Barrister & Mann - sold in Europe ?

Barrister & Mann, any shop that sells them in Europe yet ?

Looking to expand my collection, since I only own 14 B&M soaps  

I need 6 more, at least 4 from the Latha line.

Would be nice to avoid high shipping and especially the tax guys, as they attack everything from the US, even if a friend ships it as a gift.....

How can someone put an import tax when an item is posted as a gift? How they estimate its value? Do they open the package or ask you in the post office about the item? This makes no sense to me.

Barrister & Mann, any shop that sells them in Europe yet ?

Looking to expand my collection, since I only own 14 B&M soaps  

I need 6 more, at least 4 from the Latha line.

Would be nice to avoid high shipping and especially the tax guys, as they attack everything from the US, even if a friend ships it as a gift.....

You have me beat and B&M is my favorite soap, which I use about 5 days a week.

How can someone put an import tax when an item is posted as a gift? How they estimate its value? Do they open the package or ask you in the post office about the item? This makes no sense to me.

Because the times I have been sent something, the parcel has been full of other stuff too, making it a high value package thus the need to state an amount of what the shipped stuff is worth, in case the parcel should be lost in transit.

You understand it better now, my friend  

And in case you wonder why I don't just buy 3 or 4 soaps at a time and stating the value to a very low amount to avoid tax and customs - there is a fee involved as soon as the custom just glance at the aprcel, that fee is $25, then they charge 27% of the stated value of the parcel on top of that.

If you don't state a value, the parcel can be hold by the custom until you can prove how much the shipped goods are worth.

This rule applies to all EU countries, in order to avoid 'unfair trade competition'

Otherwise we would buy all our goods in the US, because everything is cheape in the US than in Europe, even with shipping included.

And in case you wonder why I don't just buy 3 or 4 soaps at a time and stating the value to a very low amount to avoid tax and customs - there is a fee involved as soon as the custom just glance at the aprcel, that fee is $25, then they charge 27% of the stated value of the parcel on top of that.

That is ridiculous, that's all I have to say about that.

And in case you wonder why I don't just buy 3 or 4 soaps at a time and stating the value to a very low amount to avoid tax and customs - there is a fee involved as soon as the custom just glance at the aprcel, that fee is $25, then they charge 27% of the stated value of the parcel on top of that.

That is ridiculous, that's all I have to say about that.

It is indeed.

Glad I Live in Puerto Rico then!! (US Commonwealth and we use USPS)

I don't understand the shipping rates from Europe to the US either. Are postal rates and courier options country specific? I checked shipping with several different artisans and merchants there and the rates are either very low or very high. For example, if ordering direct from Saponificio Varesino in Italy, the shipping is around $19 for one soap, and stays around that price for 4 or 5 soaps. If ordering from MdC direct in France the shipping is also around $19 or $20. But if I order from Shaving.ie out of Ireland, the shipping is around the same as US artisans and merchants, and even cheaper than many. I can order 1 soap and pay about $5 shipping. Another merchant with very low shipping is Connaught Shaving located in the United Kingdom. I can order something lightweight like a razor head and pay around $2.00 shipping, and the same for samples. If I order 1 soap I usually pay around $4.00. I just added a jar of 100ml Valobra to my cart to check. It cost $4.00 for 1 jar, and only $4.80 for 2 jars, and $5.40 for 3 jars. Those are really cheap shipping prices. If I buy $90 or more the shipping is free. Gifts & Care is another merchant in Europe, located in Spain I believe. There shipping isn't too bad but it's higher than the previous two mentioned. And one last example is Panna Crema, which is also located in Italy. There shipping is around $20 for one soap from what I've read, which isn't too bad considering the weight I suppose, but it's still a lot higher than Connaught and Shaving.ie. At Connaught Shaving I added a 200ml glass jar of Meissner-Tremonia to my cart and it's only $6.15 shipping. I added a 2nd 200ml jar and the shipping went up to $8.70. That's much heavier than the Nuavia soap with jar, and still less than half the price to ship.

So what is the reason for all these different shipping prices? Are they using different couriers? Do some countries have to pay taxes or other fees that other countries don't?

So what is the reason for all these different shipping prices? Are they using different couriers? Do some countries have to pay taxes or other fees that other countries don't?

I don't have all the answers, but some factors are:

* Handling time and packing material costs: Maybe it takes the same time to pack a 200 gram item as it does 1 kg, and the box sizes might be the same. Also, are you getting a box or a padded envelope?
* Frequency of carrier movements, some place out in woop woop might need a specific truck/plane/ship for the mail, whereas a very frequent route might allow for an arrangement with an airline to just cram parcels in whatever free space they have.
* Different countries pay their employees different amounts, maybe the carriers have different fuel costs depending on subsidies and so on.
* Some vendors might get bulk discounts on their shipping rates or have some other arrangement (flat rates).
* Shipping costs might sometimes be partially built into the item price.

I think Europe has too many regulations, tariffs, fees and taxes to make it worthwhile for most U. S. based artisan soap makers to bother trying to sell in European markets.