Last week Cotic informed their customers that they were temporarily suspending EU deliveries of bikes and frames until they could sort out exactly how much it was going to cost to send bikes across the new trade border between the EU & UK. It definitely sparked a good deal of debate in the comments.
This week, Cotic owner Cy Turner has been in touch to tell us he’s got it all sorted out now and they are ready to resume orders to the EU, albeit with some important changes regarding the costs to the end user.
Here’s what he sent us…
UK Made Frames:
UK made frame only orders attract Zero duty when shipped to the EU. This is regardless of the damper specified, and can also stretch to include headset and BB and certain other items usually associated with “frame only” orders, mainly because in the vast majority of cases it involves UK made Hope parts.
Taiwan Made Frames:
All Taiwan made frame only orders will attract 4.7% import duty, and the associated handling fees for customs. As an example, we have calculated that a customer in the EU with a BFeMAX frame ordered will pay EUR40-50 more now.
Complete Bikes:
All Cotic bicycles attract 14% import duty. This means that with handling fees our bikes have become EUR350-600 more expensive depending on specification.
All purchases made by EU customers are now charged without 20% UK VAT. This means the price you pay Cotic will be much lower initially, but you will have VAT and the import duty and fees applied in transit, which will be payable by the customer to the courier when the frame or bike arrives.
Please remember that this is Cotic specific. We have a particular implementation because of our UK made frames and also because we sell predominantly mountain bikes. This means our bikes generally have very high value suspension bolted to them (the same, if not more than the frame cost sometimes) which is what stops us qualifying for tariff free trade on bicycles in all cases regardless of the origin of the base frame. Some other companies will have different tariff applications, because of their supply and bike spec situation.
Cheers,
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It’s the day for unwelcome bike purchasing news. Tandem Group have had to put their UK prices up too. Mainly due to the increases in container transport prices (7.5 times increase). Oh joy.
2 things this confirms.
– Brexit adds cost and disadvantages UK companies… hope allnthe Brexit voters are happy with that to take back control of North Sea kippers.
– most bikes are not actually British. They’re Taiwanese with a smattering of other (usually foreign) parts.
Not 100% clear on whether this is prices to EU customers, or prices to UK customers (or both?). As far as I know, Cotic import their TW frames (and other parts?) direct into the UK, not via the EU, so landing costs would be unchanged to prior to Brexit (not withstanding increased transport costs and other variable, non-Brexit induced costs). So do the UK prices go up (because of Brexit)? Or stay similar to before.
Obvs – resulting prices of non UK made products to EU customer will go up – just unclear on Cotic’s UK price situation…?
But but blue passports FFS
“Cotic import their TW frames (and other parts?) direct into the UK, not via the EU, so landing costs would be unchanged to prior to Brexit”
This isn’t necessarily true as the trade deal we had with Taiwan before brexit was an EU/Taiwan trade deal. Now it’s not. This is something that a lot of people seem to miss. The implications of Brexit extend beyond our trade directly with Europe.
>>Not 100% clear on whether this is prices to EU customers, or prices to UK customers (or both?)
I think this is prices to EU customers but is a sure sign of what we can expect when/if all the European Brands start shipping to the UK again – anyone that imports frames and parts from Asia to Europe, assembles in Europe and then ships to the UK will incur duties coming into the UK as well as into Europe as assembly in Europe isn’t enough to create EU country of origin
Canyon, Rose, Orbea, Cube, Scott, Mondraker, Lapierre
It sounds like there’ll be a good case for someone like Orange, Cotic (and other UK-based brands like Genesis/Saracen, Bird, Airdrop?)… to set up European warehousing/import arrangements to bypass the UK and import straight to Europe – which probably won’t be good from a UK employment/tax point of view.
These tariffs and the pricing explained above are an extract from our email which explains the pricing situation for EU customers only. UK Cotic pricing (for the moment) has not changed. In reference to the UK / Taiwan import situation, that’s actually very sligthly better now as the rules we can now use outside the EU mean any parts imports coming in after 1st January will only attract 4% duty rather than 4.7% previously, so for stock that will be delivered this year that’s a very small saving. However, shipping costs are going through the roof, so there is upwards pressure on prices in pretty much every other part of the supply chain, hence the price increases seen elsewhere.
I can see some bigger UK businesses working out some EU based warehousing to drop stock directly into, but I would say we’re still not quite big enough in terms of EU sales to make that work. We’ll have to see how the situation unfolds. On the plus side for us, the vast majority of our EU customers that we have contacted directly about their orders have been very kind, understanding and almost none have cancelled as a result of all this, for which everyone at Cotic is extremely grateful.
@Chipps, I think that’s the way forward for them really, unless they go full uk made, but then the “cheap” stuff would disappear.
Going “full uk made” means making suspension forks and shocks here. Who’s going to step up the the plate and make that happen…?
My Flare Max I bought last year is amazing; will it ride even better with all that extra sovereignty?
Hypothetically, could I buy a bike from a bike shop in Calais mail-order and tell them that I’ll arrange my own transport, drive to Calais and pick up the bike, put it together and ride it for a bit, drive it back home and save myself 20% off the price?
Nope. You’ll be stopped on the way back and questioned about it at customs. If you don’t declare it on the way back and pay the VAT and tariff due then you will be committing an offence.
Just the same situation as when you come back from the states with a bike and try to get it past customs even though you know you are technically importing a product into the country. You can take the risk but…
There’s a term to describe this.
Smuggling
As someone living in the EU this is such a shame as it hurts people on both sides of the channel, but very understandable as an outcome of Brexit.
Stanton give the option of UK made frames on Sherpa for example, which costs an extra £350 over TW madte (which is a 50% price bump) and also has a waiting list . That said I think a lot of people would be fine with paying extra for a “Made in UK” frame, although this specific price increase is quite dramatic.
“It sounds like there’ll be a good case for someone like Orange, Cotic (and other UK-based brands like Genesis/Saracen, Bird, Airdrop?)… to set up European warehousing/import arrangements to bypass the UK and import straight to Europe – which probably won’t be good from a UK employment/tax point of view.”
This will not only apply to UK bike manufactures.. I suspect a good many jobs will be leaving the UK this way.
“That said I think a lot of people would be fine with paying extra for a “Made in UK” frame, although this specific price increase is quite dramatic.” No so sure that there will be enough disposable cash around once we start paying the COVID measures and the true cost of brexit.
I am trying with every bone in my body not to get political about this.
However, what did we expect would happen to prices after departing the EU, they were only going one way and that was up.
Now can anyone point me to where that red bus is parked, you know the one, it had we will save £350 million a week and spend it on the NHS.
How do you con someone at a fair ground, use slight of hand.
How do you con people into making a bad choice in terms of their pocket, use slight of hand
Never mind all this Brexit talk, I can’t believe that no one has mentioned the iron out pun in the headline. Good work @Mark Alker
Jingoism aside the only reason I can see to buy a brit welded Hardtail is the tube set, as the welding is very unlikely to be any better.
Oh and I suppose the container costs have rocketed due everything coming in to Rotterdam and then being reshipped, hence paperwork.
>> container costs have rocketed
Container shipping costs have rocketed globally. My understanding is lots of disruption to everything due to COVID with mass shipping of PPE. Stuff sitting in containers not getting moved from docks. Containers used to have no economic value once they hit the US – now people being charged rental for the time they hold them.
I don’t think any of the tube-sets one historically associates with UK manufacturing are actually still made in the UK. Happy to be corrected on that by Cy, Dan etc…..
Everything Reynolds that isn’t 725 or 525 is still made in Birmingam. All the 853 we use in UK made.
Haven’t loads of EU shops stopped shipping to the UK as they now have to collect VAT at the checkout and then pay HMRC directly. Does this not also work the other way around. Cotic would have to pay say French custom directly? I hope for there sake not, or they would have to register with every EU countries customs service.
@woody74 those are the rules for items under £135 / EUR150. We are in the process of having to register for VAT in the EU and have all the VAT rates of the other 27 EU countries in the shop system for the changes that come into place on 30th June 2021. The British government introduced them in our direction on 1st January 2021 hence EU shops needing to register for UK VAT. It’s actually much more straightforward for stuff over the threshold, because you don’t charge VAT and the tariff, fee and VAT all get added at the other end for the customer to pay separately.