EU Orders

Why I've temporarily paused shipping to the European Union

If you're visiting from an EU country and wondering why you can't order my tarot and oracle decks directly, I wanted to explain what's happening.

I've always loved sending my decks around the world, including to customers throughout Europe. Unfortunately, changes to EU regulations and customs procedures have made this increasingly difficult for small independent businesses like mine.

What's changed?

Over recent years, the EU has introduced and expanded several regulations affecting businesses selling physical products to European customers.

These include the General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR) and requirements relating to packaging waste, known as Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR).

The packaging rules are particularly challenging. Depending on the destination country, businesses may need to register with national schemes, report packaging materials, pay recycling contributions and appoint local representatives.

For a large company with dedicated compliance staff, this is another administrative task. For a tiny independent business in North Wales, where my husband and I handle everything ourselves, it's considerably more complicated.

And that's before we get to customs.

Customs duties and import charges

Changes to EU customs procedures have introduced further complications for orders arriving from outside the European Union.

Depending on the destination country and shipping arrangements, parcels may be subject to customs duties, import VAT and additional handling or administration charges.

The difficulty isn't simply that these charges exist. It's that the amount payable, who is responsible for paying it and when payment must be made aren't always clear in advance.

Some shipping arrangements require me to pay charges upfront, while others allow the recipient to pay when the parcel arrives.

I've already experienced situations where unexpected customs charges have left me out of pocket, despite doing my best to calculate everything correctly beforehand.

Why can't I just charge more for shipping?

The difficulty isn't really the cost of postage. I know that many of my European customers are perfectly happy to pay international shipping charges to get their hands on a deck they love.

The problem is the increasingly complicated and unpredictable system surrounding those orders.

Different countries have different requirements for packaging registration and import procedures. Some obligations involve ongoing registrations, reporting and compliance costs, rather than a simple charge per parcel.

Even when I'm willing to comply and customers are happy to pay, establishing exactly what's required can be surprisingly difficult.

For a small business sending relatively modest numbers of parcels, navigating all of this has become an unreasonable amount of administration and uncertainty.

I'd love to continue sending my decks throughout Europe, but until there's a clearer, more manageable way to do so, I've made the difficult decision to pause direct EU shipping.

Can I still buy your decks?

There may be a couple of alternatives.

Studio Editions

I'm making selected decks available through PrinterStudio, a print-on-demand service that handles production and fulfilment independently.

These editions feature my original artwork but may differ from my independently printed Collector's Editions in cardstock, finish and packaging.

Availability and delivery options depend on PrinterStudio.

European stockist

Salone des Arcanes has previously stocked my decks and may still have copies available. However, I'm currently unable to guarantee restocks while direct EU shipping remains paused.

Will you start shipping to the EU again?

I certainly hope so! I'm keeping an eye on developments, particularly any simplified arrangements or exemptions for micro-businesses. If a practical and affordable way to resume shipping becomes available, I'll be very happy to welcome EU orders again.

A final word

I know this is disappointing, particularly if you've ordered from me before or have been waiting for a particular deck.

It's disappointing for me too. One of the loveliest parts of creating tarot and oracle decks is knowing that something I've made in my little corner of Wales has found its way to someone on the other side of the world.

I haven't forgotten my European customers, and I haven't given up on finding a solution.

Thank you for your understanding and for supporting independent artists and creators.