Sadly, things are changing for the worse for UK artists and the record buying public in general. On 1st July, the EU brought in blanket legislation which appears to be a punishment on the UK for voting brexit. It was reported that it would amount to 3 Euros per item on all packages. The reality is much worse...
Once admin and hidden fees are applied, the postage to the EU is often as much as the item itself. As of 1st July 2026, to send ONE record to Germany costs us £21.16! That's a loss of around £12.00 on that one item as we originally only charged £8.95. Multiply that by 25 to 50 items per week that we send out to the EU and we think you'll understand the predicament we're in. It is now cheaper to send a record to the USA than it is to Germany... that is insane!
These tariffs are beyond draconian. They make Trump's tariffs look like a gift from the Gods. And there's absolutely no guarantee that the buyer in the EU will not also be slammed for additional fees when it arrives to them. It's the wild west out there.
We have no choice but to pass these costs on to the buyers. And we know that this probably means the vast majority of our European friends will no longer buy our goods. Working with a distributor is out of the question as the unit prices they are willing to pay barely cover the manufacturing costs. Working with a label other than our own doesn't work as it doesn't allow us to make a decent return on our investment, which allows us to continue on future projects (most independent record labels in this scene don't advance albums, they simply compensate in a percentage of stock). The only thing that keeps this band and label alive is doing everything ourselves, but this comes at a cost... one which we're dearly feeling right now.
And we've had messages from people saying "This isn't a punishment for Brexit, this is the EU's response to companies like Temu flooding the continent with cheap Chinese goods".... Then answer us this, why didn't the EU exclude countries like the UK from this tariff? This is the EU acting like a cartel. Well actually no, this is the EU showing you that it IS A CARTEL!
Now, we're not interested in politics. We don't care what anyone's feelings on Brexit are. Regardless of where you stand on that issue, this is a protectionist charge brought in by the EU. This wasn't brought in by the UK, it is the EU. We've had so many messages from people defending what the EU have done. And of course, you are welcome to have whatever opinion you like about them. But the reality is this, for European orders, we have had to raise the price of sending a Cd to £9.95, a T-shirt to £14.95 and a record to £21.00. And do you know what.... this still doesn't represent the total cost to us! Those prices are subsidised by us if you can believe that?!
And we've had messages from people saying "This isn't a punishment for Brexit, this is the EU's response to companies like Temu flooding the continent with cheap Chinese goods".... Then answer us this, why didn't the EU exclude countries like the UK from this tariff? This is the EU acting like a cartel. Well actually no, this is the EU showing you that it IS A CARTEL!
Now, we're not interested in politics. We don't care what anyone's feelings on Brexit are. Regardless of where you stand on that issue, this is a protectionist charge brought in by the EU. This wasn't brought in by the UK, it is the EU. We've had so many messages from people defending what the EU have done. And of course, you are welcome to have whatever opinion you like about them. But the reality is this, for European orders, we have had to raise the price of sending a Cd to £9.95, a T-shirt to £14.95 and a record to £21.00. And do you know what.... this still doesn't represent the total cost to us! Those prices are subsidised by us if you can believe that?!
We can only hope that calmer and more rational minds will see these tariffs for exactly what they are, a disgraceful example of protectionism.
To our friends in the EU, we hope you continue to support our little band in whatever way you can. We know that purchasing our items is now unlikely. But we'll see you on the road when we can.
ST & PALE WIZARD
x