From 1 July 2026, the European Union has introduced a new customs duty on many goods imported into the EU from outside the EU.

This customs duty is separate from VAT.

For eligible orders with a value of less than €150, we will continue to collect VAT at checkout through the EU Import One Stop Shop (IOSS) scheme. However, this new EU customs duty is not collected or prepaid by the Real World Store. If applicable, it will be collected by your delivery carrier before or at the time of delivery.

The current customs duty is a flat €3 charge per type of item contained in your shipment.

Example EU Customs Duty

• 1 x CD - €3 (1 item type)
• 1 x Vinyl - €3 (1 item type)
• 1 x CD and 1 x Vinyl - €6 (2 item types)
• 5 x CD and 2 x Vinyl - €6 (2 item types)
• 3 x CD, 3 x Vinyl, 3 x T-shirt - €9 (3 items types)

Please note that these examples are based on the current temporary EU customs duty arrangements and may change.

If you purchased through Bandcamp and wish to exercise your statutory right of withdrawal, please contact us through the Bandcamp contact function or by emailing store@realworld.co.uk.

Please include your order number and the email address used for the purchase so that we can locate your order and assist you promptly.

If you are an EU customer and wish to exercise your statutory right of withdrawal for an order placed through the Real World Store, please use our EU Withdrawal Form.

You can access the form here: EU Withdrawal Form

UK customers

• UK VAT is charged on all orders

Customers outside the UK and EU

• Local VAT, customs duty and import charges may apply according to your country's rules.

US customers

• Tariffs may apply depending on US Customs' assessment. We are unable to reimburse any tariffs charged.

Customers within the EU

Orders under €150

• VAT is collected at checkout through the IOSS scheme.
• The new EU customs duty (from 1 July 2026) is separate from VAT and, where applicable, will be collected by the delivery carrier.
• If customs incorrectly requests VAT despite IOSS, please contact us before making payment.

Orders over €150

• IOSS does not apply.Local VAT, customs duty and any other import charges may be payable on import.

VAT and customs duty are different charges.

VAT on eligible EU orders under €150 is collected by us through the IOSS scheme at checkout.

The new EU customs duty is a separate charge introduced by the European Union and may still be payable on delivery.

If you think you have been charged VAT twice, please contact us before making payment so we can help.

Order Receipt
Once your pre-order has been placed you will receive an order confirmation email. Payment has been accepted but your order has not yet been dispatched.

We aim to dispatch pre-orders before the Friday release date so that they arrive on or as close as possible to release day.

• UK & IE: 1-5 Days
• Within EU: 3-8 Days
• Outside EU: 6-14 Days

Orders containing both pre-order and in-stock items are shipped together once the
pre-order becomes available.

All shipping services and rates are provided by our fulfilment partner. To ensure every order can be tracked through to delivery, we only use fully tracked shipping services.

The cost of fully tracked shipping from the UK to some countries — particularly Canada and Australia — can be quite high. Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do about this, as we always use the lowest-priced fully tracked service available to each country.

For international orders weighing up to 2kg (approximately 2–3 vinyl records), we offer a Tracked Mail service, which is the most cost-effective option. Orders weighing more than 2kg must be sent via courier services. While individual item weights are not shown to customers, if you are only seeing courier shipping options at checkout, this means the total order weight of your order exceeds 2kg.

Orders for CDs and vinyl received before 11am are usually shipped the same business day. During busy periods, our fulfilment partner may ship orders on the following business day.

Most clothing items are manufactured on demand by Printful and are typically shipped within 2–3 business days.

The transit times shown below are estimates only and are subject to customs clearance processes in the destination country.

UK Tracked Mail: 2-3 Business days

EU Tracked Mail: 4-8 Business days

EU Standard Courier: 3-7 Business days

EU Premium Courier: 2-5 Business days

Non-EU Tracked Mail: 6-10 Business days

Non-EU Standard Courier: 5-10 Business days

Non-EU Premium Courier: 2-5 Business days