Brexshit

[T4920]

On the subject of Brexit, from an IH business point of view, what was the biggest ramification that came about as a result of it?
And if any, what were the positives?

@Giles @Alex

[Giles]

Overnight, we did not just ship a package to The EU, we had to export it. So although there is a free trade agreement between The EU and Japan and a similar one between The UK and Japan, all non-UK-produced goods attract 12% duty, so upon entry into The EU, our shipments were subject to duty and also VAT on the sum of the declared price plus the duty. So we either shipped to EU and let the customer deal with that shit (something they had not had to do before) or ship and pay the duty and the tax ourselves, in both cases with the high probability that the shipping company would also charge us, or the customer additional "handling" fees. We elected to do the latter and shield the customer from the grief. Then if a customer needs to return the goods, there is no sensible way that we can claim a refund for the tax, the duty or additional fees. The single worst example being a customer who ordered 2 pairs of Wesco boots and returned both pairs - revenue zero, cost of sale €500.

No positives at all.

[T4920]

@Giles that sounds awful!
I assume that's how/why IH Germany came about, to serve the EU market whilst circumnavigating these export fees?

[Giles]

In part yes.