TL; DR: Customers will get an extra copy of
their receipt emailed to them & everybody will pay the same price for my
Ravelry patterns (Rav shop set to 'seller pays VAT')
First of all, happy new year everybody -
it's still January where I live, so it's still socially acceptable for me to
tell you that, isn't it? No matter, I do wish you all a happy new year.
Hopefully it'll be a good one.
With this new year come some changes
regarding my Ravelry patterns - those are not major changes but still, I feel
like some explanations are in order.
Firstly, when you purchase one of my
patterns you'll now receive an extra copy of your receipt. I'll email it to you
most likely the day after the purchase - I'm no robot and have yet to find a
mean to automate the process so this delay might vary, but I'll do my best to
send it as quickly as possible.
Why an extra receipt, you might ask?
Because French administration is... how to say it politely... ridiculously
nitpicky? Yeah, ridiculously nitpicky. So Paypal receipts just won't do when
doing my taxes and other paperwork in general.
No, for the French administration to see a
receipt as a legitimate proof that you're making money in a non-fraudulent way,
the receipt needs, amongst other things:
-to be written
in French
-to have the
seller's postal address and SIREN number on it
-to have a
little legal mention at the bottom
-to be numbered
in a certain way
So there. From now on I'll be sending out
extra receipts in French. I've decided to also join a translated copy of said
receipt because it feels weird to just send someone something they'll most
likely be unable to understand.
So in effect, if you purchase one of my
patterns, you’ll get a short email explaining what I just said, basically, with
two pdf files attached to it: the receipt in French and the copy translated in
English. Obviously, you won't have anything to do once you get the email. This
receipt is like a proof of payment, not a “Money! Send me more money! MONNNEEEEEH!!!!”
kind of thing. I am really sorry for the inconvenience - believe me, the last
thing I want to do is send emails left right and center - but for the moment,
that's the only way I've found to be in accordance with French law whilst
distributing my patterns through Ravelry.
Second thing is, I've set my Ravelry shop
to 'seller pays VAT'. What does this mean? Quick answer is: a price decrease for
European customers.
The long, more technical answer is: every
customer now pays the same price, no matter where they live.
Here’s an example of how it works:
Say you’re from the UK (VAT=20%)
-if my shop is
set to ‘customers pay VAT’, a pattern priced at 5€ will cost you 5+(5*20%)=6€.
At the end of the month, I pay back that extra euro to Ravelry – since I let
them handle the VAT. A pattern priced at 5€ does earn me 5€ (before other
charges and taxes are applied, but that’s an all different thing.)
-if my shop is
set to ‘seller pays VAT’, then a pattern priced at 5€ will cost you, oh
surprise, 5€. At the end of the month, Ravelry will still bill me that extra
euro of VAT, so in effect, this 5€ pattern earns me 4€.
So… Yay for equality amongst customers, I
guess? :D
Be aware, though, that I may set my shop back
to the usual 'customers pay VAT' someday - I'm still figuring out some details
and selling in the EU with the new VAT laws is quite finicky so nothing is set
in stone. Right now it seems less of a hassle to 'lose' a little money and pay
VAT to Ravelry myself than to have to figure out how to NOT apply VAT to French
customers while STILL applying VAT to all other European customers - because
yes, as far as I know, that's how I'd have to tax my patterns if I were to
collect VAT from customers. So for now I'll just be lazy, take what looks like
the easy road, have ALL Europeans pay the same price as everybody else and pay
VAT for everybody myself – thus insuring I’m not making people pay VAT when I
really shouldn’t. Better safe than sorry, right?
And if I find another solution/hear that
it's not the right way to proceed/am struck by a genius idea on how to deal
with all this finicky business, I'll act accordingly and make the necessary
changes.
Anyway, I'll keep you updated here ;)
