VAT and Customs in Cider, do I have to pay them when I place an order? [2024]

Cider, as a foreign company in our countries, gives us all the positivism of buying fashion at a low price, but fear and doubts enter us when buying in case shipping will make us pay more taxes in our countries and many times we do not encourage you to buy for it.

In this case we must analyze the fact of paying customs if you are in any country in the world, and the payment of VAT, which is the Value Added Tax that is charged for the purchase of each product if you are in a country of the European Union.

How Customs work in Cider

Your Cider order may be stopped at Customs spontaneously, that is, Customs operators stop packages randomly. But if your order has a large volume, they may stop it.

So it's best to place separate small orders of no more than $90. If you live outside the European Union, you will only have to pay the customs duty if your order exceeds the customs price limit for your country.

If we have to pay customs, the shipping company will demand the money and we can pay it or not. If we do not pay it, the order will return to the country of origin. But we can process this payment on our own through the Post Office website of our country, so we will only pay the customs and not the processing costs, or pay the shipping company to manage it, which may involve the customs price plus 20 or 30 euros of customs payment management by the shipping company.

You should know that, as Cider expresses on its page, it is not responsible for paying customs, so if your Cider order is retained in customs, you must pay this fee on your own and not you can demand payment from Cider.

How does VAT work in Cider

On the other hand, if you are a resident of the European Union, there is no longer a customs payment limit, since it was eliminated in June 2021, but there is an obligation to pay VAT on all your orders. You must pay the VAT of your country on the price of your order. This percentage of VAT depends on the country of the European Union where you reside.

Cider states on its website that it is not responsible for this tax, so Cider does not have VAT included in its products. On their website we find the following text:

"Shipments will be delivered with duties and taxes unpaid. Therefore, all import duties and/or taxes (customs) will be collected once the package reaches its destination country. In your case, these charges should be paid by customers, especially if you choose Express shipping for your order."

A great pity for buyers from the European Union, since SHEIN and Aliexpress do include VAT in their orders and therefore their prices are much cheaper, since Cider's average prices are not so cheap anymore. yes and the expense of the VAT declaration is added.

Therefore when you buy at Cider you will receive a message where the shipping company asks you to pay VAT. And this will be safe, that is, you will receive this message because Cider does not include VAT on its products.

You can make this VAT payment yourself, processing the VAT payment through the official website of the Post Office of your country or pay it to the shipping company that will manage it for you but will also charge you the management costs.

If you want more differences that can help you understand the advantages and disadvantages of Cider you can read my article on comparison between the fashion giant SHEIN and Cider here.