This is a message specifically for my EU customers.
I want to start by saying that, although you may be few in number, you are very dear to my heart. Many of you have purchased multiple times from me over the years. I have got to know some of you, and that has been a delight. I am incredibly grateful for your support.
So, it saddens me to have to say that I am no longer able to sell to you via the Beadflowers website. (I will explain that in a moment).
But I do have GOOD NEWS! I can still sell all my beading patterns and tutorials to all my EU customers via my Etsy store. Click here to access that.
I am aware that not all of my beading tutorials are listed in the store at present. So, please know that I am working on adding them over time. If you are looking for a pattern that isn’t yet in the store, please just send me an email (beadflowers@btinternet.com) and let me know. I can then sort that out for you, so you’re not missing out on anything.
I also have more GOOD NEWS! None of this affects any of my online beading classes. So, you are still very welcome to come and join any of those classes at any time. Just use this link to access them.
So, the main thing to understand is that you CAN still get all my beading tutorials and classes…yay!
That may be all that you need to know. But for anyone who is curious about why I’ve had to implement this change, let me explain…
Why can EU customers no longer buy from Beadflowers website?
The short answer to that question is BREXIT and EU VAT.
Back in 2015, the EU decided to change the way in which VAT is applied to digital downloads. At that time, it caused enormous problems for myself and many other small traders. I won’t go over that again here, but if you want to know more, I did write a few blog posts at the time, which you can read here.
Having created such an initial mess, the EU did eventually have the kindness and good sense to bring in a ‘minimum threshold’ for VAT. That meant that small traders, like me, who sell very very few digital products to the EU, were able to continue without registering for VAT in 27 different countries!
However, since the UK left the EU at the beginning of 2021, that threshold is no longer applicable to UK businesses.
So, what that means is, if I continue to sell the odd tutorial to a person living in the EU, I have to charge you VAT, register and pay that to the relevant tax authorities. That means I need to purchase additional software to be able to set up VAT charges and accounting on this website. I also need to register with the different tax authorities across all 27 member states. And I will end up spending a huge amount of time administering all of this.
In short, it simply does not make sense financially for the Beadflowers website to do that.
Why refer people to Etsy?
But, I already sell some tutorials through Etsy. And Etsy, as a platform, has been charging VAT and administering all the paperwork since 2015. So, basically, I am not personally liable: Etsy takes care of everything for me.
So, by simply asking that you purchase through my Etsy store instead of through my Beadflowers store, everyone wins.
You still get access to all my beading tutorials. My business is not damaged by the burden of administering the VAT system.
The same applies with my online classes. They are sold through a third-party platform, called Teachable, who administers all the VAT on my behalf.
The huge irony of all this is that the EU VAT changes were supposed to ‘level the playing field’. They were targeted at large corporations, like Amazon, for example. But, as with many policies, lack of understanding of market realities, meant that the policy has had a disproportionately negative affect on small traders.
Summary
Now, the above is a very, very broad outline. The realities and details of all this legislation are extremely complex. Too much so for me to go into here…and I’m sure you would find it very boring to read too!
The headlines are these:
- I love the small number of EU customers who have supported me over the years
- Government legislation at EU level has made it impossible for me to continue to serve you on the Beadflowers website, but…
- I look forward to serving you through my Etsy store instead.
- (Oh, and more good news…you can also use the discount code SPECIAL20 to get 20% off whenever you buy 3 or more patterns from my Etsy store)
If you have any questions about this, or if you are unable to find the pattern(s) you are looking for, just send me an email at: beadflowers@btinternet.com
Thank you for your continued support, and I wish you many more years of happy beading!
