In the past couple of months, we've had to deal with the new E.U. small-parcel tariff, and then there was the new requirement for a 'withdrawal' button on the website.
What next, you may ask? Well, you may be aware of this from other small manufacturers, but the E.U. has just launched another new set of regulations for e-commerce retailers, this time regarding packaging and recycling. We're currently trying to get our collective heads around the implications (we're struggling to find a summary in layman's terms that we can make head or tail of), we've seen several interpretations of the new rules that say different things, but the consensus is that, right now, thing are Very Difficult for small businesses (including ones inside the E.U., not just outside). It appears that we're going to have to register and have a representative in every country, not just the one that we have at the moment that covers all of the E.U. And on top of this, we have to register and pay a fee for recycling schemes, again in every country. Economically, this is impossible for us – the costs would far outstrip our annual sales to the E.U.
So for now, we're suspending sales to the E.U. We'll honor outstanding orders (most of them left at the start of the week, there's one remaining to be posted), but won't be taking any more for now.
In a spirit of eternal optimism, we're hoping that a solution will present itself at some point, as it has for all of the other hurdles we've had to cross as a small business in the past four to five years. We very much value our European customers, and we want you back!