Fish4Flies operates and dispatches flies from within the UK to fly fishermen around the globe. This has operated well for many years, but since Brexit, both the EU and UK government's have made some bad trade decisions which penalise both EU customers and UK businesses.
As it stands, our EU customers have a worse deal than anyone else in the globe, having no customs free allowance for individuals which are enjoyed in many countries even without a trade deal!
Fish4Flies does not believe our customers should be penalised in this way, and we have decided to take action ourselves. We are therefore now offering a customs offset policy for deliveries to all EU countries to counteract this customs charge.
How it works
Each EU country has it's own customs rates. We will apply an equivalent discount at checkout to counteract any customs charged upon receipt of goods, so that the original order value is the price you should pay. (Note there may still be a handling charge applied to imported goods).
What other alternatives have we looked at?
An alternative which we have decided against, is to use the IOSS scheme, which allows Fish4Flies to collect these customs charges up front within our checkout. This costs Fish4Flies a substantial amount to setup and maintain, and increases the prices of our flies due to customs still being charged within the checkout.
This method cost EU customers more, as they are still paying customs but up front; all it allows them to do is avoid any handling charges. Seeing as this costs everyone more overall, we think applying a discount to offset the customs charge is the best solution for everyone.
Does this mean I avoid paying customs?
No, you still have to pay customs and potential handling fees upon importing your goods from Fish4Flies. What it does mean is that the price you paid Fish4Flies plus any customs charges you may have made should be equal to or less than the original price of the goods prior to this discount.
There may also be handling charges on top. These are not standardised per country, and we are not offering any scheme to offset this. Be aware that if you order regularly, you may wish to group your orders into larger orders to reduce the quantity of these handling fees (should you be charged them).
I didn't get charged a customs fee, can I still keep my discount?
Countries within the EU should be charging a customs fee. In reality we are aware that some EU countries are not applying charges for all orders at the moment due to volume. Fish4Flies takes no responsibility for how customs charges and additional fees are applied after dispatch.
If no charges have been applied, you are welcome to keep the discount which Fish4Flies has issued (it may cover a future handling fee!). The paying of customs remains solely your responsibility, and there is the possibility that payment could be requested by customs at a later date.