Brogues

[Swampster]

...
Now the sad part though - costs.
Grenson deducted from the sale price a further £ 30 (= English VAT), so they invoiced me for (£150 + £15 p&p with DHL).
I was expecting to pay about 40 euro more for Italian VAT on delivery, but instead received a mail from the carrier, in wich I was asked to pay them 71 euro "in order to have my parcel cleared for delivery".

Do you know how that DHL charge would compare with, say, an order from the USA?
As well as VAT, you may be having to pay import duty. I've just had a quick look and I think that might be 0%, it might be 8% or it might be something else entirely! If they are Indian made, for instance, I think there is duty. [Just found an article complaining about charges _from_ Italy which says the rate on shoes is 16% and I think it works the same in both directions - so another GBP 24]
There is usually a handling fee. Royal Mail charge GBP 8. I couldn't find the rate for DHL in Italy. In the UK it is 2.5% of the Duty/Tax paid with a minimum of GBP 11.

The VAT you pay includes the cost of the shipping. Is there a breakdown of the costs on the DHL invoice? I suspect the added costs are the customs duty.

 

[Luigi_M]

Tis is the breakdown DHL sent me:
Duty (DT) € 13,55
Other fees (L1) € 16,47
GST on importation € 40,24
(plus I was already paying £15 for p&p)
I must repeat: for what I paid I'm happy with Grenson (MiE) quality, and service (shoes delivered in four days from purchase) - I just don't like the unadvised charges from DHL.

 

[Swampster]

They do have stuff on their website but you have to go looking. I'm not sure it is up to date either - I had a go with the duty calculator and it said UK was a EU member state

Apparently, anything under 150 euros (not sure if that includes p&p) wouldn't be charged duty, so you'll need to get Grenson to take the price down by about another 10%

 

[Clouseau]

I saw interesting Brogues at Herring, but those added costs discourage me. You have to add more or less 50% of the initial price !
Not sure the Brexit will be that good for Brit economy, this is a good example i think, as i won't be the only one who will prefer not to order goods from UK anymore.

 

[Swampster]

I saw interesting Brogues at Herring, but those added costs discourage me. You have to add more or less 50% of the initial price !
Not sure the Brexit will be that good for Brit economy, this is a good example i think, as i won't be the only one who will prefer not to order goods from UK anymore.

Remember that the biggest element of Luigi's invoice was the EUR 40 but his price had been reduced by GBP 30, so the additional cost was more like 20-25%. That still isn't good, but not as bad as 50%.

Looks like the duty might have been about 8%."

Footwear with outer soles of rubber, plastics or composition leather, with uppers of leather (excluding covering the ankle, incorporating a protective metal toecap, sports footwear, orthopaedic footwear and toy footwear)

Sports footwear is 16.9%. There are 820 different codes covering textiles, clothes etc. from baling string to boat sails to the peaks and chinstraps of hats. 20 of those codes are for shoes. Looks like clogs would have the lowest rate - leather uppers and a sole which is not plastic, rubber or leather! (3.5%)

I _think_ that even with MiE stuff, the Rules of Origin will kick in with shoes (no pun intended) as the leather is going to be non-UK or EU in most cases and, depending on company, much of the work like clicking may also have been carried out elsewhere.

If the DHL website is right, getting stuff which is less than EUR150 stays more reasonable, though you still have to pay the VAT.

I know the import costs can be a big disincentive. I have ordered books from the EU in the past (before Brexit) and because point of sale VAT cost apply, I have paid an extra 20% compared to the UK (where books are VAT free).

 

[Clouseau]

Remember that the biggest element of Luigi's invoice was the EUR 40 but his price had been reduced by GBP 30, so the additional cost was more like 20-25%. That still isn't good, but not as bad as 50%.

Looks like the duty might have been about 8%."

Footwear with outer soles of rubber, plastics or composition leather, with uppers of leather (excluding covering the ankle, incorporating a protective metal toecap, sports footwear, orthopaedic footwear and toy footwear)

Sports footwear is 16.9%. There are 820 different codes covering textiles, clothes etc. from baling string to boat sails to the peaks and chinstraps of hats. 20 of those codes are for shoes. Looks like clogs would have the lowest rate - leather uppers and a sole which is not plastic, rubber or leather! (3.5%)

I _think_ that even with MiE stuff, the Rules of Origin will kick in with shoes (no pun intended) as the leather is going to be non-UK or EU in most cases and, depending on company, much of the work like clicking may also have been carried out elsewhere.

If the DHL website is right, getting stuff which is less than EUR150 stays more reasonable, though you still have to pay the VAT.

I know the import costs can be a big disincentive. I have ordered books from the EU in the past (before Brexit) and because point of sale VAT cost apply, I have paid an extra 20% compared to the UK (where books are VAT free).

Thought Luigi said he paid 71 euros more, While the shoes were 150 quids ? Anyway even 25% more is way too much to my liking.

 

[Swampster]

Thought Luigi said he paid 71 euros more, While the shoes were 150 quids ? Anyway even 25% more is way too much to my liking.

He paid 71 more but 40 of this was the GST which more or less replaced the 30 quid VAT which had been taken off.

 

[Luigi_M]

Cheap brogues, Blake stitched in Italy under the noble English name 'Saxone of Scotland'. Yet they have been serving me well for four years now, so I think they may have a place here.

P.S. this thread deserves more attention.
Shame on all brogue owners that don't post pics

 

[Thin White Duke]

Ask and ye shall receive!
Field tested my punch cap jump boots in the snow in Buffalo NY a couple of weeks ago ...

 

[cerneabbas]

How did you find the Dainite in snow ?
I like the boots,I would have been tempted to go for a Vibram sole on them like the C&J Pembroke.

 

[Swampster]

I only went on suburban snow, but my Dainites seemed pretty good.

 

[Thin White Duke]

How did you find the Dainite in snow ?
I like the boots,I would have been tempted to go for a Vibram sole on them like the C&J Pembroke.

Yeah the snow was fresh and the dainties were OK. Had I stuck around and had to deal with it icing over I think the only solution to that is crampons!!
I debated getting Vibram style or commandos as it was an option but Dainite snare maybe a step up in formality and being less clunky mean they are versatile enough to work in a more formal rig. The next day I wore them with heavy grey flannels and while it looked fine I have to say that flannels are no match for fleece-lined chinos when it comes to cold windy weather!
I asked meermins imput in whether to get dainites or commando soles and they suggested dainites for wet weather. I don’t anticipate having to wear them in snow very often!

 

[cerneabbas]

Yeah the snow was fresh and the dainties were OK. Had I stuck around and had to deal with it icing over I think the only solution to that is crampons!!
I debated getting Vibram style or commandos as it was an option but Dainite snare maybe a step up in formality and being less clunky mean they are versatile enough to work in a more formal rig. The next day I wore them with heavy grey flannels and while it looked fine I have to say that flannels are no match for fleece-lined chinos when it comes to cold windy weather!
I asked meermins imput in whether to get dainites or commando soles and they suggested dainites for wet weather. I don’t anticipate having to wear them in snow very often!

I agree that the Dainites will get more use especially for you mainly in Florida.
I have a few pairs of shoes and boots with Commando soles I wear them with various casual clothes,as you say they dont work with formal clothes but I have other Brogues to wear on those occasions.
I only have one pair of boots with a leather sole and when I get them resoled I will have either Dainite or Commando sole...or maybe the burlap/rubber sole that I mentioned before.....actually I just remembered that I have another pair of black longwings with a leather sole but I intend to keep them like that as they dont get much wear.

The Punch cap design seems more common in the USA than UK ? (probably common is the wrong word,I dont suppose you see that many?).
I like the Punch cap,I also like semi Brogues but they are usually Oxfords here and tbh I dont like Oxfords that much now.

 

[cerneabbas]

NPS Wilson,in a sale at 'A fine pair of shoes' ,Dainite soles £165 and leather soles £108 (apparently orders over £120 are free delivery to EU countries ?).

Does anyone have any experience with NPS Brogues ? I dont like the metal eyelets but apart from that I think that they look pretty good.

 

[Luigi_M]

I like them and I always enjoyed excellent service from AFPOS. I too dislike metal eyelets but for that price I could swallow them.
Sadly, after Brexit, I found that those gluttons at Italian customs add too much fees other than the VAT, and more money is asked by the carriers as 'handling fees' (whatever the damn this means) - so at the present I'm no more buying from England .
I'd be curious to know if our British friends have similar troubles buying from EU.