Brexit and ABUniverse UK & EU Update Salutations Crinkly Kiddos! You may have noticed the ABU UK & EU team working very hard to get EU operations back up and running after the UK’s final stages in departing the European Union (aka Brexit). A lot of hard work was done from our European headquarters and many nappies fell casualty to the team’s valiant efforts, but we all got there together, in one piece, and mostly dry nonetheless!
Most of the wrinkles in our systems got ironed out, we got all the gremlins chased away, but the whereabouts of the SOGG monster have yet to be uncovered so that means you guys are still soggy as ever! Below are a few changes we've made regarding shipping and fees associated therein for our European markets. Introducing DHL Of all the struggles we experienced during the transition, one of the biggest we encountered was DPD’s shipping arrangements with the EU and the extended suspension of service after the transition period concluded. We held discussions with a number of potential replacement shipping services and DHL came to the forefront, offering us reliable shipping options to both our UK and EU customers. DHL also retained many of the same features and services our customers currently enjoy like 1 hour time slot notifications. In the future we hope to bring premium ‘Express’ services online and provide shipping to DHL locations across their network and Packstations in Germany -features we got asked for *a lot*! Customs & VAT… Uuhh.. What happened to the exemption? Leaving the EU means arrangements around customs and VAT have changed. The majority of packages leaving us are exempt from customs charges but are now subject to VAT. The UK has a 0% VAT scheme on incontinence products which benefited many of our EU customers. Now that the UK has left the EU this scheme no longer applies on orders going to the EU. VAT will be charged in line with local regulations and will be collected by DHL prior to or on delivery of your parcel.
There are some minor variations where certain countries deviate from single market rules but mostly these apply to textiles.
VAT exemptions are unchanged for our UK customers. Northern Ireland For our customers in Northern Ireland, DHL regards this service as domestic and service has resumed as normal. Carts, Zones & Shipping Costs DHL splits Europe into multiple zones and shipping costs are calculated based on your cart total. **A summary of the zones and the costs are shown below:
Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg and The Netherlands.
Austria and France
Sweden, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Finland and Denmark
Poland, Norway, Hungary, Greece, Czech Republic and Switzerland 
The Future We know this is a lot of change and, like many businesses, we’re still getting used to these new ways of operating. Your faithful ABU team continues ensuring we are resilient and our products are available in quick and convenient ways for our customers across the UK and Europe. We continue to bring more of our products to online markets such as Amazon, increasing the range of services your diapers can be delivered through. We continue to support our extended family of re-sellers across Europe, ensuring choice is priority as to the means of which you receive our great diapers and cool clothing. Finally, we are already exploring what is needed to collect VAT fees at the point of sale for countries we sell to the most, helping cut down shipping times even further and reduce excess handling fees. Questions? If there’s a question or concern we haven’t yet addressed here, please reach out to the Customer Service team at abucares.com where the cutest customer service kiddos in the industry await to help! A big thank you to all our customers new or returning for sticking with us, we look forward to seeing you all again soon! Stay safe and keep on crinkling! -The ABUniverse C.S. Team |
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