Purchasing fragrances from abroad to be shipped to the UK post-Brexit

[rum]

PLEASE READ: This thread is not meant as an opportunity to discuss politics or political issues, which remains outside the forum's code of conduct. Any violations will be promptly dealt with.

As it is widely known, the UK left the European Union and the subsequent Transition Period ended on 31st Dec 2020.

With the UK now a 3rd Party to the EU, various companies (including couriers) have changed their delivery charges and policies when exporting goods to the UK. As a result, consumers have been affected in multiple ways. Some examples can be found in this article.

With respect to fragrances, it would be of benefit to members - both current and future - if we create a list of non-UK stores that have either changed their:

• delivery charges
• return policies
• VAT (tax) collection policies

and anything else you see as relevant.

For example, First in Fragrance of Germany no longer posts for free to the UK where the order value is over €150. Instead, UK orders are subject to an €89 delivery charge. According to the value of the order, this will additionally incur UK VAT at the point of delivery, plus any handling fees the courier charges for processing the tax charge.

If you aware of a change like this, either from personal experience or something you noticed on the stores website for example, we would encourage you to please post it here. We are not interested in a discussion on whether this is fair or not, we are simply crowd-sourcing information that will be easy to find for our members going forward.

Once again, we are only concerned about fragrances here and must keep political discussions out of this (or any) thread. Thanks for your time!

[Mark.B]

While browsing through the nose.fr site it shows that they now display prices to the UK without vat. They still ship free for orders over a certain value, but they won’t charge vat. That means your handler will charge the vat and a charge for dealing with it.

Most seem around the £12 mark on top of the 20% vat.

I guess if you are saving more than the handling fee then it is still worth it.

[incense+heliotrope]

ParfumDreams (source of Knize Ten etc) : costs have risen
https://www.parfumdreams.co.uk/Shipping-Costs

[rum]

Thanks both - much obliged for your responses.

Keep them coming!

[Funwithfrags]

Just had an email from Avant Garde, Oliver & Co. as was.

"I'm very sorry to inform our UK based customers that from now on I cannot ship to the United Kingdom due to the recent Brexit situation which is affecting to he customs and goods exportation.

Sorry for the inconveniences caused by this situation.

Oliver Valverde"

As a repeat customer, I understand but am bloody annoyed.

[rum]

While browsing through the nose.fr site it shows that they now display prices to the UK without vat. They still ship free for orders over a certain value, but they won’t charge vat. That means your handler will charge the vat and a charge for dealing with it.

Most seem around the £12 mark on top of the 20% vat.

I guess if you are saving more than the handling fee then it is still worth it.

I received an email from Nose Paris, regarding Brexit.

They state that they continue to deliver to the UK using the DPD courier (which I might add has been very reliable in the past).

For orders below £135, 20% VAT applies at checkout (as before) and an additional €5 surcharge "due to Brexit costs".

For any orders above £135, 20% VAT applies at checkout (as before), an additional €5 surcharge "due to Brexit costs" and a further €5 charge "for customs and clearance fees with DHL".

I hope this helps someone.

[Funwithfrags]

So Avant-Garden Lab (spelling corrected) ARE now once again able to ship to the UK. That's good.

[rum]

So Avant-Garden Lab (spelling corrected) ARE now once again able to ship to the UK. That's good.

Thanks for the update. It looks like some stores/retailers are finding workarounds, but in addition I'd also be interested in hearing about people's experiences when placing and receiving orders from such places. Please keep 'em coming!