"alan_m" wrote in message
...
On 31/01/2021 09:33, tim... wrote:


you have to pay duty on personal imports worth more than 135 pounds


But if buying from the EU the purchase price of those items wouldn't have
include VAT. (Some) UK suppliers of goods to the EU are quoting ex VAT
prices for those customers.

the problem isn't the end price.

it's the uncertainty of collecting costs that's the killer here

There are means by which the shipper can avoid the buyer in that
uncertainty.

It costs small percentage more (instead of the high percentage more that
admin fees add). Offshore retailers just have to get used to the new
methods.

OTOH, shippers who used to rely upon their product being cheap because they
*knew* that the previous system didn't collect duty, but that a new one now
does, will no longer be able to rape the exchequer