Selling to the EU? The Non-Boring Guide.

The beginning, the Tax and the safety regulations.

A few people have asked me about how I set up this website for EU sales. Or that they would like to sell their products to our European neighbours, but they don’t know where to start.

“The rules and regulations are too complicated”.  I am calling this The Scale of Faffery and will be scoring from 1 being easy peasy, to 10 which is stupidly hard or impossible for my small business brain.

I thought it might be useful to write down my journey, with a breakdown about how I did it, how much it costs, who I partnered with and how much faff is involved for each step…to give you an idea and help you decide if it’s something you would like to pursue.

So, buckle up...if you are anything like me and you know nothing about sending a parcel into the EU post Brexit, there is a lot to think about. This is just how I did it. This is not to be seen as legal advice. Rules and regulations may change at any time.

This website.

First things first, I made this website with Shopify. I wanted to use Shopify (after using Etsy, Big Cartel and Squarespace) because it’s set up for selling, inventory and commerce and to some degree, it is cheaper than Etsy fees. Etsy fees can feel like a crippling burden sometimes.

Shopify is a fixed monthly fee, so you are committed whether you sell or not. Etsy is relatively cheap to list items, but expensive when you actually get sales.

Shopify basic is £25p/m plus transaction fees if not a Shopify payment (£72 cheaper if you pay yearly). Etsy fees are 15-20% in my experience.

So, if you are taking more than £2,000 a year on Etsy from regular, returning customers, you might be better off selling from your own website.

Ultimately, I chose Shopify as a web builder because it seemed easier/cheaper to design a site that did everything I wanted it to and to set it up for exporting to Europe. Better than Squarespace or Big Cartel for me anyway. Talking about the differences between web builders is a whole other story for another time.

Scale of Faffery for building a new website... Okay faff for me, because I like doing website stuff like building pages, making clickable menus, learning a tiny bit of code. 5/10. But, it did take a while. Shopify has a free trial or £1 p/m for the first three months. Well worth doing.

Let's begin with the E.U. stuff...

There are three big bits of admin to get you thinking. 

1. How to deal with sales taxes. 

2. Getting a representative for General Product Safety Regulations. 

3. The Environmental packaging laws.

I’m going to deal with the first two in this blog.

How I Took My Shopify Store Into the EU.

Expanding back to the European Union has been a dream of mine for ages. But whether that is just romantic nostalgia, or a valid opportunity is the big question. I want to be real here: the paperwork can be intimidating. Between VAT, customs, and new safety regulations, it’s enough to make any small business stick to domestic shipping. I have spent hours reading, thinking and Googling and I still get overwhelmed with it. I hope this blog breaks it down for you as a starting point for you. 

I decided to partner my  Shopify with the EAS Project, to get set up for EU sales and I want to pull back the curtain on how I handled two of the biggest hurdles: IOSS and GPSR.

1. The Sales Tax Logistics: What is IOSS? 

When you send a parcel into the EU, each country has their own import duties and VAT thresholds.

Simply put: IOSS is a system that allows you to collect the correct EU VAT (tax) right at your checkout. (Up to £150. Over £150 it's the Buyer's Responsibility: Your customer will be responsible for paying the import VAT, customs duties, and a courier handling fee directly to the carrier before the package is delivered.)

• Before IOSS: Your customer pays for the item, the package hits the border, and the customer gets hit with a surprise bill for tax and "handling fees" before they can collect it.

• With IOSS: The customer pays the tax to you at checkout. You ship the package with your IOSS number, and it sails through customs with no extra charges for the buyer.

I use EAS Project to manage this on my website. They calculate the rates and file the returns, so I don't have to become an international tax expert overnight and customers don’t get a surprise fee to pay to get their parcel at their end. 

IOSS with EAS is €19.90 (£17.00) a month. 15 orders/month€1.50 per additional IOSS order.

If you are using a marketplace like Etsy or eBay etc. You can use their IOSS number for free (included with their fees). They take the tax from the customer at the checkout. Just add their IOSS number to your royal mail (or other courier) website and you are good to go.

That’s the taxes sorted out.

Scale of Faffery. Very easy 2/10 faff. 

2. The Legal Side: What is GPSR?

This is the newer kid on the block. The General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR) is a set of rules ensuring that everything sold in the EU is safe and traceable.

Simply put: If you are selling to the EU from outside, you must have a Responsible Person (an EU Representative) based inside the EU. Their job is to be the point of contact for authorities if there is a safety issue with your product.

How I handle it:

• EU Representative: I use EAS Project as my official EU Rep. They act as that "Responsible Person" on my behalf.

• Labeling: I make sure I put a note in the parcels (and my website) clearly listing the contact details for both me and my EU Rep.

• Risk Assessment: I keep basic documentation proving my products meet safety standards. I have pottery data sheets saved in Google docs.

Setting this up on Shopify was surprisingly straightforward because of the integration with EAS. I had a facetime meeting to discuss my options and they were very helpful.

GPSR with EAS is priced based on number of product types *. I pay €199 (approx £170) per year for one product type (decorative ceramics).

*Product type, not individual products. I can sell all my funny animals, as long as they are functionally decorative and not for food use. If I made ceramic mugs for drinking, that would be a second 'type' (food contact materials).

That's it. Take a minute. Let it all sink in. Well done for getting this far. There's a lot of info here.  But this is the easy bit! Get yourself ready for Part 2...the Environmental Packaging regulations!

Review

Price Breakdown:

Website/selling platform: Shopify £25 p/m plus transaction fees.  Marketplace fees.

IOSS €19.90 (£17.00) monthly with EAS, or included for free with a marketplace like Etsy. 

GPSR €199 (£170) annually.

Overall Score on The Scale of Faffery 7/10. moderate amount of faff, because I did a lot of reading first. Actual onboarding of EAS onto website, 3 days.  2/10. Easy faff.

Contact EAS

Wait, what about those weird codes? (The "HS" bit)

You might hear people talking about "HS Codes" or "Commodity Codes." If you’re selling your own work, you’ll need to get used to these. Think of an HS Code as a universal language for customs officers. It’s a 6-to-10 digit number that tells officials exactly what’s in your box so they don’t have to guess.Why they matter: If you don't include an HS code, a customs agent might have to stop your parcel to figure out what it is. That means delays, potential extra fees, or your lovely ceramic creature getting sent back to you.

My Code: For my decorative animals, I use code 6913 (Statuettes and other ornamental ceramic articles).

Pro Tip: You can look up the right code for your specific items on the official government website. Just type in "what is a [your product] made of?" and it will guide you. Once you have your number, save it! You’ll need to write it on your customs form every single time you ship abroad.

One last thing…! Get your EORI number.

An EORI (Economic Operator Registration and Identification) number is essentially your business's "customs passport." Since Brexit, it has become mandatory for UK-based businesses to have one if they are moving physical goods across the border between Great Britain and the EU.

Do you need one?

 * Yes: If you are a business exporting your ceramics to customers in the EU. Without it, your parcels may be delayed, held, or even returned by customs.

 * No: If you only sell digital products (like a PDF pattern) or are sending non-commercial items for personal use (like a one-off gift to a friend). 

The Details

 * Format: For Great Britain, it starts with GB followed by 12 digits (often your VAT number + 000).

 * Cost: Applying is free via the official UK government website.

.Along with your IOSS setup, having a valid EORI number ensures your customs declarations are processed smoothly. If you ever use a courier (like DHL, UPS, or Royal Mail) to ship your ceramics, they will ask for your EORI number to clear the goods through EU customs.

That's it for now, I swear. Take a break, have a biscuit.

Then move onto Part 2. The Environmental regulations.

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