mail order experiences from the USA

[qwertyMember]

i’m looking at a frameset not available in the UK, nothing too flash ($400) but i fancy one

from: http://www.bikeman.com as they list UK shipping

hows it gone?

is there duty to pay?

any way round the duty?

ta

[qwertyMember]

???

someone must…..

[StonerSubscriber]

Duty can be hit and miss.

To help you with your pricing though, take the cost, add shipping, apply 4% duty, then add 15% VAT on all of that. You may also have a shipping handling charge to pay around £15 depending on the UK delivery company.

[theflatboyMember]

aspirevelotech sportingly listed my chris king headsets as “bicycle bearings” with values of $15, so no duty to pay, which was nice. though presumably this would have some sort of impact on any claim if they were lost/damaged. either way, it all worked out nicely.

[BillOddieSubscriber]

Just out of interest what are you loooking to get that isn’t available over here?

IME you can get everything over here and with the $ rate being so low it’ probably not worth it if you do get hit by HMC&E.

[TraceySubscriber]

Got a Specialized Jett gel 143 in white and pink [wasnt available in UK] off ebay in States, no hassle no taxes.

Tracey