The Cost Of Brexit

[Karmachanic]

56 minutes ago, MoriartyR said:

instead of facing these real, internal issues politicians preferred to try and blame external factors for their maladies,

 

This what most people everywhere do every day.

[mke]

> The Global Shipping Program

has made me stop buying from US sellers on Ebay long time ago - actually more or less from Ebay.

That is OK with me - I am not a collector, so I don't need the stuff anyway.

 

[Jorge]

Hello,

Does anyone have a recent experience with the importing from 3rd countries of small packages into the UK (through a private, unprofessional transaction)?

I would like to know whether the situation has progressed from the chaos, the consequences of which many of us suffered, at Her Majesty´s Customs earlier this year, following the implementation of Brexit.

Thanks in advance for sharing.

[JungleJim]

Over the past month I have sent two ink packets to penfriends in the UK from the US (California). Each ink packet contained 3 sample vials and were packed into a padded envelope 12cm x 18cm with the US Customs form filled out as "Gift" with a total value of USD $3. The first was sent out on 16 March and arrived in Berkshire on 23 March. According to Royal Mail Tracking, the packet spent 2-1/2 hours going from being received at Langley HWDC in Heathrow, through Customs at the International Logistics Processing Centre, and then on to Royal Mail.

 

The second ink packet was in the exact same type of padded envelope with the same US Customs form and was mailed out on 22 March to Caithness Scotland. It arrived on 30 March at the Langley HWDC in Heathrow and spent 9 hours before leaving the International Processing Centre. I assume it was passed on to Royal Mail because all tracking has stopped at that point. It is now 7 April with no Royal Mail updates and my penfriend in Scotland has not yet received the ink packet.

 

Hope this may be of help.

Edited April 7, 2021 by JungleJim
spelling

[Jorge]

15 hours ago, JungleJim said:

Over the past month I have sent two ink packets to penfriends in the UK from the US (California). Each ink packet contained 3 sample vials and were packed into a padded envelope 12cm x 18cm with the US Customs form filled out as "Gift" with a total value of USD $3. The first was sent out on 16 March and arrived in Berkshire on 23 March. According to Royal Mail Tracking, the packet spent 2-1/2 hours going from being received at Langley HWDC in Heathrow, through Customs at the International Logistics Processing Centre, and then on to Royal Mail.

 

The second ink packet was in the exact same type of padded envelope with the same US Customs form and was mailed out on 22 March to Caithness Scotland. It arrived on 30 March at the Langley HWDC in Heathrow and spent 9 hours before leaving the International Processing Centre. I assume it was passed on to Royal Mail because all tracking has stopped at that point. It is now 7 April with no Royal Mail updates and my penfriend in Scotland has not yet received the ink packet.

 

Hope this may be of help.

Thank you very much for your kind feedback.

However, I think that goods declared as "Gift" and a value of just $3.00, are not subject to Customs clearance (unless randomly found "suspicious" . Perhaps inks, being of liquid nature, might be considered as such).

My intention is to send some goodies to my daughter living in London, free, of course, but with an approximate commercial value of $70.00, and my fear is that they get stuck for weeks or months in customs (as already happened to me back in February).

Thanks again and best luck with your second packet so it reaches your friend soon.

[txomsy]

I didn't want to add, 'cos it easily derives into politics.

 

But I've recently been pondering. I do not want to expand much more my FPs, but was recently considering getting a last one. Usually, my first stop was always UK sellers, for FPs, stationary, and Barkleys' mints; sadly, it's been over a year that I do not even look at their listings, though I still keep the links.

 

On the (bonus/dark) side (depending on who looks at it), that has led me to look into some "exotic" sources, and I've finally ordered from amazon.co.jp, to discover it isn't that expensive. Ordered today, the parcel is expected on 19th April. If they deliver, that would -by my standards- be astonishing. (Added: and I'm enjoying Indian leather notebooks like crazy, they're cheap, FP friendly and handsome). And a pity that I "move" my purchases from UK to Japan, India or other places. I'd never thought about it but for Brexit.

 

Pity. A real pity.

[Harish G]

6 hours ago, txomsy said:

I didn't want to add, 'cos it easily derives into politics.

 

But I've recently been pondering. I do not want to expand much more my FPs, but was recently considering getting a last one. Usually, my first stop was always UK sellers, for FPs, stationary, and Barkleys' mints; sadly, it's been over a year that I do not even look at their listings, though I still keep the links.

 

On the (bonus/dark) side (depending on who looks at it), that has led me to look into some "exotic" sources, and I've finally ordered from amazon.co.jp, to discover it isn't that expensive. Ordered today, the parcel is expected on 19th April. If they deliver, that would -by my standards- be astonishing. (Added: and I'm enjoying Indian leather notebooks like crazy, they're cheap, FP friendly and handsome). And a pity that I "move" my purchases from UK to Japan, India or other places. I'd never thought about it but for Brexit.

 

Pity. A real pity.

Quite interesting. Could you provide details of which products are economical to buy in Japan and india along with links?

[txomsy]

Oh, I got a couple of urushi Kuretake brush fountain pens. As I am retaking sketching, I thought it would be nice to use a brush pen, and it being an FP would also help me dispose faster of my ink.

 

I assume that these are cheap "urushi", most likely not even real "urushi" but maybe some kind of syntehtic lacquer, but for the price they promise to be a treat. And I expect (will report if and when they arrive) Amazon to deliver them on time, and plus they take care of customs. Those two pens plus a spare section/brush were in total 70 EUR with post, handling and custons. That's why I don't expect much, but hey, I want them to wear in a pocket for quick sketching on the go!

[txomsy]

They arrived, delivered by DHL, in less than one week. Hassle-free. One up for Japan.

 

I know it is not the fault of British retailers, but, hey, the British government has had a long time to prepare and they knew what was coming: if you set up a border, then you have a border, with all that it implies. That is what I find most puzzling.

 

And it's not something unheard of. I remember when I had to go through extensive customs clearance in the '90s entering from European countries. Even having a car with diplomatic plates and diplomatic status. Which I found OK, by the way, it's your Country, it's your border and it's your decision (plus, the situation wasn't optimal with IRA and all that, either). Never had an issue with that. Fully understandable. But, now, it is not something new. Which is what makes it puzzling for me. And a pity. But, as I said, it's your country and your decision.

[mizgeorge]

3 hours ago, txomsy said:

But, as I said, it's your country and your decision.

I wish!
It might be 'our' country, but for a lot of people it wasn't our decision!!

[Tinjapan]

The idiotic Global Shipping Program stopped me from buying on EBay USA several years ago.  Around that time, sellers had the option of using it.   Contacting several about it, I found that most did not realize the difficulty the GSP caused buyers.  A couple cancelled my order and sent me secret offer allowing me to buy it at the winning price and not pay for GSP.   Others got angry at my request.  

 

Around this time, postage on anything from the States shot up to a minimum of $58., even for the smallest, lightest packages.  If shipped from a seller, the shipping cost was always more than the product.   That ended my shopping from the States.  EBay UK then got most of my business, until they too adopted the GSP.  

 

International shipping has been getting more and more difficult and costly for several years even without Brexit.  Just a new, larger perhaps, mess to deal with.  Not sure if it is their goal, if they even have a goal, but the end result is that very little private international commerce is going to be possible, if at all.

 

 

[sgphototn]

1 minute ago, Tinjapan said:

The idiotic Global Shipping Program stopped me from buying on EBay USA several years ago.  Around that time, sellers had the option of using it.   Contacting several about it, I found that most did not realize the difficulty the GSP caused buyers.  A couple cancelled my order and sent me secret offer allowing me to buy it at the winning price and not pay for GSP.   Others got angry at my request.  

 

Around this time, postage on anything from the States shot up to a minimum of $58., even for the smallest, lightest packages.  If shipped from a seller, the shipping cost was always more than the product.   That ended my shopping from the States.  EBay UK then got most of my business, until they too adopted the GSP.  

 

International shipping has been getting more and more difficult and costly for several years even without Brexit.  Just a new, larger perhaps, mess to deal with.  Not sure if it is their goal, if they even have a goal, but the end result is that very little private international commerce is going to be possible, if at all.

 

 

Another reason I like Free Trade between countries and people rather than money grabs by politicians.

[Tinjapan]

7 minutes ago, sgphototn said:

Another reason I like Free Trade between countries and people rather than money grabs by politicians.

At the fear of getting shut down, try being from where your flag flies and living abroad.  All income is reported to the country you live in AND the one in which you were born.   And, it is our homeland that make that happen.  That is I why I can’t sell cross border.

[MoriartyR]

10 minutes ago, Tinjapan said:

At the fear of getting shut down, try being from where your flag flies and living abroad.  All income is reported to the country you live in AND the one in which you were born.   And, it is our homeland that make that happen.  That is I why I can’t sell cross border.

Are you American, Tinjapan? America is the only country I am aware of that taxes your income when you are not resident or earning income in the country. For that reason a lot of Americans I know who live and work in low tax countries - Singapore, Hong Kong, etc - have been giving up their American citizenship. Either that or they just earn a lot less money than everyone else after tax.

 

[Tinjapan]

GUILTI as charged.  

 

P.S Eritrea, a thuggish dictatorship, is the sole other country that follows this policy.

[Karmachanic]

10 minutes ago, Tinjapan said:

a thuggish dictatorship, is the sole other country that follows this policy

 

Arte sez: Very interesting

[Ergative]

On 4/19/2021 at 1:36 PM, MoriartyR said:

Are you American, Tinjapan? America is the only country I am aware of that taxes your income when you are not resident or earning income in the country. For that reason a lot of Americans I know who live and work in low tax countries - Singapore, Hong Kong, etc - have been giving up their American citizenship. Either that or they just earn a lot less money than everyone else after tax.

 

It depends on where you are and how much you earn. (Source; American living abroad who just filed this year's US tax returns, and read the paperwork very carefully.)

 

f you live in certain countries that have agreements with the US (the UK is one such country), America only taxes income above a certain threshold. I think this year it's about $103k. I *ahem* do not earn that much, so I don't have to pay any US taxes. I just tell them my UK salary, show that it falls below the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion threshold, and send in my paperwork. 

 

I suspect the Americans who give up their citizenship are either earning so much abroad that they're well above the threshold, or else they're in countries that don't have that agreement with the US.

[MoriartyR]

24 minutes ago, Ergative said:

It depends on where you are and how much you earn. (Source; American living abroad who just filed this year's US tax returns, and read the paperwork very carefully.)

 

f you live in certain countries that have agreements with the US (the UK is one such country), America only taxes income above a certain threshold. I think this year it's about $103k. I *ahem* do not earn that much, so I don't have to pay any US taxes. I just tell them my UK salary, show that it falls below the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion threshold, and send in my paperwork. 

 

I suspect the Americans who give up their citizenship are either earning so much abroad that they're well above the threshold, or else they're in countries that don't have that agreement with the US.

It’s when they live in low tax countries. UK income tax rates are similar to the US so it doesn’t make much difference. Countries like Singapore and Hong Kong have income tax rates around 15% on average so paying US tax on that is a massive hit. Expats tend to have higher paid jobs too and for that kind of job those countries are very high paying but also have very high costs for upmarket housing. It means the Americans can’t afford the living standards other nationalities enjoy unless their employers bear the huge cost of equalising their taxes (which means hiring an American costs maybe four times the cost of hiring someone else).

 

[txomsy]

FWIW, USA is not the only one. There are EU countries that do the same, if you are a national abroad you are requested to make a tax statement and declare your earnings in your local country as well.

 

It's very comfy to believe one's an exception and turn one's ire on our preferred target, but most of the time the reasons for demonizing someone are not clear cut no matter what anyone says. That's usually a tell tale of a scammer that wants to fuel our need for immediate reward with simple -but profitable for them- storylines.

 

Or, if you want to look at it in another way, it is very difficult that if one entity (government, company, whatever) comes up with a way to increase their income others will not imitate them quickly. Rarely are we the exceptions we are told.

[AL01]

On 4/19/2021 at 7:08 AM, Tinjapan said:

The idiotic Global Shipping Program stopped me from buying on EBay USA several years ago.  Around that time, sellers had the option of using it.   Contacting several about it, I found that most did not realize the difficulty the GSP caused buyers.  A couple cancelled my order and sent me secret offer allowing me to buy it at the winning price and not pay for GSP.   Others got angry at my request.  

 

Around this time, postage on anything from the States shot up to a minimum of $58., even for the smallest, lightest packages.  If shipped from a seller, the shipping cost was always more than the product.   That ended my shopping from the States.  EBay UK then got most of my business, until they too adopted the GSP.  

 

International shipping has been getting more and more difficult and costly for several years even without Brexit.  Just a new, larger perhaps, mess to deal with.  Not sure if it is their goal, if they even have a goal, but the end result is that very little private international commerce is going to be possible, if at all.

 

 

 

 Many years ago I remember seeing a YouTube video from a prominent electronics/games repair channel in Japan, (different than fountain pens, I know) claiming that the issue happens due to Pitney Bowes, (I believe that's the name of the company that works with the 'Bay on their global shipping program.) Evidently they have a tendency to smash cardboard boxes and open packages only to sloppily repack them.

 

 It's a shame. I don't ship outside of the U.S. for that reason...

 

 ... Although the situation may have changed since then. I am too paranoid to even bother trying the GSP.