unsettling story. I’ll avoid selling to Europe and wait or lower the prices.
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I’m not trying to say that this is a regular occurrence, but just something to be aware of that it could happen and it could cause sleepless nights and stress if you don’t have the same rights as you would selling in the UK using the same site.
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Need to ask this man….
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I used to sell and buy from Europe a lot pre Brexit. Much better to be in a massive market when you are interested in buying and selling niche/weird gear. Don’t bother at all now. Nobody is interested in buying because of the duty/VAT issues. And it’s not worth purchasing stuff because of the same issues in the other direction.
Maybe UK needs a time machine to go back and re-vote for Brexit
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And I quote " something to be said for supporting people that support you" .
Ok, so why leave a community? DUH!
Anyway, here’s Tom with the weather.