Hello everyone

I notice its been some time since our last blog post, so I thought I had better update you all on how things have changed for orders, mainly how EU orders have now changed but also a few points for our UK and "rest of world" customers as well. As of January the first this year the UK has officially ceased to be a member of the European Union, which brings a whole new selection of issues for us, and of course for our customers. I'll try to keep it brief and to the point!

Orders which are destined to be delivered to any of the remaining EU member states (hopefully you know who you are!) will no longer be subject to VAT (UK sales tax of 20%) at the checkout. While at first this seems like a bargain please be aware that depending on your own country's import rules you may be charged (usually by the delivery agent on behalf of your own government) customs processing fees, import duty and your local equivalent of VAT (called IVA, BTW, TVA and a variety of other names throughout the EU). Local VAT may also be charged on the processing fees and import duty as well, so I'd highly recommend checking what you should expect to pay in advance of making an order. As much as I'd like to set the rates of tax for everyone in Europe this is one of the many things which are out of our control, and I have no power to influence how much your additional import costs may be. If you need any clarification please feel free to email us at the usual hello@jaymic.com address. I can't advise rates of duty and tax throughout the EU, but I'm more than happy to provide any assistance I can beyond that.

Although we at Jaymic are quite used to shipping orders outside of the EU which have always required additional customs declarations and paperwork not everyone else is, so customs processing agents and delivery firms are (in some case at least) causing delays on some outgoing orders whilst they familiarise themselves with the new import and export systems. Please be patient with them, they are probably doing everything they can to get orders moving as freely as possible but they're all learning about this too, and none of us got much notice of how the rules would work.

Our incoming supplier orders from EU member states may also now be hit with additional customs costs, so prices may well change at short notice. The additional paperwork and unfamiliarity of UK customs processing agents with the new systems and regulations are also causing substantial delays in some cases. We expect the delays to be reduced in time as we all get more used to the new way things work, so a little extra patience may be required, at least for now.

Covid 19/Corona virus. Well, you knew I'd have to mention it at some point! Due to the ever changing situation in the UK and around the world regarding covid cases, new virus variants and constantly changing laws and regulations we all have to accept that borders are not as open as they once were. All worldwide governments can change border regulations at very short notice, which can of course have a knock-on effect on international deliveries. Airmail is particularly vulnerable to delays as most of it is carried on passenger aircraft, and far fewer passenger aircraft are currently flying. So far we'd been lucky enough not to have been directly affected by the virus ourselves, but as a the UK's schools being closed it has drastically reduced our office staff capacity. Whilst we endeavour to respond to all enquiries in a timely fashion during busy periods we may have to resort to keeping the telephones on answerphone to allow us enough time to deal with website and email orders and enquiries. I thank you in advance for your patience and understanding throughout this difficult time.

Look after yourselves, and each other!

Pete