European orders

IYW · September 29, 2011

What is your experience regarding taxes and custom duties when European clients order prints and merchandises?

rainforest1155 · September 30, 2011

I can't provide you with hands on details, but just some general thoughts from a German perspective. I don't have much experience with orders from SmugMug so take my guesses with a grain of salt.
With the regular customs declaration on orders, the smaller ones should move through customs just fine. I'm guessing there may be random checks and even a smaller order may get opened. That might require the recipient to pick it up from his local customs office with some proof of payment to verify the order value.

Larger orders may be subject to customs / import tax at customs and might as well require the recipient to pick it up from customs.

If an order isn't sent via USPS, but rather FedEx or UPS, I think they usually handle customs on their own and just send the recipient a bill if any customs / import tax is due.

Again, the above is not SmugMug specific information and just my experience in Germany with orders outside of Germany.

Sebastian

Seamus · October 1, 2011

I live in Ireland and haven't had to pay customs duty for prints yet. There is a minimum value that isn't subject to excise duty and most print sales fall under this limit, in my experience. As Seb said, this isn't SmugMug specific information and just my experience in placing orders from Ireland.

IYW · October 4, 2011

Thanks both of you. When a client (Austria, Germany) orders a canvas or T-shirts, custom may have a look into it, and it will depend on, if it is a personal or business order.

European orders

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