I’m certain this has been posted once or twice on here, but I can’t seem to find the thread(s) and it doesn’t help that I’ve a complete blank on the online shop names.

I’m needing new drivetrain parts and there are none in stock in the UK – same story everyone is finding – so I’m trying to find an online shop in EU that has the parts and will ship to the UK. I’m reckoning the total price will be about £300, so above the price where it is unclear on who pays what taxes…I’m expecting to pay taxes, VAT and no doubt a handling charge as well. However, I can remember the shop names and can’t seem to find them as the ones I’ve tried over the last couple of weeks all don’t ship to the UK.

Where do I find the shops that do please?

This one?

How much duty will I pay on imported parts from Germany?

R2 bike, bike-discount (if over £135), lordgun there’s quite a few.

However if it’s Sram or Shimano parts good luck as it’s a worldwide problem.

On a £300 order you could expect to pay between £70-90 in vat/duty/fees, but the seller should also remove any vat charged at the checkout so you should pay roughly the same as UK prices.

I bought a shock and spring recently from Starbike in Germany. they had a little calculator link where you could work out how much import duty etc you would pay. when it arrives at your local Parcelforce depot you go online and pay the fee. the Starbike calculation was pretty accurate except it was plus VAT – so maybe try them?

Duties are payable on parcels with a value exceeding £135. Id be interested to know if splitting that £300 total into 3 separate £100 orders would avoid charges!?

Ideal, thanks.

I’m not looking to avoid paying charges, just trying to widen my net of a potential place to buy.

BikeInn shipping to the UK from Spain – had a couple of small orders from them as couldn’t get stuff in UK or was still cheaper even with extra postage costs.

yes even with import duties i still saved >£100 on UK RRP buying from ze germans.

@ Dovebiker, how was your shopping experience?

I’ve not had issues with Bikeinn other than the really slow delivery times. They supposedly have a UK warehouse, which a couple of orders have gone through this year with no additional duty or fees (vat paid at checkout).

After avoiding BikeInn out of caution for several years, I used them for the first time recently and was impressed. They are the only provider I’ve come across who sends a photo of your shipment as it gets dispatched (not actually that useful, but nice nonetheless).

Delivery wasn’t as fast as the German shops, but that appeared to be mostly delivery time rather than dispatch time, so probably out of their control. And it was still pretty reasonable: ordered on the 17th and arrived on the 25th.

Would definitely use them again.

BikeInn and AlpineTrek have both been really good recently, and no extra charges – they handled it all.

@mahalo not quite “Duties are payable on parcels with a value exceeding £135. Id be interested to know if splitting that £300 total into 3 separate £100 orders would avoid charges!?” – The duties and vat are still paid but it’s the sellers responsibility to pay them to HMRC not the purchasers. That’s why various folks now have limits above that so they don’t have the hassle of registering and doing it.

I’ve used Snowinn(same people, and they’re fine – even returned a thing or two).

The £135 thing is correct I think. No problem with Eggbeater pedals, £74 on Garmin Edge 530.