Fulfilment in the EU

Let’s be honest, since the end of the Brexit transitional period, shipping from the UK to the EU even with a trade deal in place, just got a whole lot more complicated.

For any business who sells online to customers in the EU, it may now be more advantageous to have these orders picked, packed and shipped from within the EU.

We are therefore delighted to announce the opening of our EU operation in North West Germany, which offers quick and easy access to order fulfilment and shipping to any EU market.

There are a number of advantages in using our EU centre over shipping to the EU from our UK warehouse;

Reduced transit times*

The shipping time to addresses in Germany is normally just 24 hours from dispatch.

From Germany to other EU countries is typically 1 – 3 days with even the most distant addresses reached in 6 days.

Simple VAT & Duty process

With the introduction of One Stop Shop (OSS) on 1st July 2021 you can now register for VAT in a single EU country and take advantage of OSS which has an EU wide VAT threshold negating the need to register for VAT in every country you sell to. Through our partner Vatglobal, you can get VAT registered in Germany and use our fulfillment solution, even if you do not have a company set up in the EU. With German VAT registration you will also be able to apply for an EORI, which will be needed in order for you to import your stock into the EU. We’d be happy to introduce you to our partner who can advise you on getting started to trade in the EU.

Download our guide to the basics of handling VAT in the EU (and UK)

Less paperwork

Although many shipments to the EU from the UK do not attract VAT or duty, each shipment still needs a CN22 customs form completing to accompany it, this includes a description of the goods, commodity code, value, origin, weights etc, which we complete on your behalf.

The checking of this paperwork at customs for clearance on entering the EU can slow deliveries down and, in some cases, reduces the number of shipping methods we can offer for the carriage of particular categories of goods, as some carriers do not now accept certain commodity codes, which they were able to handle in the past.

Reduced costs

Shipping goods shorter distances across Europe does on the whole reduce shipping costs as well as transit times. We work with GLS and offer a simple pricing structure for fully tracked delivery, with a single cost price per country for any shipments under 3kg.

Working with Rapid both in the UK and the EU couldn’t be easier. You will have the same team looking after your account for both locations and we operate the same CRM system in both locations, nice and simple!

The only real downside of working with our two fulfilment centres is that you will need to maintain a stockholding in both locations, which may mean an increase in your cost to get your stock to our warehouses, though if you are sourcing stock within the EU, you will of course benefit from both reduced transport costs and potentially, a reduced cost in duty. And the savings in costs when shipping to your customer and benefits in customer service will no doubt outweigh any downside.

If you’d like us to quote for your EU to EU fulfilment, please don’t hesitate to get in touch and we’ll put together a quote for you within 24 hours.

Shipping times from Germany*