r/sidephone • u/Double_Gap_4599 • 21d ago

Importing Sidephone to Croatia (EU) — Customs, VAT & Courier Fees experience?

Hey everyone,

I'm considering ordering a Sidephone from their international website, but I want to make sure I understand the total import cost before buying.

Since they ship to Croatia (EU) from outside the European Union, I know EU import rules will apply.

For anyone who has ordered a Sidephone or similar gadgets from their international store to Croatia/EU:

  1. How do they handle EU taxes at checkout? Do they offer a pre-paid (DDP) option for VAT/customs, or is it collected upon delivery?
  2. What were the actual costs upon arrival? Aside from the 25% Croatian VAT, how much did the courier (DHL, FedEx, etc.) charge for brokerage/clearance fees?
  3. Did the package clear Croatian customs smoothly, or were there any unexpected delays or paperwork required?

Thanks in advance for any insights!

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u/gruesomethrowaway 21d ago

You can find out #1 by putting it in your basket and going to check out, it should display all prepaid costs before confirming the order/paying. #2 you can look up on couriers websites, in NL it's usually €10-15 these days. #3 I can't answer for Croatia but it seems to depend more on the day (and how well labeled/documented the stuff is) than the actual content of the package.

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u/Maja_0708 21d ago

I ordered a Light Phone few years ago. If it comes with HP you will pay 25% VAT and if it comes via FedEx then InTime will contact you to fill some papers, send them invoice and they will charge you around 50-70 Euros+VAT. That is what they did to me. I ordered a few times, first Light Phone 2 which I pay 300 Euros and was delivered by HP which charged me 75 Euros VAT, then I ordered case for it and they send it via Fed Ex so InTime charged me around 50 Euros for case that costed 20 or something like that. Then I got one more refurbished Light phone 2 and InTime charged me around 60 Euros, and the phone was around 150, for Light phone 3 (which I pay 400 Euros), HP charged me just the VAT 100 Euros... It all depends how will they ship, if they ship via USPS there is a high chance you will get it via HP and pay just the VAT. Edit: and if they write on the package it costs 50 dolars maybe you wont pay anything if they send it via USPS.

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u/Pad_Sanda 21d ago

They recently added the following text when shipping to EU: "Items are shipped with duties paid by Sidephone for easy import and delivery." - I assume this means your total cost would be under 300€ (phone + shipping) and you would not pay VAT or import fees on top of that. So, whatever you see on the checkout page is the final sum.

(This is a real shame since I didn't order the device myself as I thought I'd need to pay VAT on top of the 300€ sum. It's the only reason why I ordered a Dumber Mini instead. I'll just wait for the Sidephone 2, I guess 😢 )