EU-friendly pick, pack and ship fulfilment services

Shipped with Care

Publisher Resources

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Current Shipping Rates

Request our rate card and pricing reckoner

Kixto’s fulfilment fees are transparent and predictable. Our rate sheet details your costs for each shipping option, and our handy ready-reckoner brings it all together into a simple self-serve tool so you can price your shipments.

Using the reckoner

Provide details of your fulfilment project to see your pick, pack, ship and tax costs for best-rate, tracked and EU-friendly shipping options.

Example

In the illustration (also in PDF), blue arrows show where you input shipment details into the reckoner. Example inputs:

  • Shipment content type: books.
  • 3 items, with 2 different titles, 1.36kg together.
  • Packaging: corrugated book wrap.
  • Shipping method: EU-friendly.
  • The customs value (sales price) of an order is £35.

Results are in green. For each country you see:

  • Your pick, pack and ship costs.
  • Estimated additional customs charges at the destination
  • Taking Austria as an example above, your total pick, pack and ship cost is £12.
  • If you elect to pay the destination taxes by our EU-friendly service, on £35 of books we estimate £3.31 taxes due to Austria.

Standard shipping methods

  • Best rate – our least cost service. Tracking only if it happens to come at least cost.
  • EU-friendly – your customers receive their order by tracked service, duty and tax paid. There are no charges for the receiver to pay on delivery.
  • Tracked – shipments up to 2kg are generally sent by tracked post, above 2kg by premium parcel carrier with tracking scans at every touch point.

If you have particular shipping or packaging requirements we will quote.

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Documentation for freight shipments from Kixto

Shipments to within the EU

When you ship from Kixto to an address inside the EU customs union, you are responsible for accounting for the transaction correctly but there are no customs borders to navigate and no customs documentation is required to go with the shipment.

Shipments to outside the EU

Shipments from Kixto to addresses outside the EU customs union must be accompanied by accurate customs documentation; errors or corrections can cause delays, additional fees for you to pay, or even make a shipment undeliverable.

Kixto is a fulfilment service and our role limited to packing and shipping according to your instructions. You are responsible for providing us with the information required for the shipment, such as a customs invoice.

The information here is general in nature and does not consider the specific terms of your shipment or its destination. If you need additional advice, please consult an accountant or the receiver’s customs broker.

Freight shipment checklist

Check all of the following, further detail below.

  • A customs broker is ready to clear the import through customs.
  • Invoice shows your details as exporter.
  • Invoice shows your EORI number.
  • Invoice shows the importer of record and any required ID numbers.
  • Invoice shows terms of trade are DAP.
  • Invoice includes date, your reference and shipping method.
  • Invoice details description, commodity code, origin, quantity, unit value and total value of each product being shipped.
  • Invoice shows insured value.
  • Invoice shows subtotal of goods.
  • Invoice shows cost of shipping and insurance.
  • Invoice has grand total.
  • Documentation forwarded to Kixto.

Further detail

1. Import customs broker

For shipments by sea, the importer of record must employ a customs broker to process their import through customs. Before shipment, check with the broker that they can process the import under “DAP” terms of trade and for any additional information required on the customs documentation.

For shipments by air through services such as DHL, UPS and Fedex, the carrier’s brokerage service will be able to handle the import simply and for a fixed fee (normally around $20) but don’t expect bespoke advice.

2. Your details as exporter, e.g:

Sender
Your business name*
Care of Kixto Ltd
Westward Business Centre
Mill Street
Crediton
EX17 1HB
UK

3. Your EU Economic Operator Registration and Identification (EORI) number

For example, below your address:

Sender’s EORI
GB123456789000*

Your EORI number is normally issued with your VAT registration and is normally your VAT number with three zeros added to the end. You can check your EORI here or, if necessary, get an EORI number online.

4. The importer of record

This is the person / business who is legally responsible for importing the goods into the destination country and paying the import taxes, duties and customs fees. Include their address and contact details. To some destinations, the importer’s tax or operator ID may be required — check with the importer or their broker.

Importer of record
Importer's business name*
Importer's address* 
Importer's contact details* 
Importer's business / tax ID, where applicable*

5. Terms of trade

These identify who is responsible for each stage of the shipment process. If using a shipping service arranged by Kixto, we only send using Delivered at Place (DAP) terms with the receiver responsible for import customs clearance and payment of import taxes and duties.

If you require Delivered Duty Paid (DDP), where the sender is responsible for all charges, you will need to arrange carriage yourself. We can suggest carriers to contact and make the goods available for collection.

Terms of trade: 
DAP, receiver pays import customs, tax and duty charges

6. Invoice details

Include your reference number, the invoice date and the shipping method

Shipment reference: your reference number*
Invoice date: date of document*
Shipment method: Sea or Air*

7. For each product being shipped:

  • The title / description.
  • Its commodity code, searchable here.
  • Country of origin.
  • Quantity sent.
  • Unit value (value per item, either manufacturing cost or what the receiver paid).
  • Total value (quantity x unit value).

8. The insured value.

If you choose to have the shipment insured, the cover will be subject to the carrier’s standard terms. The insured value is the maximum the insurer would compensate you for complete loss, normally the total of the goods value in step 7. For part-loss they would pay out a proportion of the insured value. In the event of a claim the insurer normally requires documented proof of value – either the manufacturer’s invoice or your sales invoice.

Give an insured value of “zero” if no insurance is required.

Value for insurance: zero or desired value*

9. Goods subtotal

A subtotal showing the total value of all goods (i.e. total of  step 7)

10. Shipping

The cost of shipping and, if selected, insurance.

11. Total value for customs

The total shipment value, i.e. the sum of steps 9 and 10.

( * = edit to show your details. )

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Do I really need to be registered for VAT for you to ship my books? What about VAT MOSS?

If your business is established outside the EU then unequivocally, yes, you must register for VAT to ship your books from within the EU. There is no threshold for registration and the same is true in every EU country.

Are zero-rate books taxable supplies?

Yes.  Printed books are considered taxable supplies even though, on most, the UK rate of VAT is 0%. If all your supplies are zero-rated, you will pay no VAT and it’s all just a paperwork exercise – but accounting for even zero VAT remains a legal requirement.

Can I account for the VAT using VAT MOSS?

No. VAT MOSS is specifically for reporting digital sales, such as PDF ebooks, to EU consumers.

Details of the law

The law is set out in detail in HMRC VAT Notice 700/1. Here are the relevant clauses, abridged and reordered to follow more easily:

9.1 NETP – definition

A non-established taxable person (NETP) is any person who is not normally resident in the UK, does not have a UK establishment and, in the case of a company, is not incorporated in the UK.

 9.3 When an NETP must register for VAT in the UK

If you make any taxable supplies in the UK, you must:

  • register for VAT in the UK
  • account for UK VAT to HMRC

2.3 Taxable supplies

A taxable supply is any supply made in the UK which is not exempt from VAT. Taxable supplies include those which are zero-rated for VAT.

3.1 When you have to register for VAT

If you’re an NETP, the registration threshold for taxable supplies does not apply to you, so you’ll have to register for VAT if you make taxable supplies of any value in the UK.

If you only make supplies of certain digital services to consumers in the UK you may instead be able to register for the VAT Mini One Stop Shop (VAT MOSS).

Filed Under: VAT

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CE Marking and Product Safety

Like all well-developed economies, the European Economic Area (EEA) has product safety legislation to protect consumers. At the EEA end of the supply chain, Kixto has an ethical and legal duty to only ship compliant products.

RPG publishers, well-used to conversing with intricate rules from multiple game systems, needn’t feel intimidated by EEA safety requirements. With an early understanding of the rules and process, compliance can be kept simple. But trying to address non-compliance late, while customers are expecting delivery, can be an expensive nightmare. That’s why we encourage you to talk to us early.

Designing for simple compliance

As an example, take a core rule book. It’s a book that is designed for reading and therefore comes under general product safety regulations. Supposing it’s printed using non-toxic chemicals, it’s a product that is safe in normal or reasonable foreseeable use and your product is good to go.

Next, add an adventure module and a slipcase. Your product is now two books and a box: the safety requirements have not changed.

Now add a bag of dice. As well as introducing general safety considerations such as the size, ventilation and micron thickness of the bag, potentially your products is now subject to the Toy Safety Directive and CE marking. Keeping in mind that most gamers have bucketloads of dice, was this addition essential to the game design or a stretch-goal to regret?

EEA Product Safety

All products supplied to the EEA must be safe and fit for purpose. Some categories of products are covered by specific safety regulations and use CE marking to show conformance. If no specific regulations apply to the product, catch-all general product safety rules apply instead.

When Kixto ships a product, we must satisfy ourselves that it meets the applicable safety regulations. Most commonly for us, those are the General Product Safety Regulations and the Toy Safety Directive.

The Toy Safety Directive

The Toy Safety Directive 2009/48/EC applies to any product designed or intended whether or not exclusively for use in play by children under 14 years of age.

A book (or set of books) that is read is generally not a toy because, although it may be about a game, it is not normally a plaything in itself. Examples of books that are playthings are those for under 3s and, potentially, cloth books, bath books, board books and books that have an interactive element apart from reading (e.g. flaps to lift).

If the game contains items other than reading books, these indicative criteria help form a considered opinion about the product’s age range and, therefore, if it’s subject to the Toy Safety Directive:

  1. Theme and complexity. Mature themes or complex rule systems can be indicative of products not intended for under 13s.
  2. Place of selling. Although toys can be crowdfunded, if crowdfunding is your only channel to market then you’re not selling in a location that’s accessible to children.
  3. Target audience of advertising and packaging. Packaging and advertising that is not designed to be child-appealing can be an indication that the product is not a toy.

A game that is subject to the Toy Safety Directive must be assessed for safety and conformity. The first step in the process is for the manufacturer to assess the various chemical, physical, mechanical, electrical, flammability, hygienic and radioactivity hazards the toy may present.  In many games, all the hazards can be addressed by applying “harmonized” standards (EU-wide rules that limit the risk) and, where this is the case, the manufacture can use a self-verification process. The process is documented with a Technical File, an EC Declaration of Conformity and a CE mark on the product itself.

CE-marking needs forethought but isn’t necessarily onerous. For help with self-verification, we suggest you contact Conformance about their Self-Certification Pack for Toys, currently £150 including 2 hours of support.

Further information on manufacturer’s responsibilities is available from gov.uk

Kixto accepts no responsibility or liability whatsoever with regard to the information or advice given here. It is of a general nature only; it is opinion that is not authoritative; it is not intended to address the specific circumstances of any particular individual or entity.