RS-Components and UK resellers after Brexit: should I worry?

[mcinque]

Without taking this into politics, I wonder if will be possible and economically susteinable for EU customers like me, after the 29 march Brexit "no deal" as all expect at this point, continue to purchase components, materials and instruments from RS-Components (and other UK based resellers).

Maybe it will raise only the shipment costs and delivery times?
Maybe we'll see a raise also in pricing?

I find some components and products only at RS and it would be a pity to lose their shop.

[Benta]

I see two scenarios:
1: RS relocates to the EU (which is the sensible thing to do if they want to survive).
2: Prices increase, and you'll have a lot of work with customs.

[Mr. Scram]

You should worry, but as this point there's literally no one in the world who knows what will happen in two month's time. As Benta assesses correctly, it's likely the companies involved will take whatever measures are required to service their markets conveniently. In the end they're profit driven and not taking steps to rectify whatever trouble is thrown their way isn't in their best interest.

It may take a while, though. I can imagine companies not being eager to act and invest millions before the actual situation is clear and somewhat permanently resolved.

[Andreas]

Hello,

I would not worry.
there is already a shop in Germany:

RS Components GmbH
Hessenring 13b, 64546 Mörfelden-Walldorf

Although usually I get on one order
1 package from Mörfelden
3 packages from different locations in UK
So probably only the delivery time will increase

with best regards

Andreas

[Towger]

Radio Spares operate in many countries, so you can still buy in Europe.  Farnell have a 'brass plate' office in Ireland, but most stock is UK based, with some in Europe.

There will be problems, no matter what happens.

For example, in the event of a no deal Brexit.  Companies operating in the EU who are incorporated in th UK or who's *parent* company is incorporated in the UK will no longer me able to trade.  This has not been widely broadcast.  If they wish to continue trading will have to re incorporate within the EU.  This creates a huge administration overhead.  New company, VAT, employer numbers and all that entails...

[Siwastaja]

2: Prices increase, and you'll have a lot of work with customs.

Why would you have "a lot" of work with customs, and increased prices?

We buy almost everything from Digikey, USA, because it seems to offer the best mix of being cheap enough, good service, and good inventory. FYI, USA is not part of EU. There is absolutely zero customs hassle. Free shipping. Everything's handled automatically by the shipping company. And, they have a bank account in Europe, and they can sell with no VAT to the EU customers, like any EU-based company.

Why would post-Brexit RS be different from Digikey?

Why Digikey has't relocated to EU, if being in EU is so important?

So maybe there is this option:
3) They'll continue doing business like every other non-EU distributor does now, possibly by opening a minimized EU branch office somewhere. Edit: As others have informed, this has already been taken care of, as usual with big firms.

[janoc]

RS shouldn't be a problem, they have a lot of warehouses and local HQs all over Europe. E.g. I have one about 30km away here in Beauvais and they have about 2-3 depots in France alone.

There may be shipping issues for things that would normally come out of UK's warehouse for a while, but I wouldn't expect anything big or longterm. If anyone is going to survive the brexit chaos, it is going to be the large retailers like RS which have both means and ways to maintain bases in multiple countries.

[janoc]

2: Prices increase, and you'll have a lot of work with customs.

Why would you have "a lot" of work with customs, and increased prices?

We buy almost everything from Digikey, USA, because it seems to offer the best mix of being cheap enough, good service, and good inventory. FYI, USA is not part of EU. There is absolutely zero customs hassle. Free shipping. Everything's handled automatically by the shipping company. And, they have a bank account in Europe, and they can sell with no VAT to the EU customers, like any EU-based company

Well, with Digikey it depends HUGELY on the country you are in. When I lived in Switzerland (which isn't even in the EU) and Denmark I had the same experience as you. Digikey, no problem.

However, once I have moved to France, Digikey is an enormous hassle, you get constantly hit with customs handling fees by UPS (or who are they using to do the shipping), they bother you for ITAR stuff even for ridiculous things like PIC micros, credit card problems, you name it.

So this is a real problem.

[Siwastaja]

However, once I have moved to France, Digikey is an enormous hassle, you get constantly hit with customs handling fees by UPS (or who are they using to do the shipping), they bother you for ITAR stuff even for ridiculous things like PIC micros, credit card problems, you name it.

So this is a real problem.

Interesting - in Finland, everything works perfectly out-of-box with Digikey, UPS does the whole customs clearence hassle transparently, and even the billing works with an EU-based company. So Digikey's completely wrapped to work like any EU company. You don't even need to use credit card, you can get an account and pay to an European (German, if my memory serves me right, but it might be somewhere else inside EU) account.

Interesting to hear you still have an issue in France.

[Benta]

Why would you have "a lot" of work with customs, and increased prices?

Why would post-Brexit RS be different from Digikey?

Why Digikey has't relocated to EU, if being in EU is so important?

Ever heard of trade agreements? The US has such with the EU. After a hard Brexit, the UK has none, and it'll take years to negotiate new ones. It'll be like importing from Ouagadougou. 25% tariffs, customs hassle, value limits etc.

Enjoy.

[Benta]

Hello,

I would not worry.
there is already a shop in Germany:

RS Components GmbH
Hessenring 13b, 64546 Mörfelden-Walldorf

Although usually I get on one order
1 package from Mörfelden
3 packages from different locations in UK
So probably only the delivery time will increase

with best regards

Andreas

The 3 packages from the UK will be subject to customs check and tariffs. Whether you do it, or a EU affiliate of RS does it, it'll cost money. Don't kid yourself. As I noted above, compare shipment from Ouagadougou.

[Mr. Scram]

Ever heard of trade agreements? The US has such with the EU. After a hard Brexit, the UK has none, and it'll take years to negotiate new ones. It'll be like importing from Ouagadougou. 25% tariffs, customs hassle, value limits etc.

Enjoy.

I don't think people realize this enough. The industrialized world is tightly integrated and the plethora of measures allow for a streamlined transfer of information, money and goods. Most of us don't know how good we have it, as we've lived in this convenient bubble as long as we can remember. This is the result of many years of careful negotiation and adjusting. The UK now pretty much cuts its ties to the rest of the world completely, without the benefit of any treaties or measures. It's back to square one in very real ways and I'm afraid it's going to hurt like crazy, which won't be restricted to just the UK itself either. The plan was to negotiate alternatives before the real Brexit happens, but due to all kinds of reasons I won't get into that didn't quite materialized in the way anyone imagined or hoped for. Nobody who has any clue of the repercussions wants this, but it seems we'll find out what'll happen anyway.

[nctnico]

Why would you have "a lot" of work with customs, and increased prices?

Why would post-Brexit RS be different from Digikey?

Why Digikey has't relocated to EU, if being in EU is so important?

Ever heard of trade agreements? The US has such with the EU. After a hard Brexit, the UK has none, and it'll take years to negotiate new ones. It'll be like importing from Ouagadougou. 25% tariffs, customs hassle, value limits etc.

That is true but I don't think there will be much customs hassle. Just the import tarif. But I doubt it will be a problem when ordering components since most of the distributors have warehouses in the EU as well. I assume they'll move the stock from the UK warehouses to the ones inside the EU. It will suck for the employees though because the UK based warehouses will probably have to lay-off a whole bunch of people.

[Mr. Scram]

That is true but I don't think there will be much customs hassle. Just the import tarif. But I doubt it will be a problem when ordering components since most of the distributors have warehouses in the EU as well. I assume they'll move the stock from the UK warehouses to the ones inside the EU. It will suck for the employees though because the UK based warehouses will probably have to lay-off a whole bunch of people.

Even the customs hassle is turning out to be a massive issue. Adding just a few seconds for each parcel amounts to days of waiting time. Worse still, the infrastructure is built upon a streamlined and nearly seamless process. Customs isn't anywhere near ready to process those amounts of goods, on either side. It'll probably be years before the infrastructure is capable of handling the new situation properly.

[2N3055]

RS is coming to me from a local Croatian company anyways, very quick, 48h.
I worry about Farnell, because they are very good to me now, but I don't think I would buy so much from them if delivery times go from 3 days to 6-7 days, like it was before Croatia entered full EU membership. I get stuff quicker than that from Mouser. I hope Farnell figure out a proxy company inside EU  to deal with this.

[janoc]

RS is coming to me from a local Croatian company anyways, very quick, 48h.
I worry about Farnell, because they are very good to me now, but I don't think I would buy so much from them if delivery times go from 3 days to 6-7 days, like it was before Croatia entered full EU membership. I get stuff quicker than that from Mouser. I hope Farnell figure out a proxy company inside EU  to deal with this.

AFAIK, Farnell has warehouses on the continent. When I have ordered things from them, I have always got them from the French depots. It probably matters which website you order from - if you go to the UK one, the Farnell in the UK will be dealing with it and the goods will go from the UK.

[nctnico]

That is true but I don't think there will be much customs hassle. Just the import tarif. But I doubt it will be a problem when ordering components since most of the distributors have warehouses in the EU as well. I assume they'll move the stock from the UK warehouses to the ones inside the EU. It will suck for the employees though because the UK based warehouses will probably have to lay-off a whole bunch of people.

Even the customs hassle is turning out to be a massive issue. Adding just a few seconds for each parcel amounts to days of waiting time. Worse still, the infrastructure is built upon a streamlined and nearly seamless process. Customs isn't anywhere near ready to process those amounts of goods, on either side. It'll probably be years before the infrastructure is capable of handling the new situation properly.

I don't think so. Massive amounts of goods are imported & exported to/from the US and China and the EU. The stream of goods to/from the UK is just a drop in the bucket compared to that. There are exceptions like food and live stock (animals) which need longer to be checked. But for ordinary stuff like parts I don't see any reason for extra delays. Couriers like Fedex, UPS, etc are already setup for this process.

Let's not make Brexit a bigger thing than it is. Besides (likely) having no trade agreements nothing will change. The UK will not suddenly drift into an abyss or have no rain. It is 'millenium bug' allover again.

[bd139]

No we were already in a pretty big abyss so we're used to this crap.

I wouldn't worry about it. All the multinational distributors will have worked out how to avoid shafting customers over this mess by the time it drops. If you're outside of the UK then you probably won't notice a difference.

If you're inside the UK you're going to get screwed hard on tariffs however. The company I am working for at the moment just hedged £1m on hardware to avoid future tariffs. I will laugh if it's cancelled.

Also on Farnell, when I order stuff, sometimes some of it comes from Leeds, sometimes from Belgium. Sometimes both for the same order. I imagine that will change.

World will go round. Always does.

[2N3055]

RS is coming to me from a local Croatian company anyways, very quick, 48h.
I worry about Farnell, because they are very good to me now, but I don't think I would buy so much from them if delivery times go from 3 days to 6-7 days, like it was before Croatia entered full EU membership. I get stuff quicker than that from Mouser. I hope Farnell figure out a proxy company inside EU  to deal with this.

AFAIK, Farnell has warehouses on the continent. When I have ordered things from them, I have always got them from the French depots. It probably matters which website you order from - if you go to the UK one, the Farnell in the UK will be dealing with it and the goods will go from the UK.

I use Farnell international, and it comes from UK all the time. But, thank you for the info, all they need to do is to reorganize and send to all of EU from France...
Regards,

[Mr. Scram]

I don't think so. Massive amounts of goods are imported & exported to/from the US and China and the EU. The stream of goods to/from the UK is just a drop in the bucket compared to that. There are exceptions like food and live stock (animals) which need longer to be checked. But for ordinary stuff like parts I don't see any reason for extra delays. Couriers like Fedex, UPS, etc are already setup for this process.

Let's not make Brexit a bigger thing than it is. Besides (likely) having no trade agreements nothing will change. The UK will not suddenly drift into an abyss or have no rain. It is 'millenium bug' allover again.

You're overlooked the agreements that exist between the countries you mention, and also the existing infrastructure. They're not just random countries who happen to trade with each other, which the UK will be after a hard Brexit. There won't be any existing relations or infrastructure fit for the purpose. The UK is much more integrated into the EU. Also don't underestimate the volume of trading between the UK and the EU. Both are relatively large markets and about half of UK trading is with the EU.

The difference with Y2K is that many hundreds of thousands of people worked hard to prevent actual mishaps to  prevent Y2K from becoming a disaster. Consequently people assume that Y2K was made bigger than it actually was, but it wasn't. People fixed it before it broke and it was a monumental effort. Now there's no fix. There are little to no alternatives negotiated. The hard Brexit is Y2K without the years of preparation of fixes.

I really do hope we're mistaken here, but there's little reason for optimism. Due to how the negotiations unfolded and people thinking they could get more instead of getting nothing, it's essentially the worst case scenario. Thankfully negotiators have provided a "backstop" scenario, but that's as good as it gets.

[janoc]

I use Farnell international, and it comes from UK all the time. But, thank you for the info, all they need to do is to reorganize and send to all of EU from France...
Regards,

I think Farnell International defaults to the UK site, they don't have another English speaking one for Europe. So that's likely why you are getting your orders fulfilled from there. Try farnell.fr or farnell.de next time and see whether the packages still come from the UK or not. On a quick check they list the location of many of their goods in warehouses in UK and in Liege (Belgium) - so I would expect they will move stock to the continent as part of the Brexit preparations.


Farnell France SAS has an official address here: 314 Allée des Noisetiers, ZAC des Bruyères, 69760 Limonest, France (near Lyon)
https://www.google.com/maps/@45.8161766,4.77256,3a,63.6y,28.86h,92.88t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s1AtkonfngoQG8wIgzk0gZg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656 (notice the orange logo in the window).

German Farnell has their seat in Munich:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Farnell/@48.1491082,11.6837243,102a,35y,128.39h/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x4108f8ed94a3bac1:0xd509acee3550d5e0!8m2!3d48.1491411!4d11.6838634

I wouldn't be worried about it too much.

[olkipukki]

I find some components and products only at RS and it would be a pity to lose their shop.

Wondering what sort of components and products available on RS only?

[bd139]

If you want overpriced low quantity items they have stolen the market 

[2N3055]

Like BD139 says, they are expensive, and don't hold as many things others.
But when I'm in a hurry, they will deliver stuff in 48h to my door.

[HalFET]

RS is quite nice if you need things like VFDs, variacs, etc., the others are a bit lacking in stock in those aspects. But I suspect Farnell and RS are going to move a considerable portion of their stock over the next few weeks, if they haven't done so already.