All you need to know about sending parcels to Germany
With 41 million online shoppers packed into one country, Germany is one of Europe's biggest ecommerce markets. You can therefore expect to see a fair few Germans asking whether you'll deliver as far as their neck of the woods in your time as an online seller.
Such a move does class as 'international expansion', though; and isn't that a bit ambitious if you're only selling things out of your own home? Well, as it happens, international postal services are very similar to the one you're working with at present and shouldn't be too hard to get your head around.
If you've been tempted by a few offers from buyers in Deutschland, here are a few tips on posting your items:
Prohibited items
Generally speaking, German postal regulations will allow you to send most types of items into the country. There are a fair few exceptions, but these are mostly stating the obvious.
If you're planning on sending live animals, organic chemicals, explosives, nuclear reactors, arms and ammunition or organic chemicals, your delivery will not make it further than the sorting office.
Beverages, pharmaceutical products, antiques, works of art and electrical appliances will also be denied entry into Germany, along with printed books and newspapers. That one's a tad strange - especially considering the first printed book was in German.
These are considered some of the more common denials, but if you're unsure about whether or not you can send something really specific, you're better off checking with your courier.
Address
You'll soon learn that many aspects of the shipping process in Germany are similar to those in the UK. Address guidelines, for example, are virtually identical.
In this exact order, you'll want to write the name of the recipient, their district if available, their street or post office box details followed by their postcode and country. It's likely that all of this will be supplied for you by whoever has made the inquiry, but do seek clarification on any details you are unsure about.
Price
The cost of posting to Germany will be different for every order, but you'll be pleased to hear it's not too extortionate.
A parcel weighing around 10kg will cost you around £13 to post but you may save money if your item is particularly small. Most couriers will offer a quick quote service where you can enter the details of your order and get a price for posting to Germany in minutes. You should go through them before giving the buyer guesstimates.
Additional payments?
Neither the buyer nor the seller will have to pay customs duties or taxes on a delivery from the UK to Germany. This is because deliveries from the UK to any other EU nations are not taxed, so there are no hidden costs for you to consider.
Just for future reference, you will have to pay taxes to ship to the Channel Islands, Andorra, Canary Islands, San Marino, Vatican City State and Gibraltar.