How to ship inventory from the US to the UK and EU

Hold inventory where your customers are: the UK for UK orders, the EU for EU orders, and both once each market has steady demand.

The UK and the EU are separate customs territories, so inventory held in one cannot serve the other without crossing a border. Look at the last three months of orders by country; if either market is a meaningful share, a split from the start avoids customs charges on those parcels.

• UK and EU fulfillment for US brands →

For the UK, a UK VAT registration and a GB EORI number; for the EU, a VAT registration in the country holding the inventory (Poland, with us) and an EU EORI number.

Someone also has to act as importer of record when the goods arrive. The specialist partners we introduce you to handle these registrations and the customs side, and they can set up the EU’s One-Stop Shop (OSS) if you sell to customers in several EU countries.

Send product records before the inventory: one line per SKU with a barcode, dimensions, weight and a short description.

• Barcodes on every unit, matching the SKU records you send.
• Carton labels showing the SKU and quantity in each carton.
• A packing list and a commercial invoice with the commodity (HS) codes for customs.
• Packing instructions for orders: inserts, gift notes, branded packaging.

Choose sea for volume, air for speed and courier for small consignments; we can arrange or book the freight for you, or receive shipments your own forwarder sends.

Whichever route you use, send us notice of each delivery before it arrives, with the packing list. That lets the warehouse plan space and check the delivery against what was booked.

Each delivery is booked in, counted and checked against the notice, then put away with every item’s shelf location recorded.

We check your inventory in and your first orders out before fulfillment becomes routine, and any difference between what was sent and what arrived is reported to you.