Are there any resellers of BoardSMITH in the EU?

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DanielCoffey

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South Ayrshire, UK
I was wondering if there were any official resellers of BoardSMITH boards in the EU at all? I am in the UK.

I am aware that the BoardSMITH website allows International sales but with the shipping then the import duty and 20% VAT on both the board and shipping costs, I was hoping there was a more local solution.
 
Their regular 12"x18" was $131 and the Board Butter added about $15 but does affect International shipping so I was thinking of getting a generic Board Butter locally. I was considering asking for a custom size below 12"x18" if I was ordering direct from the US.

No idea what the typical postage to the UK is and the VAT will have to be paid on that too.
 
Their regular 12"x18" was $131 and the Board Butter added about $15 but does affect International shipping so I was thinking of getting a generic Board Butter locally. I was considering asking for a custom size below 12"x18" if I was ordering direct from the US.

No idea what the typical postage to the UK is and the VAT will have to be paid on that too.

I have imported a boardsmith board into the EU. Shipping is almost the same as the board, and VAT is no joke if you have to pay it.
 
One thing to consider: make your own board conditioner. Gently heat food grade mineral oil (often sold as a laxative) and melt food grade beeswax into it in a ratio ranging from 1:5 to 1:10 beeswax:mineral oil, i.e. 1 gram beeswax plus 5 to 10 milliliters (or grams, close enough) mineral oil .

High quality 12" x 18" x 1.5-2" end grain cutting board for US$131 is quite good pricing even in USA. But due to high shipping costs, why not find a good alternative from your country?
 
I will have a look at a UK source but one detail of the BoardSMITH boards that stands out is the feet. Their boards have wooden plugs with a rubber foot held in place with a stainless screw. This means they are replaceable if needed and won't rust. The long-grain Wusthof board I have simply uses silicone feet held in place with a nail. Yup... a steel nail.

I was hoping to hear from BoardSMITH if they had a n EU reseller but it does not look like they do.

I will think about talking to Norfolk Oak about a custom board because BoardSMITH has an opinion on oak for chopping boards.
 
I will have a look at a UK source but one detail of the BoardSMITH boards that stands out is the feet. Their boards have wooden plugs with a rubber foot held in place with a stainless screw. This means they are replaceable if needed and won't rust. The long-grain Wusthof board I have simply uses silicone feet held in place with a nail. Yup... a steel nail.

I was hoping to hear from BoardSMITH if they had a n EU reseller but it does not look like they do.

I will think about talking to Norfolk Oak about a custom board because BoardSMITH has an opinion on oak for chopping boards.

They do other woods. Mine is walnut.
 
It just makes more sense to buy a board made in EU - because of the shipping and customs fees. I mean - boardsmith makes top quality boards, but importing such a heavy items from US really pushes up the price.
 
Hi Daniel, so sorry about the delay in responding! If you'll email me directly, I'll do the best I can for you on shipping. If we are creating a custom size for you, there might be options using a flat rate box through USPS that could save money.
[email protected]
 
Incidentally, if anyone has suggestions on how I could make a batch of butcher block, ship it somewhat cost-effectively (buy some space in a 40 foot container??), and a partner in the EU (or soon to be ex-EU) who would want to carry the inventory, please let me know. I'd definitely be responsive to giving that a trial run.
 
Incidentally, if anyone has suggestions on how I could make a batch of butcher block, ship it somewhat cost-effectively (buy some space in a 40 foot container??), and a partner in the EU (or soon to be ex-EU) who would want to carry the inventory, please let me know. I'd definitely be responsive to giving that a trial run.

John, I don't have a specific recommendation of company for you, but I am on the board of a non-profit that sells some items to help defray operating costs, and one thing we discussed recently was using an order fulfilment service. On our side we would just send them a batch of inventory and let them know our pricing, and then they run their e-commerce site, packing and shipping orders as they come in. We would just put a link to them on our website and in our promotional materials.

Not sure if this would work for you, as to make it work means making enough inventory to ship over there in batches. But it would probably help as far as navigating VAT and other similar issues.

Maybe easiest would be to link up with a specific EU retailer and sell them a bunch at wholesale? Might not be worth it depending on your output.
 
John, I don't have a specific recommendation of company for you, but I am on the board of a non-profit that sells some items to help defray operating costs, and one thing we discussed recently was using an order fulfilment service. On our side we would just send them a batch of inventory and let them know our pricing, and then they run their e-commerce site, packing and shipping orders as they come in. We would just put a link to them on our website and in our promotional materials.

Not sure if this would work for you, as to make it work means making enough inventory to ship over there in batches. But it would probably help as far as navigating VAT and other similar issues.

Maybe easiest would be to link up with a specific EU retailer and sell them a bunch at wholesale? Might not be worth it depending on your output.

Great thoughts, thanks. I was approached by a very large kitchen retail chain some time ago wanting to carry my stuff but their margin expectations were such that I'd lose $20 per order (but make it up in volume :) ) So, yeah, it's difficult. I know I have a decent opportunity, especially in Australia, Canada and in the EU. If I'm understanding you correctly, maybe there are order fulfillment/shipping companies in each of those geographic regions that would allow me to ship product to them in bulk and have them fulfill the orders as they come in, thus circumventing the traditional manufacturer to retail structure that typically doesn't work for me because my margins aren't big enough to support it.

If anyone has thoughts on whether that sort of structure would work or if they know a company I could contact, i'm all ears.
 
Great thoughts, thanks. I was approached by a very large kitchen retail chain some time ago wanting to carry my stuff but their margin expectations were such that I'd lose $20 per order (but make it up in volume :) ) So, yeah, it's difficult. I know I have a decent opportunity, especially in Australia, Canada and in the EU. If I'm understanding you correctly, maybe there are order fulfillment/shipping companies in each of those geographic regions that would allow me to ship product to them in bulk and have them fulfill the orders as they come in, thus circumventing the traditional manufacturer to retail structure that typically doesn't work for me because my margins aren't big enough to support it.

If anyone has thoughts on whether that sort of structure would work or if they know a company I could contact, i'm all ears.

Maybe cleancut in sweden or foodgear in Denmark?

I really wish there was and easy way to get one of your boards they Seem so very nice!
 
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