Selling from Europe to the UK: less expensive than you think!

The United Kingdom is renowned for its extensive breakfast traditions, dry humor… and its booming e-commerce sector. It stands as the third-largest market for online marketplaces worldwide, representing more online shoppers than all European countries combined.

Given this, it seems a logical destination to sell your products, especially considering that Britons are big spenders in e-commerce. To give you an idea: in 2021, they spent €250 billion in e-commerce, nearly three times as much as Germany and 25 times as much as Belgium!

Since Brexit in 2021, however, e-commerce to and from the United Kingdom has become more complex. Due to new regulations, many European retailers are hesitant to export to the UK, despite its attractive large market and reduced competition. With this blog article, we aim to reassure you that the extra costs in 2024 are quite manageable.

2021-2023 : Brexit Chaos

Immediately after Brexit, many European retailers withdrew from the UK. The reason: new administrative procedures, tax obligations, and customs formalities for anyone wishing to sell to British consumers. Since then, there has been more regulation regarding VAT collection, and import costs of at least €135 must be paid. Additionally, an administrative fee must be paid for each shipped package to get it imported into the UK.

It was dubbed absolute “Brexit chaos” in the media, and we felt the same, as logistics partners imposed exorbitant prices: they charged an additional fee ranging from €15 to €35 per package, depending on the consumer value. This was on top of the normal shipping costs of €6 to €10, as applicable in the rest of Europe. When factoring in the numerous hidden costs (such as product returns), it’s understandable why most European retailers withdrew from the UK.

After the storm comes sunshine

That was the situation a few years ago. In the meantime, we have accumulated much more knowledge and have in-house technologies to minimize the administrative impact. Additionally, we have partnered with a British logistics provider.

What does this mean for you? From now on, we can not only handle the bureaucracy but also ship your package to the United Kingdom at standard rates from our warehouse in Merksem. And the delivery times? Just a few extra days.

In short, thanks to these developments, the largest e-commerce market is within reach for you again. If you have any questions or if you’re interested in selling your products in the United Kingdom (for example, via Amazon UK), let us know, and we’ll see what we can do for you.

DISTRILINK® is a full-service E-Commerce Accelerator that focuses on (inter)national companies who want to start and/or scale up their online retail business. Headquartered in Belgium (Antwerp), we have our own warehouse and fulfilment solution, so we can fully unburden our clients in order to thrive on marketplaces and webshops. With more than 20 years of experience of retail, from both the agency and manufacturer side, we know how to turn your brand into an online powerhouse.

CONTACT:

Steven Van Den Ouweland (Co-founder)
steven@distrilink.be
+32 3 808 03 11