Brexit

[Naimaste]

Does anybody know what the aftereffect of Brexit could be on non commercial buying and selling of hi fi between us and Britain?
I am thinking of EBay and buying from/selling to via specialised forums like PFM?
Will there be potentially duty at maybe 20% on high value items if Customs intercept.?
When would such a thing commence, and will hard or soft Brexit determine any timelines.
I had not thought of such until recently and am thinking to buy some hi value items now.
What do ye all think?
John

[Adrian]

Who knows what's gonna happen? However we are not going to wait long to find out.

I believe there will be customs charges, the boys & girls working in the Portlaoise sorting depot have become very very adept at intercepting parcels and adding charges.

There is a official website which lists the rate of charges for importing goods outside the EU.

https://www.revenue.ie/en/importing-veh ... he-eu.aspx

A few years ago I bought a camera from Japan. Cost of postage was added and then VAT and excise duties applied.

In addition because the Item was over 1000 euro (for importation might be as low as 500e?), I could not go online and make payment myself. It had to be done via a freight importer, I used Bartley Freight, who has access to the Revenue system. Once I gave him payment and the item number he was able to log in and clear the customs paperwork.

I can't remember exactly, but the item was around 1100 euro, by the time it was all done I think it cost me another 500 euro to get to my door.

Some say if the item is below 100 quid An Post don't bother charging import duties. However I paid 21 euro on a small package from the USA a few months ago. Total item price including shipping was 81 euro, then add 21 euro for importation.

When looking online I filter out anything from outside the EU. In November I'll most probably be filtering out the UK too.

I just use a 50% mark up as a general rule of thumb.

Buy your Harbeths / Spendors / UK gear now.... because if a hard Brexit really does happen they won't be selling many in the EU in future.

[james]

I suppose it will also mean the ending of using the UK amazon with free postage to Ireland. (By the way there is an option on the German amazon to show the menus -- not the listings -- in English).

Parcelmotel will probably die too ..

[Fran]

All the signs are for a hard brexit, the EU won't bottle it, so the only other way out would be for the UK to delay or something..... and they are unlikely i think to do that. So yes, time to develop links with France and Germany for hifi - and there's lots and lots of stuff there at good prices. Its an opportunity!!! Other than the language barrier, post from continental EU is no dearer than the UK.

Mind you, it'll take a while to build up the checks.

[Naimaste]

Fran
I would have thought that cheap deliveries from Europe were facilitated by the UK freight network and that such would cease post Brexit.
John

[Ivor]

Fran
I would have thought that cheap deliveries from Europe were facilitated by the UK freight network and that such would cease post Brexit.
John

Some EU suppliers to irish companies are now waiving shipping costs to secure new customers. Nothing as big as hifi but still. This can works in Irelands favour.

[hudo]

What about warranties?
Im guessing we'll not have to pay customs and taxes if we send something to UK for repair, at least i hope ...

[tony]

We have our own brexit thread! I have been over twice this year to change out both cars. BJ in charge and talk of changing the VRT rates next year for diesels accelerated my move. Seems I am not the only one. UK imports are I believe circa 50% of the market this year.
What a mess but as Fran optimistically suggests it is an 'opportunity'. Sad really as it is often easier to call the UK if you have queries on things.
Hope my Quads hold out until they rejoin!

[Naimaste]

We have our own brexit thread!

Indeed. On a positive note we can look forward to the return of day trips to Holyhead for a tenner and duty free shopping!

[Satrus]

All the signs are for a hard brexit, the EU won't bottle it, so the only other way out would be for the UK to delay or something..... and they are unlikely i think to do that. So yes, time to develop links with France and Germany for hifi - and there's lots and lots of stuff there at good prices. Its an opportunity!!! Other than the language barrier, post from continental EU is no dearer than the UK.

Mind you, it'll take a while to build up the checks.

Couldn't agree more! It's time Ireland stood on its own and abandoned its dependency on the U.K. for once and for all. Dealing with the U.K. is not very smart in my book due to its overvalued currency, even if this effect has diminished somewhat in the past while. I would far rather deal with Germany, Netherlands, France etc. than pay over the top sterling influenced prices. I am hoping it will be good for Cloney Audio too who can source items such as SONUS FABER and many other brands directly from source. Being obliged to deal with Absolute Sounds is nothing short of farcical!!! Of course, if like me you are an aficionado of SME or other British brands, you will just have to take the punishment. For anyone wishing to buy vinyl, sacd etc., I can heartily recommend www.jpc.de in Germany. Nice people, great prices and very affordable shipping rates to Ireland. I have dealt with jpc for more than 20 years and they are really nice people, recommended to me by UME's vinyl specialist back in the late 90s. For items that have Irish distribution, then of course your local vinyl dealer should be your first stop, as is my practice.

Some years ago, I inquired about a then newly launched Mark Levinson integrated amplifier. The amplifier was almost €1,500 cheaper in the Netherlands than in the U.K. taking currency conversions into account. There was no dealer for ML here at the time but amazingly ML's website now shows ML representation for Ireland in a small midlands' town, if I recall correctly ??? I didn't buy the ML and instead purchased a VITUS R-100. People need to take advantage of European Union membership and shed the shackles of always being dependent on the U.K.! For God's sake, even Slovenia has local representation for all of the major high end brands while we still suffer under the yoke of U.K. dependency and its overvalued currency. I really hope that Cloneys too can take maximum advantage out of the U.K. leaving the EU and pass it on to its local customer base.