Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

Here you will find answers to frequently asked questions in the eibabo® store.

Customs & taxes in other countries

Buy VAT-free on eibabo® within the EU?

If you register for eibabo® as a business owner with a valid VAT ID within the EU and the goods are to be delivered outside of Germany but within the EU, this is considered a delivery within the Community and thus tax-exempt under the German VAT Act (UstG).

After a successful check of the VAT identification number, the system will ask you to enter your exact company name. However, there will always be a second manual check before the order acceptance and delivery date confirmation is sent. If required, we will ask additional questions as to the recipient of the goods or their representatives. To fulfil our obligation to supervise and exercise due care, we have to record this information. By providing the VAT ID No. the authorized buyer expressly consents to its use pursuant to Section 6a (1) No. 3 of the German UstG, A. 42 k (2) in conjunction with A. 42 c (3) UstR-2008 (tax on acquisitions within the Community). If additional questions that we ask about the VAT ID number are not answered, the invoice will automatically be made out with VAT included.

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Are customs and taxes included for eibabo® deliveries to EFTA or third countries?

Only the DHL customs fee (postal customs fee) is already included in the shipping costs for “DHL International” and “DHL Express” from eibabo®.

Otherwise, our total shipping costs do not include any customs duties, taxes that may potentially apply (e.g. import sales tax) or other fees in EFTA countries or third countries. In general, these must be paid by the customers themselves, and customers are recommended to contact DHL in advance where applicable in order to inquire about customs costs for the delivery country in question.

Customs and import terms vary greatly depending on the country in question. Only the recipient country can provide information about invoicing through the country’s customs authorities or the relevant federal agency for foreign trade.

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How does customs clearance work with eibabo® and what customs fees am I required to pay?

Every country has normal duty rates that apply when importing goods. There are also so-called preferential customs rates that are only granted subject to specific conditions; these are generally significantly lower than the normal duty rate.

Whether the goods are eligible for preferential customs rates or not may depend, for instance, on the origin of the goods and whether preferential agreements exist between the European Community and the country of importation, for instance special agreements exist with the EFTA countries Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Importation at the preferential customs rate, which is frequently 0%, is granted if the imported goods are considered products of origin under the meaning of the preferential agreement. This is only the case if the goods were entirely obtained or manufactured in the region of the contractual party in question.

eibabo® is an undertaking of eibmarkt.com GmbH. eibmarkt.com GmbH is one of the few exporters authorized by the customs authorities in these industry. Multiple times a year, the customs authorities review compliance with all criteria. eibmarkt® GmbH is connected to the data center of the AEB and acts in accordance with the ATLAS procedure certified by the federal finance office. Our own digital customs clearance allows us to inspect and influence processes in a rapid, unbureaucratic manner. Our employees receive comprehensive training in this system and have multilingual backgrounds to answer international customer inquiries.

This means that we procure all the necessary goods documentation for export (certificates of origin, movement certificate, proof of preference, other necessary accompanying papers in the import country) to offer you the highest possible degree of comfort and security. Furthermore, every shipment of goods will be declared correctly, which will save you as a customer lots of additional expenses and problems with mailing and customs.

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Do you have a sample invoice for eibabo® deliveries to Switzerland?

When sending an eibabo® package with DHL INTERNATIONAL OR DHL EXPRESS, the fees for customs clearance (postal customs fee) and “costs incurred” are already included in the price, which means that no additional service fee or account maintenance charge/risk fee will be charged. If import VAT or customs duties become due as a result of the type of goods or value of goods, the determined fees will be settled in advance between DHL Switzerland and the Swiss customs authorities and will be subsequently collected as follows:

The fees due will only be collected by invoice if a recipient is clearly identified as a business customer. The customer will receive their package directly; the invoice will come after a delay. For billing, a disbursement fee will be due amounting to 2% of the total fees for VAT and customs, at least 2 CHF, unless the recipient informally instructed DHL Switzerland (informal registration) to settle all import customs settlements through the recipient’s own customs credit account (ZAZ). For private customers, the determined customs and taxes will be collected in cash during the course of personal delivery/handover. No disbursement fee needs to be paid. (Version 2015)

Sample invoice Switzerland: (Not legally binding!)

This is merely an example calculation for the purposes of visualization, precise information needs to be researched by the customer.

In Switzerland, the exemption limit (2015) is CHF 62.00 (invoice total incl. shipping costs). In this case, neither VAT nor customs duties will be due. The invoice amount will always be converted into CHF by the customs office at the current exchange rate, regardless of whether you made your purchase in dollars or euros.

Here is a brief sample invoice of the total costs for Switzerland:

If you order goods with a value of 325 CHF from a German online retailer, then approximately the following total costs will be due, whereby the costs for the customs process (costs of customs clearance - postal customs duties) are already included in the eibabo® shipping costs for the shipping method “DHL International”.

Costs of customs clearance: 16.50 CHF (varies by mail from 12.00-17.50 CHF). For couriers (DHL, DPD, UPS etc.) this fee may be significantly higher if this is not already compensated in the selected shipment method (already included for the shipping methods DHL International or DHL Express). Processing surcharge (not for purchases in Germany): 9.75 CHF (amounts to 3% of the value of goods and is calculated when mailing imports from all countries except for Germany, France, Austria and Italy. For couriers, this fee may vary and is not required in some cases. Costs for incorrect declaration: 13 CHF (if copies of the commercial documents are not attached to the outside of the package in triplicate, or if something was declared incorrectly, then the package will be opened for a fee. Couriers may have other fees for this. This fee will not be charged as long as everything is correctly declared by the sender. Finally the VAT (import VAT) amounting to 7.7% or 2.5% (as of 2022) will be charged depending on the type of goods to be imported.

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Top 3 FAQs

1. What shipping costs are calculated?

You can find the shipping costs near the item price by clicking a link. The shipping cost overview page can be accessed from the service area in the main menu (desktop version) or in the footer (mobile version).

As long as a fixed price per order has not been set for a selected shipping method in the current country of delivery, which is generally the case for all EU countries and Switzerland (see shipping cost overview page), the shipping costs will be calculated based on the item weights in your shipping cart, information about bulkiness as well as delivery address and currently selected shipping method. Weight-based shipping cost calculations are generally in place for deliveries to third countries as well as Liechtenstein and Iceland (DHL EXPRESS or DHL INTERNATIONAL). The shipping costs for the items in the cart will only be recalculated if further items are added to the cart or if the country of destination or the shipping method is changed.

2. How does customs clearance work with eibabo® and what customs fees am I required to pay?

Every country has normal duty rates that apply when importing goods. There are also so-called preferential customs rates that are only granted subject to specific conditions; these are generally significantly lower than the normal duty rate.

Whether the goods are eligible for preferential customs rates or not may depend, for instance, on the origin of the goods and whether preferential agreements exist between the European Community and the country of importation, for instance special agreements exist with the EFTA countries Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Importation at the preferential customs rate, which is frequently 0%, is granted if the imported goods are considered products of origin under the meaning of the preferential agreement. This is only the case if the goods were entirely obtained or manufactured in the region of the contractual party in question.

eibabo® is an undertaking of eibmarkt.com GmbH. eibmarkt.com GmbH is one of the few exporters authorized by the customs authorities in these industry. Multiple times a year, the customs authorities review compliance with all criteria. eibmarkt® GmbH is connected to the data center of the AEB and acts in accordance with the ATLAS procedure certified by the federal finance office. Our own digital customs clearance allows us to inspect and influence processes in a rapid, unbureaucratic manner. Our employees receive comprehensive training in this system and have multilingual backgrounds to answer international customer inquiries.

This means that we procure all the necessary goods documentation for export (certificates of origin, movement certificate, proof of preference, other necessary accompanying papers in the import country) to offer you the highest possible degree of comfort and security. Furthermore, every shipment of goods will be declared correctly, which will save you as a customer lots of additional expenses and problems with mailing and customs.

3. Are there discounts for resellers or repeat customers of eibabo®?

Published eibabo® discounts are equally valid for all customers, whether consumers (private customers) or business customers. However, it is possible to establish special conditions for specific customers for the entire product range or for specific items or manufacturers. This is generally reviewed and granted after the first order and depends on the anticipated sales volume. You can send a review directly to [email protected] and at the same time to [email protected] or using the contact options indicated in the store.

This option is very interesting for repeat customers who are very familiar with the eibabo® store and regularly place orders, if these order values are below the limit values for granting discounts.

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