First order from Giulio Celandroni Orchidee IT

[Thriodien]

Hi,
I hope it's okay that i'm writing so many posts about vendors now but in fact this is the most important of all! Everybody knows Schwerter in Europe that's not news, but guys, with this nursery i think i've found a hidden gem! I'm even debating with myself if i should post this or not (coz you'll buy up all of his stuff before me ) but he truly deserves our attention!
(As i alwasy start these posts) communication with Giulio was excellent, he always replied with proper information about the plants and the order. I almost dissuaded myself from ordering from him because of the horrendous shipping cost (Schwerter's 22,5 euros from Germany, his is 36 euros from Italy) but i'm so glad i pulled through!!

The plants i really-really wanted (in that preference order):
Phalaenopsis Lea Marie Salazar
Phalaenopsis viridis
Phalaenopsis Shingher Pure Love x gigantea
Phalaenopsis Chienlung Sweetheart 'Mainshow'



Looking back on the prices of the plants, they're not at all that terrible. Used to think it was way too much for me but after checking out several vendors, have to say 36 euros for a flowering sized Chienlung Sweetheart is quite fair. A decade ago when i was heavily in the orchid europhoria but still a student i used to spend this amount of money only rarely and on really exclusive plants like a Lea Marie Salazar and variations of Joy Spring Canaries (or at least to me they were really exclusive and extremely hard to acquire a decade ago). So i've decided that now i'm back in the game and i'm just gonna get exactly what i want Yeah, the prices are still up there, definately, (don't even dare telling my family), but these plants are well worth every penny! Out of the 5 orders i've made this summer, these are the best plants i've got. All 4 of them are growing like CRAZY! I mean look at those roots!!

They're growing on my most precious Lea Marie Salazar and i can't wait for her to bloom as well!

Shingher Pure Love x gigantea had a bit of a problem on arrival and i was overly anxious about it (coz it was too expensive to just die on me right away). The whole plant was kinda yellow like it had waaaay too much light in the nursery, and the stem (is it the correct word? the base of the plant) had some brown patches, along with a small rotting spot on the tip of the newest leaf.
Just so you get an idea:

I was NOT happy..
Contacted Giulio, we talked about what i should do and the plant managed to pull through. Had to cut the tip of the leaf in the end coz the infection was spreading but the stem is all fine and the whole plant's back to the healthy normal green shade. AND it even rewarded my efforts with developing a bud, so we're gonna see her bloom in a few weeks.



Together with this issue i'm still saying that these plants are the best that i've got recently and i'm definately gonna be back for more!! (Will need to hit the jackpot or kill somebody for the inheritence but i'll soon get some more for sure ) The range he's offering is insane and he has quite a selection of rarities (please don't get those phals before me! ). All in all, very much worth checking his webshop out!

[camille1585]

Thanks for the feedback, this is one vendor I've been eying for many months and they have a lot of plants that interest me, but I find the shipping costs really hard to stomach. I haven't ordered from a different italian vendor (Nardotto e Capello) for years because of that, and what a shame because that is also a top notch nursery... When I lived in France it was cheaper, because Nardotto is located not far from the border with France and would ship packages to French customers directly from France. (EDIT, seems that Nardotto have lowered their shipping costs for the Netherlands

Your plants look great, and really large and healthy, so I'm fairly sure I'll end up ordering some plants there someday.

[Thriodien]

Originally Posted by camille1585

I find the shipping costs really hard to stomach.

Right?? It's just not fair to pay the price of an expensive plant for sheer service (and now i'm not being fair to people working in shipping but you know what i mean..).

I'm glad I could help you decide and i hope your experience will be equally positive! (Definately let me know! ) Thx for the tip on the other vendor as well

[Thriodien]

Gosh i have to tell you i'm beyond fury and disappointment!!! Not by this vendor of course but by international law! I was just planning to make another order for my bday. Shipping cost's still a ridiculous amount but i was mentally prepared to cope with it. What i was not prepared to deal with is the fact that there's a new cost, namely VAT calculated to my order! WHAT THE ACTUAL HECK??!! I've checked with Giulio and he told me that since my last order a new european law came out and he had to include different VAT values for every european country. That's 47,8 euros on my planned 141 euro order plus the 36 euro shipping. THAT IS INSANE!!! And what's more than insane is that VAT would only be 11,5 euros had i lived in Germany for instance! I cannot cope with this....
And now i'm utterly disgusted with the situation that i've been IN LOVE WITH these plants for weeks now, waiting and planning for the time to come when i'll order them and now i would honestly feel like a complete idiot if i did. 141 euros value of plants with 84 euros added cost is just not a sane thing to do.. I cannot describe my heartbreak! I'm DEVASTATED!.. Would actually cry like a baby if i wasn't in the workplace right now..
Sorry for rambling. If you live in a better situated country than me, by all means, i cannot recommend Giulio enough, he's the best vendor that i know of. But i just cannot order from him anymore

Any orchid lover in Italy who could help me avoid this VAT situation? PLEASE!!!!!!!!

[camille1585]

What the???? I feel your pain, especially as that is a huge amount of VAT.

I remember reading an article about new EU VAT regulations before the summer and seen it mentioned on a vendor's website, but didn't really understand what the entire thing was about until taking the time to look it up just now.

If I understood correctly, apparently VAT has to be charged according to the rates in the buyer's country instead of the seller's country, as was done until now. So I looked up rates in Hungary VAT rates Europe, and Hungary has higher VAT than most other countries, and the most notable difference being that decorative plants/cut flowers don't fall in the reduced tax category.... So I pay 9% on plants while you pay 27%....

[Mr.Fakename]

And then some brilliant bureaucrat in Brussels will wonder why people work/sell stuff under the radar. How's that fair to small businesses when their clients can't afford their goods due to overtaxing?

[jcec1]

I knew that post Brexit, VAT became a bit of a nightmare for either buying or selling to the EU, I didn't realise things had changed within the EU - what's the point of that given it's meant to be a union.

OP - I guess now unless you buy from Hungary these will be the prices, so rather than look at the price plus charges - just look at the overall cost - it makes it a little easier.

[camille1585]

Originally Posted by Mr.Fakename

And then some brilliant bureaucrat in Brussels will wonder why people work/sell stuff under the radar. How's that fair to small businesses when their clients can't afford their goods due to overtaxing?

To me this goes completely against the original EU spirit of unifying/homogenizing/simplifying relations between member states.

In a way it shouldn't change much for the clients since they end up paying the same VAT they pay in their daily lives, but I'm guessing products are a lot more expensive in Italy than Hungary so the amount of tax gets inflated in a way.

Second thing I don't understand: I thought that when a company in country A sells a product (within country A or to country B) the collected VAT goes to the government of A. With this new scheme, what is happening exactly? Is government A still collecting tax as usual from the company, but following the rates in country B??? Or are te taxes ultimately collected by B, as it would happen if selling to non EU countries?

[Shadeflower]

wow, makes you think these bureaucrats get paid a little too much. Who checks that they get paid fairly? They do. Lovely system.
Makes you think why hasn't anyone protested against some of these rules that are only implemented to support their inflationary wages?

Does anyone know who the president of the EU is? Right because there's like 30 of them in total.

Oh wait we did protest and left.... Didn't really do us any good I'm afraid. Flower prices ahve literally doubled since Brexit.

To us those prices probably seem like good value by now.

I'm glad I anticipated this and stocked up on orchids before Brexit but I know I will miss buying from Europe too.

[Thriodien]

And that is so very well said! < What's the point in being in the EU when price-wise i'm treated as if i was out??.. >
I'm still battling with myself whether or not i should just take it as an adult and order what i originally wanted but i cannot by any means justify this new pricepoint to myself. Will have to significantly lower my expectations on what i'm allowed to desire and what's completely out of the picture..

She should've been my bday present, i even had one booked off the stock