Belgium

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Joined
Jun 8, 2010
Messages
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Location
Dartmoor edge, uk
Hive Type
National
Number of Hives
5...2 wooden National, 2 poly Nat & 1 poly nuc...bursting at the seams
OK - we are off to Belgium next month for our 25th anniversary - and have found some bee warehouses to visit.

I was thinking about either buying myself some kit - or buying some to sell on a certain site to make a profit and fund my obsession. What should I be considering when looking? What would be the import implications etc.

Basically, I guess what I am asking is...is it a good idea?
 
as a beek you can get away with murder coming through customs as they are only looking for drugs, booze and imigrants, the most i have ever come through customs with was 45 poly hive supers and 10 brood boxes in the flat inside a caravan, i have also another time brought through 4,000 frames and when the customs guy looked inside the van and i explained what they were he laughed at us for stopping, i have also brought back two 9 frame extractors strapped to the roof rack and once in 2006 we brought through customs 1,000kg thats right one ton of wax blocks all without any vat import dutie as its for personal use and you can bring back most items

i go at least once a year to europe mainly france , germany or poland to see family or friends and normaly use it as an excuse to buy bee keeping equipment.

evan with a naff exchange rate ( last time was one euro to a pound)

we normaly find that the european bee stuff is slightly cheaper say 5 %, but its also vat free in either country so knocking off a bit more 10% to 22% and also minus any deliver charges to so thats a bit more there to

do you research first as we always buy only what is cheaper and or better quality, i brought my old stainless extractor ( nine frame , stainless steel) in berlin for £450 where as the uk version was well over £850 , that £400 was the holiday money we spent.
 
You can only buy it VAT-free in Europe if you are registered for VAT in the UK and can give them your valid VAT number. Otherwise, you pay the local VAT rate which in Belgium is currently 21%, not much different from the UK next year.
 
I can't afford to go silly - for the sale site I wondered about a solar wax extractor...and maybe a few bits for me, but I don't want to end up with bits that won't match UK stuff...It could well be that I get there and chicken out, buying nothing!!
 
Make sure you sample some Moules Frite and leffee(beer)

:) :) :cheers2:
 
Onge, I quite like Leffe, but prefer Kwak! We have been going to Belgium for 15 years, but this is the first time we have booked a cottage in Brugge, we have stayed in hotels and Sunparks too...my favourite food is Waterzooi (?) of fish!!!! It will also be the first time I will have visited a bee warehouse there!!
 
Can you let us know the address of this bee hypermarket in Belgium?

Thanks
 
OK - we are off to Belgium next month for our 25th anniversary - and have found some bee warehouses to visit.

I was thinking about either buying myself some kit - or buying some to sell on a certain site to make a profit and fund my obsession. What should I be considering when looking? What would be the import implications etc.

Basically, I guess what I am asking is...is it a good idea?

Should be no import implications if bought in Belgium as you will have paid tax within the EU.

Unless of course there is a limit you can bring in, but I'd be surprised.

What kinds of things are you looking to sell on?
 
Onge, I quite like Leffe, but prefer Kwak! We have been going to Belgium for 15 years, but this is the first time we have booked a cottage in Brugge, we have stayed in hotels and Sunparks too...my favourite food is Waterzooi (?) of fish!!!! It will also be the first time I will have visited a bee warehouse there!!

Kwak is good, but nothing beats Bush. Wow...

:cheers2:
 
Queens59

Either website or 'zipcode' would be cool.

Good thing the Belgians speak excellent English!
 
Bijenhof BVBA or Moravie 30

8501 BISSEGEM

(near Kortrijk) - BELGIË

Telefoon: +32 (0)56-35.33.67 +32 (0)56-35.33.67

Fax: +32 (0)56-37.17.77

Email: [email protected]

VAT: BE 427.871.255

There is another, but I can't find it at the mo.
 
I think that if you ask, you might find that the seller should be able to take the tax off and you have to sign a form which says that he sold the stuff to you and that it was being exported......this is for his tax-man...

That is what happened when I used to bring cars and engines from Belgium.
 
I always used to run with the idea that once you started to look at spending about £200 at any one time europe was cheaper than the uk

we always seamed to make the differance to pay for the ferry and the weekend was next to free, stick some booze and fags savings and we were always happy with what went on.

there are several suppliers in france two that i use in germany one in denmark and several friends and shops in poland and of course this lot in BELGIË.

from Birmingham i can be in france including the ferry in less than five hours which is better than scotland and cornwall to get to and if booked carefully it will cost £20 each way on the sea france ferry and the petrol down is around £30 so for a rough £100 i can go to france for the weekend( out friday night back on sunday) and when we camp it cost us £25 for accomadation or we get a small B&B instead.

the last time we popped over we came back through customs with four apple trees and twenty currant bushes as the trees are £5 each and the bushes were £2 whilst in blighty the trees were £25 at least
 

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