VAT FREE Group buys.

[RougeRambo]

Heya, i live in jersey channel islands, and currently for any order under £200 we do not pay any import tax, meaning i save 20% on anything ordered online or from abroad.
Orders above that limit are susceptible to 5% GST but this can be avoided by multiple orders.

Anway having never done group buys before im a little nervous about doing one, and dont really know all the organizational points. But if there is demand for me to do one then i will happily do one. I would rather start with a small scale limited run order and work from there.

Depending on size of order and effort involved i may take a small 2-5% commision which is still far less than the Import tax payed.

So essentially, is there interest? and what would be a good thing for a small scale first group buy? and can someone give me some setting up advice? I have the capital to invest if need be couple of grand in the bank, but would rather start small, need to get a paypal opened up too, as whilst i am happy to use bank transfer on one-one buys i would like some kind of insurance on larger scale.

[damorgue]

Shipments from certain islands are controlled extra thoroughly in customs because of this.Tax has to be payed at customs instead unless you get it by as a gift or something.

[off]

Paypal is ensuring you get bent over.

on any conversion (EUR->GBP, GBP->EUR, USD->GBP, CNY->GBP) they charge quite a bit; for example a £12 payment just cost E16,40 instead of E14,90 (taking 10% on that right there).
and look up sixty's groupbuy for more inspiration on the sweethearts at paypal.


Don't have much of an alternative for you, but do recall someone mentioning some, afaik in that thread. GL though!

[Half-Saint]

In Europe there's a lovely thing called Single Euro Payment Area or SEPA for short. It means that we can transfer euros between bank accounts fast and cheap. Screw paypal!!!

[off]

Thankfully yes, sadly GB said 'screw euros' afaik!

[Charlie_Brown_MX]

A public post on a public forum offering to help people avoid tax and/or VAT seems like a really, really stupid idea. If you or the recipient/s get caught HMRC are going to take a *lot* more than the few quid you save…

[webwit]

Well is it? IANAL, but wikipedia points to this. If free trade means the same as between other EU countries and no taxes are paid, then it's perfectly legal. But I have no idea of how it works in reality.

[RougeRambo]

It's not really illegal, all i am doing is buying something at a cheaper price then sending it to you.
Cant see how it is more illegal than if i bought some cheaper goods whilst on holiday then shipped a load of them to my friends.

[Half-Saint]

Thankfully yes, sadly GB said 'screw euros' afaik!

SEPA includes all EU Member States as well as Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Monaco

[scope2k]

Thankfully yes, sadly GB said 'screw euros' afaik!

SEPA includes all EU Member States as well as Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Monaco

If both bank accounts run on EUR it's fine - if one of them is on GBP or something else, the bank will rape you with conversion charges.

[webwit]

SEPA is great for me because it's free and I can transfer money online with only two fields to identify the recipient account. To the UK is easy too, but from the UK is a mess. They have to call their bank, talk to someone, fill in a form, get raped, etc.

[off]

Thankfully yes, sadly GB said 'screw euros' afaik!

SEPA includes all EU Member States as well as Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Monaco

If both bank accounts run on EUR it's fine - if one of them is on GBP or something else, the bank will rape you with conversion charges.

This is what I meant.

[RougeRambo]

anyway, i am happy to do this, if you want in, say so.

[RougeRambo]

need a good safe transfer method though

[Charlie_Brown_MX]

It's not really illegal, all i am doing is buying something at a cheaper price then sending it to you.
Cant see how it is more illegal than if i bought some cheaper goods whilst on holiday then shipped a load of them to my friends.

If it’s within the EU then there’s no VAT to worry about, so your offer will only add your fee and extra shipping costs to any transaction.

If it’s from outside the EU and it’s genuinely a gift, that’s fine (though is subject to VAT if it’s over £40 in value). If, however, you buy it and then sell it on to me, it’s certainly not a gift and one/both of us has evaded VAT. The difference here is that you’re reselling the goods, *not* gifting them. That’s when it steps into muddy legal waters and becomes potentially risky. Dissembling by claiming you’re just “sending” on the goods won’t protect you; the intent (however well-intentioned) of your original post is pretty clear.

Feel free to ignore this advice. My only motivation is to try and help you and others on this forum avoid potential trouble.

[RougeRambo]

look, I am happy to facilitate this, if you want to do a group buy let me know, if you want to order something as an individual pm me. This doesn't really benefit me in any way.

[Kurk]

Be careful here: If you import goods from the Channel Islands to "ordinary" EU countries you have pay VAT if the value is above something like 22 EUR.