taiwan imports?

[Mike]

Looking at the new grx groupsets and looks like cheapest is direct from Taiwan. Anyone know if i we have to pay more tax and import on top of that? I have in my head that we dont but was just wondering if anyones bought anything direct from said country and got stung

[Cheeky Monkey]

I think you are due to pay import tax etc. Can't imagine it'll be any different to "importing" anything from other places outside EU like the States etc.

Whether it'll get picked up by courier ...... (probably).

[whitestone]

It seems to be a bit of a lottery as to whether you get hit with import duty (plus VAT) - could just be a machine that flips every seventh item to be checked or a bloke randomly grabbing a packet from the pile. They'll also check items from particular suppliers who've they've previously discovered to have undervalued the goods, apparently HMRC have the internet as well

Whatever happens, HMRC pass the item to the courier who is responsible for collecting said duty plus VAT from you. They'll charge an admin/release fee on top of anything owed to HMRC.

[wriggles]

I got my GRX from Bikediscount.de in Germany. No import duty (at the moment ).

[Gregsie]

Import a lot of stuff from outside of the EU. You'll probably get hit for the VAT + customs processing charge based on the declaration on the outside of the box and the exchange rate that day.

Parcelfarce seem to have sharpened up on this over the past year or so. Used to be 50/50 on whether they would hit you with charges, now it's more like 90/10 in their favour.

[jameso]

Duty on parts is 4.7% so perhaps not a big increase compared to the potential saving? Add 20% VAT on top of that also though.

[composite]

All the big-ticket items that I have ordered from outside of the Eurozone in the last 5 years I have had to pay TAX on once it got here. This has always slowed down the delivery quite a bit, as the courier has to snail mail you a bill which you then pay online, after which they deliver your goods. You also pay more than the TAX value as has already been mentioned

I have ordered a bunch of smaller items in the last year or so which have never been pulled for TAX.

I recently ordered a set of wheels from light bicycle and decided to do the prepaid TAX delivery option. There was no handling fee and no extra wait for the delivery.

[Bearbonesnorm]

How much is the saving? Is it worth the customs lottery and potential of no warranty / back- up?

[Mariner]

If you can get it from Aliexpress they usually include duties and have a very efficient postal service into uk in my experience.
Andy (Stooge) tells me he is having a problem clearing uk customs at present.

[Cheeky Monkey]

Duty on parts is 4.7% so perhaps not a big increase compared to the potential saving? Add 20% VAT on top of that also though.

And don't forget the "handling charge" of the courier on top.

[jameso]

^ yes you have to pay VAT on the product plus shipping total I think

[whitestone]

^ yes you have to pay VAT on the product plus shipping total I think

See my first reply:

Duty on product then VAT on that total plus the shipping cost. Then there's the release fee.

You pay £100 for the goods, shipping is say £15
Duty is £4.70 on the £100

VAT on £119.70 (£100 + £4.70 + £15) @20% is £19.88
Total is £139.58
Release fee of (usually) £8

You end up paying £147.58

[Cheeky Monkey]

C'mon Mike, have you ordered it?

[Boab]

I ended up ordering my full 1x GRX 8xx groupset from Vanilla Bikes. A similar price to the Germans, but from the UK. Would've been quicker to order from the Germans though...