selling one-off and subscription products to both the UK and EU

hi folks - total newbie here, looking for a bit of advice from more experienced users if you have the time.  I'm looking into setting up an online site selling books and gift items both as one-off items and as monthly subscriptions.  I've signed up to a squarespace trial and really like the intuitiveness of what I'm seeing so far, but having looked through the help guides and searched through this forum, I'm beginning to suspect it can't quite offer what I'm looking for.

1. I've seen some comments that squarespace hasn't adapted well for selling to the EU in a post-brexit world - is that still the case?  (I'm Northern Ireland based and would want to sell to both UK and Ireland with ease).

2. it seems to be the case that a single VAT rate is set for the store, rather than being set for each individual product according to the VAT rate applicable for that product - have I understood that correctly?

3. There seem to be limitations on the degree to which customers can update their subscription details - update address, change billing date etc.. - are there any workarounds for that or is it just something you'd have to live with?

thanks for taking the time to read this far - would be great to hear what your thoughts are.

Hey @JoIW

To answer your questions:

33 minutes ago, JoIW said:

1. I've seen some comments that squarespace hasn't adapted well for selling to the EU in a post-brexit world - is that still the case?  (I'm Northern Ireland based and would want to sell to both UK and Ireland with ease).

As you'll no doubt be aware, the VAT rules on movements of goods between Northern Ireland and the EU changed in July last year, making them complex to say the least. I'm in Northern Ireland, so I understand the challenge!

In summary, Squarespace haven't added any new features to manage this. There is nothing to help us deal with Import One-Stop Shop (IOSS) or to charge customers the VAT element upfront and so avoid the additional charges and aggravation when EU buyers place orders totalling less than €150 each. However, I'd like to think they are looking into this.

50 minutes ago, JoIW said:

2. it seems to be the case that a single VAT rate is set for the store, rather than being set for each individual product according to the VAT rate applicable for that product - have I understood that correctly?

As things stand today, this is correct. There is one VAT rate for all products. I cover this in my list of Squarespace Commerce Limitations.

51 minutes ago, JoIW said:

3. There seem to be limitations on the degree to which customers can update their subscription details - update address, change billing date etc.. - are there any workarounds for that or is it just something you'd have to live with?

Correct. Subscriptions cannot be modified, for example to change their shipping address, or reschedule/pause a subscription. There aren't any workarounds for this - subscribers must cancel their current subscription and purchase a new one. It's extremely frustrating that this hasn't been fixed because it has been pointed out since 2018 when subscription products were introduced 😒

Thanks for the reply and the information @paul2009 You've pretty much confirmed everything I'd suspected.  It's such a shame though - I could live with the subscription niggles but the IOSS and VAT side of things is much harder to overlook.