Category: Store News

We’ve been quietly building something.

For years, the most common questions we hear from builders are about power systems, propeller selection, and learning to fly. Good questions — the kind that used to require years of community involvement and a stack of magazine back-issues to answer well. We’ve started to change that.

Today we’re formally launching the Stevens Aeromodel Learn It! Build It! Fly It! builder resource library — a growing collection of free, in-depth articles written for RC builders, by RC builders. No paywall. No signup required. Just solid information you can actually use at the workbench and at the field.

More articles are in development. Topics in the queue include the history of geared vs. direct-drive motors, covering film techniques, and field setup and safety practices.

The library lives under Learn It! in our navigation — or go there directly from the link below. If you find it useful, share it with a builder who could use it.

Visit the Builder Resource Library →

Good News! We’ve made changes to our site and have implemented a workaround to the post Brexit UK VAT kerfuffle.  As our attempts to serve UK customers through third-party store fronts (like ebay and etsy) were met with little success, we’ve done what we can to work within the new system to allow delivery to resume to the UK for orders placed directly from this store front.

Effective immediately, In order for your order to process through UK customs, your order must contain merchandise totaling over 180 USD  effectively over the 135 GBP import threshold established by your government.  In this way, we can ship to the UK without collecting and remitting VAT on your behalf.  Instead, payment of UK VAT will be your responsibility and you will be contacted by the courier, to remit any VAT due, prior to final delivery of your order.

While not an ideal situation (we’d love to ship your order without a minimum threshold) this coding change on the site will allow your order to progress.  Please contact us directly if you have any concerns, questions, or difficulties in processing your UK bound orders.

– Bill

A little background (from our post on UK Shipping Suspended): As of January 1, 2021 changes have been made to the UK VAT collection system.  UK taxation authorities are now requiring our small business to collect VAT at the point of sale (stevensaero.com) and then remit this collection to the UK government.  Failure to do so may open us up to certain liabilities and would also result in UK orders not processing through UK customs to their final destination.

Prior to these changes in VAT collection, our business dealings with customers in the UK remained well below the monetary threshold that would require our participation with the collection of foreign VAT taxes.  And all collection of VAT taxes were (as they should be) the burden of entities within the UK.  Under the new VAT system, these thresholds have been removed and we are being asked to collect and remit taxes (for all purchases of £135 or less) too a foreign government.  Unfortunately, our participation in this new system of collection, creates additional book keeping and liability burdens for our small business, that will outweigh the profit received from orders shipped to the UK.

What has changed? StevensAero has suspended all sales and shipping bound for Germany.

Why did we do this? Recent changes, by the German government, to its packaging law (LUCID) will go into effect July 01, 2022. These changes will require our company to register with and pay a license fee to the German government, for the packaging that our product ships in. Our failure to comply with these new regulations will impact final delivery (you won’t get your product) and become a source of needless liability (fines of up to 200,000 euros). Unfortunately, compliance with the new regulation is more burdensome than the collective benefit we derive from servicing German customers.

When does this go into effect? Effective immediately, Stevens AeroModel will no longer fill orders with Germany selected as a final shipping destination.