Better online shops in the EU region for USA buyers?

[sidpost]

In the past, I bought a lot of my shave products from the EU and had them shipped into the USA. Pricing and Quality were both better overall. A lot of my shave products (soaps, cream, razors, brushes, aftershave, etc.) were of European origin and were significantly cheaper in Europe as well, especially without VAT. The only issue I ever ran into was shipping a big bottle of Floid in which apparently ran afoul of Alcohol import/export restrictions so, it never left the store.

In the past I have purchased from the UK (England and Ireland), Portugal, Italy, and the Czech Republic. Now that COVID craziness has died down and 'supply chain' issues are somewhat under control, my old sources are not available today. Searching via "Google" has been a total #$(*! experience with all sorts of questionable links and razors to shave body areas I never considered shaving (thinking of you MANSCAPED and your SEO)!

I am not looking to bottom feed FWIW and just want to find good suppliers in Europe with reasonable pricing for aftershave, soaps, cremes, etc. that are super expensive in the USA for various reasons, or are simply not available, or are hard to source. Basically, looking to single source products to qualify free or reduced cost shipping from a single source as opposed to smaller orders from several CONUS sources at higher cost with several shipping charges added to the bill.

So, who are the good EU sources today? I like English and Italian soap products in general along with Italian aftershave, lotions, etc. with occasional interest in French products for general skin care too.

 

[WetShaveVet]

I would love to know as well.

 

[u56rh]

I used to use Connaught shaving and had a good experience.

 

[DesertIguana]

I used to use Connaught shaving and had a good experience.

Prices seem very competitive if price are in Euro's.

 

[ctr]

English Shaving Company. Dealt with them for a long time. A lot depends on the exchange rate. Have also purchased from T&H Canada many times. Excellent service.

 

[silverlifter]

Very few of the EU suppliers will ship aftershaves because of the alcohol content. You would be better off buying classic european aftershaves from places like Smalflower.

For everything else, I have had great service with Connaught in the UK, and Gifts & Care and Your Shaving in Spain.

Shaving.ie in Dublin will ship aftershaves overseas, but their range is limited.

 

[dmshaver]

Two EU vendors I have used frequently & have always had superb interaction with:
Connaught
Your Shaving

 

[Brutus]

Well, alcohol is a problem (and I don’t mean this one )…


After Brexit, one also needs to differentiate between EU (European Union) and UK (United Kingdom), as shipping between these two has become as cumbersome as shipping from either of the two to the US, if not more so.

Connaught is an excellent source for the UK.

Gifts & Care, Vintage Scent, Loja da Barba are excellent sources for Southern Europe, especially if you like mediterranean scents and shaving products, like I do.
The likes of Heldenlounge and Dambiro in Northern Europe, or directly from factory shops like Ach. Brito, Meissner Tremonina, or Haslinger Shop are good addresses as well.

If you have an amazon.com account you could also try to order from the German (or any other) amazon site, e.g. amazon.de.
Just log in with your standard amazon credentials and take it from there. You may have to re-enter credit card information and North American addresses. Not all vendors may ship to your location, but many will.



B.

 

[Jens]

I am based in Denmark (EU), and purchase most of my stuff from Gifts&Care (Spain) and Dambiro (Germany).
Their respective assortments vary, e.g. Dambiro has huge selection of boar brushes, and competitive prices on DE blades, some but not all soaps; whereas Gifts&Care has great selection of aftershaves, soaps, and DE razors.
Another bigger vendor not mentioned yet, which I also use intermittently, is Proshave in Denmark, but I wouldn't recommend them over the other two unless these are out of stock.

For razorblades, razorbladesclub has unmatched selection and competitive prices, you may already know it.

Because of Brexit, purchasing from vendors based in Britain is basically a thing of the past for me

-- if you can be more specific, I might be able to come up with a few more pointed additional suggestions (e.g. Shavemac for badger brushes, for example)

 

[cajunrph]

I've bought from Your Shaving many times, and the ship times are faster than the orders I placed with PAA, which is ridiculous. I was able to get S/V aftershave shipped, it must be under the threshold of alcohol content to ship.

 

[sidpost]

Yourshaving.com has the hard soaps I was looking for at a good price. I will have to look into the others next time I order some EU/UK products.

 

[NorthernSoul]

Alcoholic aftershave won't ship by air from Europe or the UK nowadays. You are better off buying from a place like Pasteur's in NYC when they have a sale. I got some good deals from them on 400ml bottles of Proraso Green, Epsilon Blue and Floid. Smallflower in Chicago may be another possibility.

My overseas orders have been mostly with Connaught, Gifts&Care and Yourshaving.com. Some other good vendors seem to have gone quiet these days. Connaught's selection is much more limited since Brexit. Free shipping is no longer offered to the U.S.

Shavemac used to have very good prices on Haslinger soaps. Have not checked with them in awhile since I have plenty of soap.

 

[sidpost]

Alcoholic aftershave won't ship by air from Europe or the UK nowadays.

I would like to try Floid and Proraso aftershaves but, this side of the Atlantic is cost-prohibitive! ~$20 in the EU is somewhat spendy but reasonable. With ~100% markup and extra taxes on top, I think I will just stick to nice aged Bourbon for expensive alcohol and wait for a trip to Europe! Doubling the price of an aftershave because of post-COVID taxation, a bureaucracy tax, or other trade policies just isn't reasonable to me right now.

Most of the EU-based soaps I like are ~100% markup or more as well. A stick of ARKO isn't a big deal but, Haslinger and other more expensive premium soaps are!

If I was buying this at a retail shop, I could see the markup being value-added but, ordering from a "Dot com" website and paying 100% markup plus local taxes just seems a bit like price gouging.

I just went through this with 4 fishing reels all made in Japan. The $700 Shimano was shipped to me from Japan for $261 vs. ~$760 domestically! My 3 Diawa and Penn reels were a similar story with a bit less CONUS markup but, still ~50% of what the same reel costs in the USA! Japan and Australia are both really good for stuff like this and I often get my things shipped faster via FedEx/DHL from overseas than I do domestically with UPS/USPS even though it doesn't have to go through export and import Customs.

Lamnia in particular out of Europe consistently beats Amazon for getting packages to me faster with free shipping too! If you want or need EU camping gear or EU-made axes and knives, a great place to shop too. I also have gotten some Bush Crafting gear from a Polish Tactical Gear maker there too! In the past, pre-COVID, my EU shave orders arrived faster than anything I ever bought domestically (CONUS).

I like to shop local and support local industries but, with no retail shops around me, sorry I'm not paying double to order from your shop several states away! Just like I'm not paying $15~$20 for a fast food meal when I can sit down at a nice "family" friendly restaurant and eat for the same cost! I won't pay "market adjustments" either for a new car or pickup that is an average mainstream version! I'm pretty hard on Amazon generally as well but, like Facebook, sometimes there isn't a viable alternative! At least with Walmart, there is a local store where I can buy groceries, grab a bath towel and skillet, fishing lures and hooks, and get a gallon of motor oil all at the same time!

<</rant off>>

 

[NorthernSoul]

I would like to try Floid and Proraso aftershaves but, this side of the Atlantic is cost-prohibitive! ~$20 in the EU is somewhat spendy but reasonable. With ~100% markup and extra taxes on top, I think I will just stick to nice aged Bourbon for expensive alcohol and wait for a trip to Europe! Doubling the price of an aftershave because of post-COVID taxation, a bureaucracy tax, or other trade policies just isn't reasonable to me right now...

I'll send you a PM re: some 400ml bottles of Euro aftershaves. 400ml for around $27 is about like getting four standard 100ml bottles for under $7 each, which is not too bad, IMHO. Free shipping with $35 minimum helps, also. Add an on sale soap to the order and you're there.

 

[horizon]

At rasoigoodfellas.eu you can find many items in one place, but most things, I have seen them cheaper at other merchants. Prices get good during sales.

 

[sidpost]

I'll send you a PM re: some 400ml bottles of Euro aftershaves.

Super helpful!