Both the prices of the products themselves, and VAT, are spontaneously changing when trying to make an order. That is, of course, not even considering the fact that VAT isn’t subtracted for purchases outside of the EU. How am I supposed to order without overpaying?
For instance, choosing an address in the Netherlands, and choosing an address in Sweden, nets the same total price. but different amounts of tax! If it’s tax, it’s supposed to be actual tax, and not just an arbitrary number (because the total remains the same, even with less indicated tax. This means the pre-tax total is changing, and that is not okay). That’s on top of the price remaining with an arbitrary 12% tax when putting in Norway, which is, in effect, just stealing. Is it possible to refund this after receiving my package, and paying the actual local tax of 15% on foodstuffs? Why is it there in the first place?
Hi @irism , unlike in the US (with local sales tax per state or even cities), it is very common in Europe to have a unified all-in pricing structure. This means that all our pricing on the product pages are included of local tax.
You are correct that tax rates differ from country to country. Some countries charge 0% tax on food, others 25% (and a lot in between). Because we operate on an international level we keep our consumer prices at the same price point. This indeed technically means that we have a variable base sales (ex VAT) price per country, depending on their tax rate.
Norway is not part of the EU, and thus our shipments are tax-exempt in the checkout and will be charged locally by the customer when importing.
Unlike payment portals that properly handle tax, the one you are using does not remove tax when it is appropriate (such as when ordering to Norway). If the subtotal is the same, and one subtotal “includes” taxes and the other doesn’t, there is something seriously wrong. You don’t “keep consumer prices the same” by overcharging people.
When ordering to Sweden vs ordering to Norway, the subtotal for the products remains the same, while the Swedish tax is already included in it. In effect, this means I am paying, for example, 47.70€ for 4 plenny shake bags to Norway pre-tax, while paying the same amount post-tax when ordering to Sweden. I have never seen any company operating in the EU be this predatory. This is not how VAT and taxes are supposed to work.
We are not overcharging people. We are offering a product for a fixed price. If you do not agree with that price due to your own countries tax regulations, we are not forcing you to buy anything If you do not agree with our pricing structure that’s up to you…
There literally is no fixed price. If you are charging people a tax, you are then paying that tax to their countries tax authority later. The “fixed price” as understood by the EU is the price you pay for the good itself, not the taxes applied to it. The net price is the total, and that can be changed freely. Price discrimination within the EU is illegal, and is very well explained here: https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/consumers/unfair-treatment/unfair-pricing/index_en.htm
If you read into the regulations that are mentioned at the end of the article, you will notice that while setting different net sale prices is okay (to adjust for tax differences between countries, for example), setting different product prices generally, for each country, is not. If the total amount charged stays the same, and you are paying for the same product, while paying less VAT, you are paying a higher price for the product itself, which does not abide by the aforementioned regulations. This especially applies to Norway, which, while not being part of the EU, is part of the EEA. In this case, you are quite simply charging more for the same product (because you are both not registered in the VOEC scheme to pay norwegian taxes, and do not lower the price to reflect said taxes).
Hey @irism, sorry but what you are saying is exactly how we operate.
We are not setting different product prices generally, all the prices are the same per country (I referred to this as fixed price).
The net sales price differs because of tax differences between counties as I explained and as you mentioned. This means that countries with lower taxes technically have a higher net sales price and vice versa. I’ve added some anonymized orders from DE, DK and NO for context.
This is fully compliant with EU laws. locking this thread as there is nothing else to discuss.
If you do not agree with our pricing structure that’s up to you…
