Post or Courier from UK (Wales) to rural (South East) Bulgaria

Hi,
We bought our house a few years ago (sadly just after Brexit due to delays and get out once or twice per year.

We are VERY slowly fixing things - we paid for a new roof last year, but are hoping to do a lot of the work ourselves.

The house is great - two story mud brick, as it the style of the whole village other than the (now abandoned) school and the old doctors surgery.

We buy most of the things we need in locally, but we would like to post ourselves a few things that are hard to find and wondered if there were any suggestions for either couriers or just postal options given that it will be a few boxes at most.

Thanks and apologies if this has been done elsewhere (I did have a look but didn't find anything)

Kit - @Kit2001

Welcome,

What kind of things were you thinking of sending? You might have some issues due to the UK being outside the EU and subject to customs charges that have been in place for a few years now.

@Kit2001

You will need to go and get a customs number ..... cannot remember what they call it officially. Any courier delivering to you from outside the E.U will be asking for it. Its a simple fill the form out and wait 10 minutes operation ... atleast it was for me.

If it's natural building materials that may be hard to find in Bulgaria, you might do better having things delivered from a German supplier to avoid any hassle with customs. If it's smaller items just taking them as luggage is also an option -- no import fees on items carried in personal baggage.

Alternatively there are usually man with van posts in the Facebook expat groups, or delivery services like GGGB or Gabieli who do regular runs between the UK and Bulgaria.

@Kit2001

Whilst getting things from the UK to Bulgaria is certainly achievable, there are a few things you need to know...

As the UK is no longer an EU country, anything you send from the UK to Bulgaria, must have a Customs Declaration on it, with a value for Customs.  It will most likely be held and possibly inspected by the Customs office in your nearest city.

It is now law, that anyone importing or exporting goods into or out of the EU, requires an EORI number / certificate. You will likely be asked for this, before you can collect any item. EORI stands for Economic Operators Registration and Identification.

You can apply, very easily for an EORI number, in your nearest Customs office. It's free, but you must complete the form in Bulgarian and in Cyrillics. When I did it in Varna, the kind lady behind the desk, filled the form for me, but I think I was lucky! It took around 30 minutes.

As for how to send your items, it depends how long you mind waiting and how much you want to pay!

The Post Office is slow - minimum time 10 days, plus add to that Customs keeping it, another week and any delay on you getting to the Customs Office. That said, I've waited up to six weeks, as the Customs Office may not immediately notify you or the Post Office. You will need to collect the item from the designated Post Office.

Alternatively, you can use a courier. Personally I would use either DPD, as they're part of Speedy in Bulgaria, who have many local offices, over the entire country and I've never had an issue with, or use DHL, who, again are very reliable, but you'll pay the price - not cheap! Either courier will want you to collect from a local office and you may or may not - depending on the Customs Office, have to pay Customs tax on your items.  In theory personal items should not attract tax, but try telling Bulgarian Customs that!  I've had stuff sent from the UK in the past and ended up with a long wait and departed with a large sum of money.

To be honest, you might be better collecting a lot of things together and hiring a van, filling the required Customs forms, prior to departure and drive to Bulgaria. The only time you might get inspected, is over the other side of the Channel, after that you're be unlucky if you get a Customs check.

Whilst I can well appreciate you'll want some of your own things from the UK in Bulgaria, many things can be bought here for a reasonable price, particularly electrical and white goods.

@cyberescue1

It's all still a pain in the backside to do it, and it all comes with delays. If you want to send language or the likes, use something like Send My Bag.

As Jane says, it might be easier just to get stuff delivered from Germany/Romania/Hungary/Austria... It might be cheaper; it all depends on what you need. In our Austrain facebook group, a 1/³ (that's 1000) of our members have had some issues with things being sent over from the UK, being held up in customs for longer than it should really be, adding charges that shouldn't have been added, then you have to go through hassel of claiming it back all because some idiot didn't know what they were doing. Just like at the airport, people are still having their passports stamped even if they have a residency card.

Oh, the joys of Brexshit!

I'm interested to see that the Send My Bag prices are much the same as the low season costs to take it as checked in baggage on Wizz.

And they say "Shipments being imported to Bulgaria will require the consignee to arrange clearance directly in person with customs, via their own broker, or by applying to customs for an EORI code prior to shipping. Send My Bag are unable to assist with customs clearance and additional charges may apply."

I've recently started taking the biggest checked in bag i can manage on every trip, using a folding bag and/or trolley that will fit into my overhead locker bag on the return flight. That way i don't need to pay a fee to take the empty checked in suitcase back to the UK, and i don't have any hassle with customs.

I forgot what it was, but a friend bought something in Czechia because it was cheaper, including delivery, than buying in Austria. Our oven came from Germany, and they took the old one away for free, and with free delivery. It is worth shopping around in different EU countries and neighbouring countries; as a last resort, buy from the UK. If you are worried about instructions being in another language, that's where the internet comes in handy. Even in English, I resort to downloading the manual because the print is so small in an A6-sized booklet.

We do this all the time via local bulgarian food stores in the UK  I don't know where you are in Wales but I see there is one in Cardiff "Euro Food and Zaeka" that appear to do baggage.

Just go on Google maps and find a local bulgarian food store near you and visit/ring them to ask if they do a lorry service to BG. It is typically around 2 pounds a kilo and then you just pick it up in Bulgaria at your local Econt.

It's a great service, normally the whole customs form thing is ignored. I feel it's more like a community service to bulgarian expats in the UK vs a business 😂.

They also do it the other way around and some even come to your house in BG to collect and then you pick it up in the shop in the UK when it arrives.

Deliveries are usual monthly or so, depends on when the shop is going back and forth.

@SimCityAT

Yes, it certainly pays to shop around Europe. I've found all sorts of interesting websites.

I avoid buying from the UK now at all costs, with one exception... If there's a book I really can't find anywhere else (there have been a few).

@cyberescue1

I send a lot of UK food stuff on the lorry, so always have a fully stocked cupboard of stuff from home if I crave it.

Last time we were on holiday in belgium I bought good beer from some local breweries and dropped it off at the local bulgarian shop (for the lorry). Picked it up a few weeks later.

Thanks everyone, some great suggestions, and yes, not far from Cardiff so might check in with the food store - what a great system!

Eventually I would like to send all of my books over (around 250/300) so that I can read them all again in retirement - but that might be more of a overland van trip. 

We have a load of books too, and bringing a few at a time with every visit isn't making any visible gap in our bookshelves! My thought was to back them into a lot of solid crates, then lay a mattress on top to sleep on. Hubby inclines to the far more expensive method of shipping the books and using a proper campervan because we also will be transporting a bunch of cats.

We will see who wins!