With Brexit scheduled to take place this Friday, the 31st of January 2020, eBay Brexit advice has been updated with the following statement:
“Last year, we communicated the steps sellers needed to take to prepare for a ‘no deal’ Brexit on January 31 i.e. The date when Britain would leave the European Union without a withdrawal agreement.
A ‘no deal’ Brexit will almost certainly not happen this month. Following the UK General Election, Britain is currently scheduled to leave the European Union on 31 January 2020 and we now expect that the Withdrawal Agreement between the UK and EU will be ratified. The Government has now formally ceased planning for a ‘no deal’ scenario and the transitional arrangements will mean that EU Customs and Single Market rules will apply until at least the end of December 2020.
The good news is that you can continue to trade under current rules until the end of 2020.
We’ll be monitoring the situation over the coming months and will keep you updated on the latest advice from the Government on what you need to do to prepare for Brexit.
Find out more on our dedicated Brexit page here“
– Regards, The eBay Team
What happens next is although the UK has the right to extend the transition period beyond December 2020, the UK government has so far said it does not wish to do this. So it’s best to plan on the basis that there won’t be an extension to the transition period. Currently we don’t know what a long term trade deal with the EU could look like and it’s unlikely we’ll have a clear idea until much later in the year.
eBay Brexit strategy for sellers
eBay point out that to support businesses that export from the UK, the eBay Global Shipping Programme can give you access to buyers in over 100 countries. This means sellers can ship their parcels to a UK shipping centre and it’s then eBay’s problem to deal with Brexit and get parcels to EU customers regardless of what happens with Brexit.
