A temporary customs duty of 3 euros will apply to all e-commerce parcels from outside the EU with a value of less than 150 euros. The duty is a...
  • autonomousPunkEnglish
    1·
    7 days ago

    From the article:

    Critics say this trend leads to unfair competition for European online shops and increases the risk of fraud, such as undervaluation, counterfeiting and non-compliant products.

    Critics of what? Surely they must mean critics of the previous status quo, not critics of the new policy. The new policy gives EU shops an advantage over non-EU shops.

    “If you have eight different items in your parcel ordered online, this tax will amount to 24 euros in total. In some cases, the value of the tax will exceed the value of the parcel.”

    Oof. That’s harsh for online shoppers. But as an offline-only consumer, I welcome this new policy. It’s all a swindle anyway. Even when customs duty was /zero/ they would charge a flat “clearance fee” of €10. My first imported item was worth <€10 but I was forced to pay €10 for the “priviledge” of the courrier dealing with customs on my behalf. WTF… I got fleeced. My first online purchase became my last.

    So now I buy everything offline, locally. Some items I can no longer find in local shops. When I ask for an item expected to be in a shop, shop owners are not embarrassed to say “get it online”. Went to a battery shop. Their sole trade is to just sell batteries. I used to be able to say “I need a battery for laptop model XYZ”. They would order it and call me when the order is ready for pick-up. No longer. Now they say go online. If you need a non-standard battery, you’re fucked in Brussels.

    Maybe this new law will help the offline market improve.

    • myrmidexOPMAEnglish
      1·
      7 days ago

      he new policy gives EU shops an advantage over non-EU shops.

      Excellent point! The critics rage against more regulation I reckon.

      I don’t understand that not more is taxed like this. Chinese cars for example: EU complains that their automobile sector is in decline, but allow the cheap Chinese brands. Same for other industries that are in decline, there are enough of them.

      It’s a shame stores are so blatant about their coming demise, sending their customers to the more convenient alternative. Not much to be done I guess, seems an irreversible trend.