[toast0]

> tells me that they only ship to companies

You often just need to fill that form entry, and not have any sort of official company. Things like Self, or your name again will work just fine. I have a fake company name that one day I'll need to actually register, but in the mean time is used whenever someone is willing to take my money, but not provide service without a company name.

[xxs]

Pretty much not applicable, as "company" requires a valid registration number for the invoice. Selling to individuals in the EU, outside the member state the company has been registered, is somewhat problematic. Currently it does require VAT to be charged at the recipient's country - unless the total yearly revenue from the said member state is low enough (say 35k euro). I have heard there are some 'discussions' (some EU commission) to ease the process but for now that's just rumors.

Flip note: US companies selling to customers in the EU do require EU VAT number as well.

Overall living in the US and applying the same rules/advice to people not living there tends to be wrong.

[avian]

For someone in a country with VAT (e.g. Europe) this trick typically does not work since billing is different for companies vs. individuals.