IMPORTING OR EXPORTING LOW-VALUE GOODS

By UKPWorldwide

Ecommerce businesses both in the UK and the EU have been perplexed by the challenges of moving goods in and out of the UK. Although Brexit was over two years ago, it is still adding challenges for businesses with international customers. UKP Worldwide (UKPW) have been in the market of international shipping for over 20 years and in this time the landscape/market has changed considerably, however, it’s in the last two years that we’ve noticed our customers feeling most confused.

There are so many options available for importing and exporting goods depending on the journey required, if time is of the essence, then air is by far the quickest way to travel but is often costly, whereas sea may be a cheaper option, especially for copious quantities, but is also slowest. If goods are moving within the EU/UK then road is often the preferred choice - it’s fairly quick and considerably cheaper than air.

With the numerous forms of transport come the various services available, as well as the value and the type of goods to take into consideration. Do you know what options are available for low-value goods being imported into the UK from the EU or exported from the UK to the EU? If you are importing or exporting low-value goods, you could declare more than one shipment in a single declaration, not only reducing time but also costs.

With this type of service, there is no limit on the number of items that can be cleared in one declaration. Instead, importers can clear unlimited items up to the value of £135 per consignee, and exporters can clear goods up to the value of €150 per consignee without having to pay duty on the goods. This can save ecommerce businesses thousands of pounds in duty.

Our customer in Germany is one of the largest transport platforms in the EU for ecommerce business and has been in the market of transporting goods internationally for several years, despite their knowledge to ensure they continued to provide the best service, they chose to have a partner on the ground in the importing country to minimise the hurdles that may arise.

Not all importers have the capacity to regularly clear thousands of ecommerce parcels. However, this is where we, UKPW, can help. We have many customs authorisations including BIRDS, making us one of the few companies in the UK to be fully BIRDS authorised and AEO accredited to go with our very own ETSF (External Temporary Storage Facility), as well as vast experience in IOSS processes allowing us to handle imports and exports from start to finish, whether clearing at the border or our ETSF.

Combine this with the flexibility of offering our customers a range of international ecommerce solutions for shipping both high-value and lowvalue goods we hope you’ll want to partner with UKPW.