We are really, really sorry to say that while we are trying to understand the new GPSR requirement starting on December 13th, we have had made the difficult decision to temporarily stop accepting online orders from the EU and Northern Ireland for now.
This is not what we want to do, and it is definitely NOT goodbye. However, we will sadly stop accepting orders for shipping to the EU and Northern Ireland starting December 11th 2024.
To clarify this will not affect our UK customers and international customers outside the EU.
With little guidance from the UK Government, we need to take a break from shipping while we learn more and find a way to ensure our EU and Northern Ireland friends can order from us smoothly in the future.
The new regulation requires all businesses (including small, handmade and/or independent businesses) to have a representative within the EU who acts on their behalf regarding all product safety and relevant data. This can be a costly process and will take time to put into place. Until a workable solution is found that is within the new regulations AND affordable to our small business, we are afraid that we will need to make some changes to our delivery options for the foreseeable future.
What is GPSR?
GPSR stands for General Product Safety Regulations, and these new rules will start on December 13th, 2024 which include:
That businesses selling into the EU and Northern Ireland have a named point of contact on product safety (known as the ‘EU Responsible Person’)
That products are traceable (for example, through a batch or serial number) in a way that is visible and accessible for consumers
That businesses selling via an online platform verify compliance with all GPSR requirements
The amount of information we need to comply with is a lot, especially for a small business like ours. We need to make sure our products meet these standards, and we also need to get the right information from all the companies we purchase our raw supplies from. This means asking for test reports, packaging details, and new labels for everything. We have started this process, but the challenges makes it tough to meet all the GPSR requirements plus being affordable without passing those costs onto you the customer.
The biggest challenge is finding an EU Responsible Person. Since we are based in the UK, we would need to hire someone in the EU to act for us. There are services available, but they are quite expensive, costing £400 - £800 per product type, per year. With many products, this adds up to thousands of pounds, which is not possible for us as a small business. If we tried to meet these regulations, we would have to raise our prices too high, which would make it hard to compete with big companies. We also wouldn’t want to pass those high costs onto you our amazing customers – that’s just not how we do things!
Which Countries Will This Impact?
Sadly, this affects any country in the EU and Northern Ireland:Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.
For any other country outside of these, it’s business as usual, but if you’re unsure, please reach out to us before placing an order.
What If You Just Continue As Normal?
Running a business can be a gamble, with ups and downs, but we love what we do! We wouldn’t want to risk your order being held by customs, seized, or fined, which can lead to huge penalties of thousands of pounds for being non-compliant. That’s scary!
How Can You Still Order From Us?
If you have friends or family in the UK, you can have your order shipped to them and then forwarded to you as a gift.
This situation has surprised many small businesses, and you may have seen some of our small business friends sharing how it affects them. We will keep talking to those in charge to get more clarity and support each other in finding help for small businesses. For now, we really appreciate your patience and understanding.
We will stop all orders from the EU (including Northern Ireland) starting December 11th 2024. If you are thinking of ordering, now is the time to do so. After this date, you won’t see shipping options for the EU or NI on our website. Ordering by December 11th will give us a few days to prepare your order and ship everything out before the new rules take effect – your order will be prioritised to ensure it is with the postman before December 13th.
Thank You
We know you all are so supportive, and we don’t want to say goodbye to our friends in the EU and Northern Ireland. However, right now, following these rules would be financially tough, and we don’t want you to worry about whether your order will arrive – we just can’t take that risk.
Whilst we continue to gather information and more guidance as it arrives then the above barriers may well become opportunities. We look forward to the future and how we can implement GPSR in a way that is sustainable and affordable for our business.
We know you understand. This is NOT goodbye; we’re just taking a little time to organise and sort this out!
Thank you!
