April 25, 2016

The Tannin "British Invasion!"

As you might have heard on social media, we've completed our shipping trials to the UK, and we're confident enough to launch the availability of Tannin products to our fans in the United Kingdom on a retail-only basis! With so much talent, excitement and interest in our products in the UK, it was only natural that we make it our next destination! Many of you have been devoted followers and fans on social media, even before we could get our products to you!

Of course, our decision to make our products available to our UK friends was tempered by the realization that it's simply not cheap to get goods into the UK. First off, the shipping itself is rather pricy, with rates exceeding $50US for a box that weighs less than 2 lbs.

Delivery time, from order shipping out of our facility to the time it's available in the UK, averages about 12-14 days, so, like many things in the hobby, patience is essential!

In order to make this viable for us and for you, we will subsidize some of the shipping cost on UK orders by charging a flat rate of $40US on all orders bound for the UK.

Of course, the costs don't end there!

The UK Government will hold you responsible for paying any VAT, duty and fees due upon arrival of your package. Tannin Aquatics cannot compute or advise you on these charges, nor are we liable for these charges in any way, which are outside of our control.

You’ll be contacted by Royal Mail, Parcelforce, or the courier company, explaining how to pay any VAT, duty and fees for dealing with customs. They’ll normally hold your parcel for about 3 weeks; however, we cannot guarantee their actions in this regard. If you haven’t paid the fee after 3 weeks, it’ll be returned to us.

You’ll be charged at the VAT rate that applies to your goods. VAT is charged on the total value, including:

◦ the price paid for the goods

◦ postage, packaging and insurance

◦ any duty you owe

You’ll be charged Customs Duty on gifts and other goods sent from outside the EU if they’re above a certain value, unless the duty comes to less than £7.

The value includes:

◦ the price paid for the goods

◦ postage, packaging and insurance

Typically, anything under £135 is not subject to customs duty charge. However, we are not responsible, for any charges in this policy made by the UK government, nor are we in a position to advise you on them, so please contact the appropriate UK government agency for further advice or questions.

And, as you probably surmised, our prices on our website are in US dollars. Your Paypal or credit card transactions will be converted and processed from pounds to dollars at checkout.

So, what does all of this stuff mean to you, our UK Tannin fans?

Well, it means that it will be kind of expensive to get Tannin products for a while, until we refine our logistics and procedures to create a more streamlined, efficient, and more cost-effective approach. And rest assured, we're working on it.

In the mean time, we'll be sure to help offset some of the "sticker shock" of shipping, taxes, and customs fees that you'll incur by throwing in extras in with your order! And as far as support- well, we'll strive to make it as seamless and accessible to you as it is to our North American customers!

Since you're typically 7 hours ahead of us in Los Angeles, California, we're able to interact with you during a good part of your afternoon and evening hours on both our live chat feature on the website, and via Facebook. And, of course, our email, Twitter, and Instagram are "always on" for communication as well. We're serious about customer service, and we're serious about helping you enjoy what we have to offer!

You might want to consider "pooling" your order with a few fish friends or club members, to help offset costs. Remember, the shipping charge is a "flat fee" charged once for orders of any size, so "scaling up" with some pals is not a bad idea, and you can split the shipping cost on the front end, and the customs charges and VAT on your end.

In the end, we're pretty excited to be able to get you "The Tint", and we know that the additional expense and logistics issues will be worth it in the end when you experience our products!

Let us know if you have any questions or thoughts on ordering from us. We're happy to help!

Stay excited. Stay engaged.

Stay Wet.

Scott Fellman

Tannin Aquatics