A UK perspective.
I made a number of recent purchases both on Ebay and directly from sellers in Germany.
Orders under £135 were charged 20% VAT by Ebay. Some, but not all, were charged not only on item cost, but on postage! I queried this, and Ebay will get back to me - although I was warned that the likely answer is that I should have paid postage-VAT on all under-£135 orders.
Orders from Ebay and direct from suppliers over that sum have arrived without VAT or import charge, but the last two were delayed by requests for more paperwork - and one is mired in Customs now being 'assessed'. So far, buying more than £135 of figures avoids tax.
I also buy 1/1250 scale ship models, and these are subject to long delays, charged at 20% whatever the value, and hit with a service charge on top if over £135. One big US supplier has suspended shipments to the UK citing long delays and excessive paperwork.
I contacted HM Customs and asked whether model soldiers/ships are still classed as 'toys', which used to be exempt from charges when I bought them from the US. No answer yet.
Berliner Zinnfiguren (direct) and Sammelsurium Berlin (Ebay) were accommodating when more paperwork was required, other, likely smaller, companies have been understandably confused.
Like me.