Been speaking to a trading firm in Taiwan and they say they have Ultegra group sets for $560 which works out as £402 inc VAT and postage.

Uletgra Di2 they can do for $580
Dura Ace Di2 for $620

There prices are just a amazing and I thought this must be a scam. Then again if you look at say Planet X that sell a full carbon road bike with Ultegra for £999 then this type of pricing must be in the ball park for OEM stock. Planet X price includes VAT and say 20% or 30% mark up for them so they must be getting the bikes in for around £690 or less. thats the whole bike so take off the frames and wheels and group sets must be around this price.

They say it is all 100% genuine with full warranty and will offer 90 day refund. You do have to pay via Bank TT or Western Union. However I deal with firms in China all the time and that is normal.

What do you think?

http://caseshop.en.alibaba.com/product/1658467899-221026823/Ultegra_6800_Bike_Groupset_with_20_discount.html?edm_src=sys&edm_type=fdbk&edm_grp=0&edm_cta=read_msg&edm_time=realtime&edm_ver=e

P.S. I asked and they don’t have any XT or XTR in at the moment

can you buy me a set of Ultegra?
I’ll give you £403.

You do have to pay via Bank TT or Western Union

I’m oot!

It almost doesn’t need saying, but if it sounds too good to be true… I’ll be more than happy to get involved if you take the plunge and it ends up being above board, mind!

£512.99 for Ultegra 6800 on Ribble, don’t think I’d risk it personally.

is the Di2 the electronic version?

Plus presumably import duties?

I have already added on VAT to these prices and I am always importing goods from China for work and we never pay import duties and we are bringing in £10,000’s of goods. Import duties are only applied to small number of things. I have asked them if they can take payment through Alibaba Escrow. This means the money only gets released once the goods are received at this end. If not the money gets refunded.

If they say yes to the escrow then I am going to give it a go. If a few people are interested then I could arrange for an inspection to take place of the goods before they are shipped. This usually costs around $150 so only worth while if there are say 5 people interested.

Scandalous – Yes the Di2 is the electronic shifting version

Drop me a line if you get enough folk together.

the ultegra di2 on their site is the older version FWIW, not 6870

Alibaba Escrow

How does that work then?
Can I use my Credit Card?

Alibaba escrow is a payment method, you pay via credit card, then seller ships, once you receive and are happy, you click a button and the funds are released to the seller

Importing bicycle parts is covered by a 4.7% import duty.

I have already added on VAT to these prices and I am always importing goods from China for work and we never pay import duties and we are bringing in £10,000’s of goods. Import duties are only applied to small number of things.

Really should be careful if you are admitting to what could be potentially large scale tax evasion 🙂

Don’t worry Mikewsmith we don’t bring in bike parts and all our stuff goes through customs and all taxes are paid. I know I see the bills!

Good to hear, but just expect another 5% on your groupset.

How do they plan to warranty it? Personally as a distributor for stuff here in Oz (not bike related) I’d tell you to do one if you wanted to warranty imported goods.

Who are you with mike smith?

in what way? Specialist Software Distributor down here

In reality when does anyone warranty group set parts anyway. In 20yrs of biking I have never warrantied a part as there is always the wear and tear get out.

I thought you may be part of the cycle distribution network out in oz is all. I used to work out there.

When something is wrong with it, especially with the new DI2 stuff there is a lot more to go wrong, if you see it as a throwaway item then fine.

In our house we have had SRAM mechs replaced on warranty and other stuff. Seen a few Shimano brakes go back on warranty for leaky seals etc. Look at the recent SRAM Road Disc recall you would be sending it all back off to the far east for that.

You have Customs Duty and Vat to pay on that price. You also have a very complicated product in Di2 with a multiple of options in battery mounts interfaces and cable lengths.
I think it would be a dog breakfast and a more expensive one than you think.