[Closed] Might be a while before we can order bike stuff from abroad

I honestly have no idea on all this, I doubt if the government do either.Lol

I know I'm going to be having a huge bike related ebay clear out this year as I suspect prices will be buoyant.👍

Edit: Just skim read the link. Bloody hell, I can see why non UK sellers might just not export to us for the moment anyway.😄

I think for the bigger players they will just suck it up and deal with it - Canyon, Orbea and YT all sell enough to make this part of the deal. Bikediscount.de et al could be the same. The Downside is that it will increase prices from Europe without a doubt. At one stage if we went WTO rules it would have meant bikes from outside Europe could have been had with taxes! Not happening now though.

Applies to Star Trek merch too! William Shatner highlighted this back in October and has shut down sales to the UK from his website.
Still, its great for UK bike businesses, they can hike up their prices... if only they had stock.

Thrive long and prosper mightily, as a great man once said.

Am I understanding this correctly, purchases over £135 in value will be relatively straight forward for the overseas seller with VAT being collected in the UK?  It will just be extra delay for me waiting for the VAT to be requested from me plus a handling charge before delivery?

Isn't a surprise but equally, annoyingly frustrating...almost like they don't want foreign business making money from UK purchasers without getting a cut themselves...

That link only seems to deal with stuff less than £135?

Sort of related, and I think I know the answer. If my friends parents have a property in Majorca, what would happen if his goods were shipped there first, and his parents brought them into the UK for him? Declare at customs then pay VAT?

Just tried a test order of about €90 from extremtextil in Germany - when I enter a UK address I get a notice that

The selected country is not available for shipping. Please select another shipping address

Tried with a €200 order and get the same.

I suspect that in time the system will sort itself out and the larger companies, or at least those that do significant part of their trade with the UK, will get themselves registered. The smaller companies will either not bother or use a "broker" who'll do it for them. Either way it'll be extra cost to those of us marooned in isolationist Little Britain.

Am I understanding this correctly, purchases over £135 in value will be relatively straight forward for the overseas seller with VAT being collected in the UK?

I think so?

So bigger purchases, through bigger companies, will probably be ok.
Though almost guaranteed to be more expensive.

On smaller purchases (sub £135, excluding shipping) the company will have to apply vat at the point of purchase, and then send it to the UK govt (+ a fee according to the original link).

Smaller companies and also sell low value goods via a marketplace such as Amazon or eBay, not that that's ideal for many.
I get the reasoning that it's vat is due but in reality how are they going to check every parcel? I suspected they'll be overwhelmed by the amount that needs checking and what are they going to do with items where the vat hasn't been prepaid. Destroy them?
Anyway as my business relies on B2C export sales that are nearly all below £135 I just hope the EU or other countries don't reciprocate.

Isn't this the same as them supplying to Switzerland which is also out the EU VAT Scheme and has a similar requirement for foreign companies to register for Swiss VAT?

It's obviously going to cause some short term disruption whilst companies adapt and some smaller businesses might decide it's not worth the hassle but larger suppliers will likely already have processes and systems in place for this.

No idea what it will mean for prices but I assume you won't pay both the EU country Vat and UK Vat so it's not like UK Vat being adding on top of the price you were already paying? I think the bigger risk for price rises is from currency fluctuations if the value of the pound falls.

I thought we had a trade deal?

“ I thought we had a trade deal?”

That deals with tariffs, not VAT.

I thought we had a trade deal?
That deals with tariffs, not VAT.

The way the "trade deal" was sold was that nothing would change just a shit load more paperwork.
I was wrong.

I've tried various companies in the EU and the US and it varies as to whether they'll deliver to the UK.

No doubt over time it will sort itself out. Unlikely to be to the advantage of most of us.

As Ian Duncan Smith just said:

"I just wish I was 21 again, frankly," IDS - an arch Brexiteer - said. "Because my goodness what prospects lie ahead of us for young people now. To be out there

buccaneering, trading, dominating the world again..."

Basically get on your bike boat.😁

I won't take this OT more though. Sorry op.

Read all about it

Oops! Link already posted above. Ignore me.

I wonder if Chain Reaction voted Brexit? They used to be based in Northern Ireland but my forks came from south Wales

tomhoward

Sort of related, and I think I know the answer. If my friends parents have a property in Majorca, what would happen if his goods were shipped there first, and his parents brought them into the UK for him?

They probably won't be there, as they can only spend three months in Spain now.

Ooh, btw, Brooks are not shipping their saddles to the UK at the moment.... Their distribution hub is in Italy.

Unintended consequences eh?

I'm not joking btw, it's on their website.

Appreciate this is about vat, but it is tax nonetheless...is the government going after the fat cats that don't pay their correct amount of tax now as well?

https://www.brooksengland.com/en_uk/uk-shipping-notice

They probably won’t be there, as they can only spend three months in Spain now.

Only three months at a time, so if you come back for a day every 3 months, you are ok, no? Or is it 3 months a year?

90 days in any 180 period, that's the key and the conundrum.

So... 6 months in the year, total, but not joined, if you work out the logistics, it means choosing to be there for the Summer, or milder winter.... But then not being able to go back till the Summer because you need to let the 180 days "time out" etc etc etc

Sorry, I can't put it any better.lol

Edit: Sorry op, I'll duck out of the thread now!

Brooks is just a short term suspension whilst the dust settles. You equally can't get a UK to EU DHL express order delivered to the EU for another week or so. We suspended our EU orders until next week so we didn't charge uk vat and it was then in transit over NY so the customer may also be charged import vat. Mostly it's logistics problems though. Not related to the OP

Appreciate this is about vat, but it is tax nonetheless…is the government going after the fat cats that don’t pay their correct amount of tax now as well?

This isn't some new tax, you've always paid it and always will regardless of being in the EU or not.

The way the “trade deal” was sold was that nothing would change just a shit load more paperwork.
I was wrong.

You're right about more paperwork, this is it.

It's very little difference to than when we were in the EU and purchasing from non-EU countries.

P.S. Brexit sucks.

Brooks are not shipping their saddles to the UK

My LBS will be selling another Cambium C17 come Monday morning. I’ve been putting it off for a few months, swapping saddles between bikes. Time for one for every bike.

Edit. Brexit really is a monumentally ****ing stupid idea.

I guess that song about Boris was quite accurate then.

It’s very little difference to than when we were in the EU and purchasing from non-EU countries.

Actually quite a lot of difference - previously the onus was on you/me to pay the duty and VAT which TBF was a bit of a lottery as to whether the goods were held until you paid, now the seller has to register with HMRC, charge the VAT then forward it to HMRC.

Non-EU firms might already be registered, depends on the usual value of goods they dispatch to the UK. EU firms generally won't because until now they've not needed to be.

Sort of related, and I think I know the answer. If my friends parents have a property in Majorca, what would happen if his goods were shipped there first, and his parents brought them into the UK for him?

I did this years ago with snowboard bindings from the USA. Had them posted to a mates cousin's house in Washington and his auntie brought them back for me. Saved me over £100!!

My sister has a house in France so will use that if I need to.

now the seller has to register with HMRC, charge the VAT then forward it to HMRC.

What if they don't?

If they don’t I suspect very little will happen in the short term.

There was never any need for this - HMRC are just being see you next Tuesdays.

JP

I stocked up a bit in advance, so hopefully ok.

Or I might do a bit of 'mighty prospering' and sell it on ebay at 100% markup. Buccaneering british enterprise spirit and all that.

Brexit is ****ing hilariously stupid.

What if they don’t?

One assumes there will have to be some sort of electronic record attached to the delivery, or even a label on the package saying vat has been collected.
So if the package is missing this then it won't arrive.
Or some might get through initially, but HMRC will get wise and shut down any perceived loop-holes.
I suspect businesses will be wary of being sued by HMRC for vat owed.

We're now a relatively small market, and as we're outside the larger EU market a lot of online shops might just see it as not worth their bother anymore.

I don't believe the following is completely up to date (it is from 22nd Dec, so pre-dates Boris' "deal"), but it explains roughly how it was supposed to work:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/notice-143-a-guide-for-international-post-users/notice-143-a-guide-for-international-post-users

I don't think this is strictly a B****t issue, but it has obviously compounded the problems.

Intriguing, I ordered a pair of 24" DMR Backline rims yesterday from a European website (literally have no idea where they're based) on a bit of a gamble as the site looked dodgy but the rims were only €11 each and shipped it was a smidge over £40 so not a great deal to lose. All the site showed was the price of the rims and €20 odd shipping.
Apparently on there way so will see what happens when (if) they reach the country!

Brexit is ****ing hilariously stupid.

The people organising it even more so

Just ordered more camper shoes price was the same with free delivery by DHL from Spain...

The whole thing is bonkers.
Ps hello @raouligan and @ajantom

Going t'other way, I've had a pair of Hebden's famous kecks stuck in Spanish customs for a month. No reason given, I suspect they were hoping to hold them long enough to levy duty on them 😉

None of the German sites are allowing UK orders, hopefully they'll start coming up this week.

I ordered some stuff from Bikeinn and Skatepro last week. Bikeinn seems to have left the warehouse in Spain but hasn't progessed any further, the Skatepro order is still awaiting pickup

Haven't EU companies that sell over a certain amount into other EU countries always had to pay VAT direct to the purchasers country? Back when I worked on a large golf e-commerce site I remember someone senior saying they did enough business to need vat registration in several EU countries and would shortly need it in a few more.

Problem at the moment is that deliveries to the uk have been suspended due to Brexit and covid. This lots of retailers have stopped. Question now is, who restarts. Some might, some might say minimum order quantity, some might have no awareness of uk regs, it’s generally a clsterfyck. I guess give it a few months and it’ll be a little clearer as to what is going to happen. Comments I am seeing are talking about at least 6 months of border issues.

and using internment camps with no facilities is really going to encourage lorry drivers to cross the channel!

R2-bike say they are shipping from the 2nd Jan (yesterday) so hopefully the other German sellers will join in (bike24, bike-discount etc.)

I'm after some Sram brakes and the UK stock is woeful.