Should i risk buying something from post-Brexit Britain?

Portugal really isn't that far from Britain, especially when you consider the range of options for getting goods between the two countries - namely land and sea, and historically the two countries have pretty good political and economic relations too.

However, now that there's a particular product I want (a certain solar water pump) that I can only get from Britain, it seems that trying to do so is only going to end badly, with me being charged hefty import duties and the possibility of my goods either being delayed or lost altogether.

I put out this simple question to the 'British in Portugal' Facebook group:

And just look at some of the responses i got....

Of course this might be a case of a self-selecting sample - the British in Portugal group is VERY anti-Brexit and my question presents something of an opportunity to vent one's anger about any negative experiences and it's probably less likely that someone is going to reply if they bought something from the UK and it basically just arrived, no problemo.

However, 20 negative responses in a day is quite a lot, so it doesn't fill me with confidence about relying on buying from the UK, especially when the product I want is around the $500 mark. That's potentially a lot of extra tax and a lot of money to lose if gets lost.

There was one positive response at least which suggested I contact the company and ask if they 'know what they are doing' with exporting to Portugal, and to get them to do all the necessary paperwork in advance.

I might have to try that.

I guess this is a product of Brexit meaning that anyone trying to buy a product from Britain living in Portugal is now subject to Portugues postal bureaucracy, and anything involving officialdom and forms in Portugal is most definitely not good.

It's just so utterly ridiculous in this era of 'free trade' that I'm in a situation where I can't get the product I want from my home country which is a mere 2000 miles away.

What an utter shambles. the fact that I'm even having to ask the question 'should I risk buying something from Britain?' is just bonkers.

But at least I got the heads up and can now find a workaround.

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