Shipping to the EU has become increasingly difficult, and you may have noticed more and more of your favourite small UK stores withdrawing from selling to the EU recently due to the impact of new customs regulations.
We are now obliged to charge 3 Euro, plus another 2 Euro (as of Nov 1st ) per item type to our customers. That means buying a puzzle and a book would now cost an extra 10 Euros in customs charges, on top of shipping and VAT.
As if price increases were not worrying enough, retailers have been required to build their own systems to calculate and collect these new customs charges, as well as collect and report taxes and packaging data for every EU member state. On top of that we are also required to obtain separate licensing and representation for tax and recycling in every individual country we sell to at huge cost in time and money, or risk larges fines and sanctions. For a highly specialised literary shop with Pratchett readers all over the EU, we are facing an outrageously disproportionate amount of work and expense to keep EU shipping viable.
We are a very tiny team here at Emporium HQ – the same people who design our products, take the photographs and write our copy are the same people who do our accounts, make the tea and try to find solutions to these bureaucratic barriers. We’ve taken the best part of a year doing as much as we can at our end, and trying to figure it all out has come at the expense of creating new wares, and at huge cost to our cortisol levels. For the sake of our sanity and being able to prioritise our raisons d’être (making literary knick-knacks, selling books and looking after small children) we just need to draw a line for a while, though we will still be chipping away at it in the background and working with our shipping and software providers with intent to resume EU shipping at some point in the future.
Regarding the EPR and PPWR in light of the social media backlash from small businesses, the EU commission and MEPS have suggested that mistakes have been made and will be reconsidering packaging laws at least for small businesses, but relief seems only to be being considered for businesses within the EU, but we remain hopeful that there will be light at the end of the proverbial tunnel, and the fair trade of art, literature and culture can continue un-stifled. If you feel inclined to support small UK businesses, please consider researching this topic for yourselves and writing to your MPs and MEPs.
Since the United Kingdom left the European Union in 2021, EU residents are required to pay VAT and customs duties charged by the destination county to receive goods imported from the UK, but we are working hard to ensure that the ordering process remains as painless as possible when shipping resumes.
From the 1st of July 2026 the de minimis duty exemption was replaced by a €3 customs charge that will apply to all orders entering the EU up to £135 (€150), and an extra €2 charge as of November 1st 2026. These charges applies to each item in a consignment according to its individual HS classification code (for example, if a package contains a book, a puzzle and a T-shirt, the total customs duty would be €15).
Despite the inevitable increase in costs for our EU customers, we’re aiming to ensure that VAT, customs duties and handling fees will be calculated and payable at checkout, so there’ll be no additional requirements or surprise charges to pay to receive your order for most EU countries.
To enable us to collect charges up front, and ensure smooth passage of your parcels into the EU we’ll be utilising Royal Mail’s Postal Delivered Duties Paid (PDDP) service to ship to 19 participating countries, with more hopefully coming on board in the near future.
France, Italy and Romania have also introduced an additional tax for orders with an item value under £135 (€150):
We currently need to split larger orders due to weight restrictions imposed by the postal service, so please bear in mind that additional duties and handling charges may be levied per package. Please contact us before ordering and we can advise whether your order may be shipped in separate packages.
Our products do not include UK VAT for international customers, so you can be assured that you will not be paying more than you should, and as a literary shop we are happy to report that most EU countries offer greatly reduced rates for books!
However, on your initial visit to our site, prices will be displayed with UK VAT included. To view products without UK VAT please either log in to your account, or enter your delivery address in your basket or at checkout to continue browsing our site with your appropriate prices on display.
PLEASE NOTE: Our orders are sent fully customs compliant, with customs information and declarations provided electronically and on our packages. HOWEVER this does not always prevent customs from issuing erroneous charges. If you believe you have been charged additional fees in error please contact us before paying so we can advise, as once paid these can only be contested with your country’s customs by you.
Finally, we are not experts in global tax charges so for peace of mind we recommend consulting your own country’s government and postal service’s information on import tariffs and fees for receiving goods from the UK!
