Skateboards.ie

Boards and scooters, priced for Ireland

Free tool

What that UK order actually costs

On 1 July 2026 the EU scrapped the relief that let parcels under €150 arrive without customs duty. Every parcel from outside the EU now carries a charge, and VAT has applied at every value since 2021. Put the numbers in and see the real figure.

Import charge calculator

Work out the landed cost

Put in what a shop outside the EU is charging you. This works out the VAT, the customs duty and the carrier's handling fee, and shows what actually lands on your card.

The flat charge lands once per type of product, not per parcel and not per article. Four identical wheels count once. A deck, trucks and wheels count as three.

Change this to the rate your card actually gave you.

Revenue Commissioners

Charges on import · Ireland

Total to pay—

Rules as they stand since 1 July 2026: VAT at 23% on every import, a flat €3 for each type of product on consignments up to €150, and the normal tariff above that. Duty rates read from the EU TARIC database on 7 August 2026. An Post's €6.95 is published; the courier fees are indicative because none of them publish a consumer figure for Ireland. A guide, not a Revenue ruling.

How the sum works

  1. Customs value. The goods plus what the shop charged you for delivery. Not the goods on their own, which is where most people's estimate goes wrong.
  2. Customs duty. Up to €150 of customs value it is a flat €3 for each distinct type of product. Above that the flat charge stops and a percentage applies instead, which depends on what the thing is: 2.7% on skateboards and hardware, 6% on electric scooters, zero on children's kick scooters.
  3. VAT at 23%. Charged on the customs value plus the duty, so you pay VAT on the duty as well. That is why a €3 charge actually costs €3.69.
  4. The carrier's handling fee. An Post charges €6.95, up since February 2026. The express carriers are dearer and none of them publishes a rate for Ireland. It is their fee rather than a tax, so no VAT applies to it.

The trap in the flat €3

It is not per parcel and it is not per article. It lands once for each distinct type of product, meaning each tariff classification. Revenue's own examples: a notepad, a pen and a keyring is €9, but a box of twenty identical pens is €3.

So a deck, trucks and wheels together is €9. Four identical wheels on their own is €3. The catch is that carriers charge per line on the declaration, and if the shop lists identical items separately you pay for each line. DPD says plainly that it will not tidy that up for you.

Northern Ireland does not count as an import

Under the Windsor Framework there are no customs declarations, tariffs or checks on goods moving from Northern Ireland to the Republic. A parcel from a Belfast shop arrives with nothing added, the same as one from Cork. If a British shop has become uneconomic, this is the alternative almost nobody thinks of.

Made in Britain is not the same as posted from Britain

The trade agreement between the EU and the UK allows zero duty on goods that originate in the UK, which means made there, with a statement of origin from the seller. A deck pressed in China and posted from a warehouse in Manchester does not qualify, and most skate hardware is made in China, the United States or Mexico. Assume you are paying unless the seller tells you otherwise in writing.

Look for IOSS at the checkout

Shops registered for the Import One Stop Shop collect Irish VAT when you pay, and the parcel comes through without a bill at the door. It is usually the cheaper route because you skip the handling fee too. If the checkout does not mention it, assume the charges are coming later.

The obvious conclusion

For most skate and scooter buying, a shop inside the EU wins. Irish shops carry no import charges at all, and a Danish or German shop is an EU sale with no border to cross. Run the numbers before you assume the UK price is cheaper, because on a €90 order the extras usually land somewhere between €25 and €40.