Import collectibles and publishing
from Europe to Israel

Start with language, because it is the one advantage no local distributor can undercut. Spanish-language editions printed in Spain and Portuguese editions printed in Portugal are frequently the versions your customers actually want, and they arrive in Latin American markets late, in small allocations or never. Publishers like Norma Editorial, Planeta Cómic and Devir, and the Franco-Belgian houses behind the bande dessinée catalogue, sit at the centre of that. Add Taschen for art and photography books, whose formats and editions are a European proposition first.

The second axis is the hobby trade. Games Workshop's Warhammer ranges, Asmodee's board game catalogue, LEGO's European assortment, Panini's collections, model kits from Italeri and Revell, EU pressings on vinyl and European print runs of trading cards all carry regional exclusives and edition differences that make a specialist shop's window look different from everyone else's. Third, the backlist: European stock persists on titles and references that are out of print or unavailable in your market, which is often where the margin is for a specialist retailer. Commercial terms are between you and each publisher or distributor — trade accounts, minimum orders and territorial agreements are theirs to set. What we do is receive from all of them into one address and send you one shipment.

Israel taxes by band on the value of the goods themselves, excluding shipping and insurance. Up to US$75 a shipment is exempt from VAT, duty and purchase tax. Between US$75 and US$130, VAT of 18% applies. Above US$130 you are looking at VAT plus potentially duty and purchase tax depending on classification. Getting the current numbers matters because the widely circulated US$150 threshold and 17% VAT rate are out of date: the increase to US$150 was revoked by the Knesset on 24 February 2026 and systems reverted to US$75 on 2 June 2026.

For a company the bands are only the start. Commercial imports are cleared against your importer file with a customs agent, and the real lever is the EU–Israel association agreement: goods of genuine EU origin can enter at preferential duty rates when accompanied by the correct origin proof — an EUR.1 movement certificate or an invoice declaration from the supplier. On categories where the base duty is meaningful, that document is worth more than anything you will negotiate on freight, which is why we collect it from your European suppliers as part of intake rather than leaving it to the last mile.

Two operational realities shape this category. The first is weight: paper is dense, and a pallet of books or a case of hardbacks costs far more to move than its volume suggests. That pushes you towards larger, less frequent consignments and towards sea freight where your replenishment cycle can absorb the transit — which is a planning decision, not something we can fix with a better rate. The second is condition. Collectibles are sold on condition, so a corner crushed in transit is a markdown or a return. We repack for protection where the original packaging is not up to an international leg, and we will photograph condition on arrival if you ask, so that a claim starts from evidence rather than memory.

There is also one tax rule genuinely worth knowing, because it changes the arithmetic more than anything on this page: in Brazil, books, newspapers and periodicals — and the paper used to print them — enjoy constitutional tax immunity. That does not automatically make every shipment free of every charge, and it does not extend to games, miniatures or toys, but for a bookshop importing printed matter into Brazil it is a materially different calculation from importing collectible figures. Confirm the treatment of your specific goods with your despachante; it is the first thing we would check in your position.