Problems Getting Tea?

[Gardian]

Most of us who are resident out here in France usually get our supplies of the ‘essentials’ when we make a visit to the UK to see family / friends.

Equally, they can often be prevailed upon to bring a pack of this or a pack of that when they come visiting.

Covid-19 has messed all this up, as well as doing worldwide personal and economic damage.

Anyway - looming crisis in the Gardian household! Yorkshire teabags, of which elder son brought a mega supply over here in Aug ‘20, now getting low! Ordered replenishment stock via Amazon six weeks ago, but UPS failed to deliver + wanted €20 extra customs duty.

Then, I had one of those ‘lightbulb’ moments. Our daughter-in-law, has Irish family connections and always raved about the quality of ‘Barry’s Tea’. This is the market leading brand in the Republic and is good old fashioned tea. I thought to myself, EU - EU consignment, should be duty-free.

To cut a long story short, ordered from their website and the parcel arrived today, 6 days after placing the order. No customs duty nonsense. We opted for the ‘Gold Blend’ which is the best seller apparently - €21 + €13.20 carriage for 6 x 80 bag packs. Not cheap, but beggars can’t be choosers!

If this is any help to any of you out there, then great. They’re easily found on the web, but order direct from them - its cheaper than via Amazon and you won’t risk the duty issue. Also, make your max order 6 x 80 bag packs and opt for ‘regular post’ delivery - if the order is over 2kgs, it has to be via DHL so more expensive and the duty issue kicks in again.

Hope this helps.

[anotherbanana]

For example, Amazon fr, no duty, no hassle.

https://www.amazon.fr/s?k=yorkshire+tea+bags&__mk_fr_FR=ÅMÅŽÕÑ&crid=1LDI7OEQPAZCW&sprefix=yorkshite+tea%2Caps%2C174&ref=nb_sb_ss_sc_3_13

[pomme]

Gardian: You don't say whether you ordered from Amazon UK or Amazon FR.

anotherbanana has shown they are available on Amazon FR.

I have used one of the choices on that page and I last ordered TAYLORS OF HARROGATE Thé Yorkshire 160 Sachets 500 g for €14.40 in Jan 2021 https://tny.im/V1EiT and they arrived quickly without any problems or extra charges. There are no adverse client comments except for being expensive but they cost only works out at €1.80 for 20.

[Gardian]

Ah, yes, drrrr !!!

I did order from Amazon UK, so I got what I deserved !

Mark you, have often ordered (for example, books) from Amazon UK and the despatch has been from a French warehouse. Over the non-delivered Amazon order, to be fair to them, they have credited the full value (incl carriage) back to our a/c.

Still ....... just another avenue for folks to use.

[anotherbanana]

Also worth checking Amazon.de before ordering. They are sometimes significantly cheaper.

[mint]

[quote user="anotherbanana"]Also worth checking Amazon.de before ordering. They are sometimes significantly cheaper.[/quote]

Yes, but by the time you add in the 4 euro postage, c'est pas la peine....as the French say[:)]

Admittedly, some things are easier to get and more readily available from the German site.

[nomoss]

If the French read any history they'd know it's a bad idea to charge British expats with duty on tea!

[Judith-aka-Judith]

Problem is they only know about FRENCH history!

[NormanH]

I can't say that Brits in France  seem to know all that much about the history of the country they have chosen to live in either, with notable exceptions such as a certain banana...

[anotherbanana]

I have never forgiven the French Red Indians for chucking our shipments of bananas into the waters of the Rio Grande where it flows past a place called New Orleans which is just down river from Tours!

[nomoss]

We like PG Tips tea bags, which are not easy to find around here, and usually expensive.

Before this year we usually bought them from British Corner Shop.

I just checked, and they now have a warehouse in Holland to avoid customs duties on shipments to the EU.

The prices are a little higher than before, up from £7.99 in May last year to £8.39 for a 240 bag pack, but still probably worthwhile. Prices in Euros are also available, but at a rate of almost £1 = 1€30, so I use Sterling we have in the UK.

[Judith-aka-Judith]

NormanH, I agree, knowledge of history, be it in France or in the UK, is sadly lacking.  The US is pretty poor on anything outside their own borders too. Happens to be a subject I like, but even I must confess to large gaps or disinterest in some countries, so I am not perfect .. and I never can get the order of French Kings correct!  But then, I struggle with the Middle Ages in the UK, otherwise, I do quite well!

[anotherbanana]

French kings, just say Louis up to XV then there is the headless one and then they start again. Not much imagination???