EORI Number for U.K. Customs?

Hi,

I’m buying a watch from the U.K. (shipping to the US) and it’s stuck in customs there. They’re asking for an EORI number and I’m trying to figure out how to get them the right information. It seems like this number is only available to EU citizens? Should I have the shipper apply for a number or is there another way to do this? And I assume this is for some export tax?

Thanks, I’ve dealt with import customs in the US before but haven’t run into this with an item leaving the EU in my transactions over the last few years.

Did you buy it from a business in the EU or a private collector? I thought that number was for registered businesses in the EU that import/export

Private individual - it seems like you have to have one as a private individual or business if you’re exporting something over a certain value. Not sure why I haven’t ran into this before if, as they claim, it’s an EU wide thing that’s been around for a while.

An EORI number is required if you are shipping goods out of an EU country, as an “Economoc Operator” i.e for commercial purposes or to make a profit. If you do a few transaction a year or are shipping personal goods you’ve sold, you shouldn’t need one. There’s no hard rule about what constitutes “a few transactions” but about 10 out of the UK to non-EU countries per year is about the level.

It seems to be up to the couriers to ask if you have one - FedEx UK always ask, UPS never seem to. I had this problem with FedEx before, the goods are being held up by FedEx and not UK Customs. I called FedEx and told them it was a private eBay sale and they cleared it. The next time it happened, I applied and used an EORI number (it’s pretty quick to get one on-line), but in any case I solved it as I stopped using FedEx for other reasons...

I've also had this problem with FedEx as a seller - had to send them an email saying it was a one off private sale via eBay and they cleared it straight away.

OF to the rescue! I just did that and *poof* - it was cleared. @speedamatuer and @khanmu - thank you so much.

Andrew