Shipping nuances - EU and non-EU countries

Undoubtedly, when you buy a kayak, you would like to receive it. For all customers, it is covered under insurance and if something happens, we will send another one. We ship to 50 different countries / regions and, unfortunately, we cannot offer the same conditions for everyone, due to certain limitations. Our ultimate goal is for the Tucktec kayak to be accessible to everyone and anyone – we do not want certain regions to suffer because they‘re farther away or are outside of the European Union. This means we generally follow this pricing rule:

Kayak Price * VAT + Shipping * VAT = Total Price

European Union

Handling logistics inside of the EU is fairly easy, as we‘re established in Lithuania. Even big shipping companies like UPS offer fairly competitive rates, although we are currently under a contract with Itella (a GLS partner) and our local postal service (Lietuvos paštas – LP), which operates under the Universal Postal Union. Itella is the cheapest and quickest option, LP Express is a bit more expensive.

As for the aforementioned formula, we set the kayak VAT by the rate of the delivery country, and the Shipping VAT is set at the Lithuanian 21% rate due to the way intra-community sales work. We pay the kayak VAT under the OSS scheme, which makes it easier to pay taxes to the respective countries.

Outside of the European Union

This region is a bit more tricky. Our contract with LP is still valid, as they‘re mandated to deliver around the world, but a large problem arises – we cannot pay taxes on behalf of our customers. Upon checking out, the cart price is reduced by the amount of taxes that should be paid, and a notice is displayed, informing the customer that they must pay taxes upon import. Fortunately, the European Union and Lithuania has treaties with all of the regions that we serve which are outside of the EU, hence import duties are essentially waived – no country imposes extra taxes on kayaks. This means that every customer still has an identical pricing model as customers in the EU, they just have to pay their country‘s VAT themselves. Some customs authorities add extra charges, but they are usually small.

We have all the necessary certificates and documentation prepared, so the import process should be as smooth as is possible. Of course, sometimes customs authorities carry out checks and ask for extra documentation. This typically happens upon departure from Lithuania, but they may ask you personally, when the package arrives to the destination country – that is completely normal and we assist you in this process if necessary.

In any case, please feel free to contact us. We can provide more details about your country or dispel any fears or concerns you may have. We are always working on potential solutions to reduce the shipping cost and pay taxes on behalf of our non-EU customers. In the meantime, we‘ll make sure to make your experience as smooth as possible!

P.S. Officially, we ship to Aland islands, Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Faroe islands, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Italy, Jersey, Kosovo, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sakartvelo (Georgia), San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Vatican. If you don't see your country among the list but live close by, don't hesitate to contact us!