Rose bikes stops selling to the UK

[rafletcher]

Bike24 is shipping to NI now, but still not to the rest of the UK.

[Tim Hall]

Tipped off by Rogerzilla in this very thread, I ordered a light from Bikester. No minimum order thing, minimal hassle. It's being shipped from ABROAD, Germany to be precise, despite the site being a .co.uk entity.

Useful things in their FAQ include:

Will I still be able to shop at Bikester after the Brexit transition period ends on 31st December 2020?

Yes, our UK shop will continue trading in 2021.

Will delivery of my package be delayed in case of a hard Brexit?

We expect significant delays with deliveries because of restrictions due to COVID-19. Additional delays are to be expected in case of a hard Brexit. Should your order take longer to arrive, we kindly ask for your patience and understanding.

Looking at the UPS tracker for my package I see:

Your package is delayed due to a Brexit related disruption. We are adjusting delivery plans as quickly as possible.

Scheduled for this Friday. I'll see how it goes

[nikki]

I placed a big order with Bikester a few weeks ago, not realising it would be shipped from Germany.

I had Brexit delays coming up on the tracking page for what seemed like a small eternity, but it arrived on the scheduled date.
(Or the day before, depending on how you look at it: they did nudge the delivery date by one day, but ended up delivering the day before that, as originally intended.)


~~~
A friend has also had some success with https://www.mantel.com being able to supply components she couldn't source from within the UK.

[rogerzilla]

Yep, have used Bikester, Mantel and XXCycle (sounds like a pr0n store) in 2021 with no extra charges or nasty surprises.

[nikki]

Considering I'm still waiting for a shop in Wigan to give me the bottom bracket I ordered at about the same time, EU-based suppliers are winning on customer service so far!

[giropaul]

Considering I'm still waiting for a shop in Wigan to give me the bottom bracket I ordered at about the same time, EU-based suppliers are winning on customer service so far!

Shops in the U.K. are finding it incredibly difficult to source parts and bikes etc.
Shimano ( if that’s what you are waiting for) have had huge production problems ( including I gather Covid closures and a factory fire). Then we have the Brexit barriers to getting stuff into the U.K. . It isn’t the shops’ fault, they’re just incredibly frustrated.

[nikki]

This lot have sent me a lower spec bottom bracket and aren't engaging in any conversation about what they're going to do about it or if they can supply the item I ordered. That's quite frustrating. If they say it's not in stock and make the refund I can move on and deal with it, but as it is they're just making the situation worse.

[Tim Hall]

Tipped off by Rogerzilla in this very thread, I ordered a light from Bikester. No minimum order thing, minimal hassle. It's being shipped from ABROAD, Germany to be precise, despite the site being a .co.uk entity.

Useful things in their FAQ include:

Will I still be able to shop at Bikester after the Brexit transition period ends on 31st December 2020?

Yes, our UK shop will continue trading in 2021.

Will delivery of my package be delayed in case of a hard Brexit?

We expect significant delays with deliveries because of restrictions due to COVID-19. Additional delays are to be expected in case of a hard Brexit. Should your order take longer to arrive, we kindly ask for your patience and understanding.

Looking at the UPS tracker for my package I see:

Your package is delayed due to a Brexit related disruption. We are adjusting delivery plans as quickly as possible.

Scheduled for this Friday. I'll see how it goes

Arrived yesterday. That's a day before it was scheduled. I like this.

[quixoticgeek]

The no tarriffs on trade between UK and EU doesn't seem to have made it to UPS. I just got charged ~€5 for
"Tax" on an €37 nut I ordered from the UK. Plus another ~€2.50 in VAT. And of course, UPS charged me €13 to collect this money...

J

[Davef]

The no tarriffs on trade between UK and EU doesn't seem to have made it to UPS. I just got charged ~€5 for
"Tax" on an €37 nut I ordered from the UK. Plus another ~€2.50 in VAT. And of course, UPS charged me €13 to collect this money...

J

Was it a nut from say Brazil being sold in the U.K. but not grown here ?

[quixoticgeek]

Was it a nut from say Brazil being sold in the U.K. but not grown here ?

No it was a custom machined lead screw nut made from CuSn5Zn5Pb5-C - CC491K...

J

[Davef]

Was it a nut from say Brazil being sold in the U.K. but not grown here ?

No it was a custom machined lead screw nut made from CuSn5Zn5Pb5-C - CC491K...

J

Perhaps the machining was outsourced to Brazil

[rogerzilla]

No it was a custom machined lead screw nut made from CuSn5Zn5Pb5-C - CC491K...

Those marketing people have found a new way to describe monkey metal!

[Paul H]

The no tarriffs on trade between UK and EU doesn't seem to have made it to UPS. I just got charged ~€5 for
"Tax" on an €37 nut I ordered from the UK. Plus another ~€2.50 in VAT. And of course, UPS charged me €13 to collect this money...

J

Someone has messed up, import tax shouldn't be applied to consumer goods under £135 and the VAT should have been collected by the retailer for goods under that same value.  UPS should know this, I hope you've complained, you ought to at least get their fee back.

[quixoticgeek]

Someone has messed up, import tax shouldn't be applied to consumer goods under £135 and the VAT should have been collected by the retailer for goods under that same value.  UPS should know this, I hope you've complained, you ought to at least get their fee back.

This is UK -> EU direction. So the retailer collecting VAT is not yet in effect. That takes effect on July 1st.

J

[Salvatore]

I haven't seen this mentioned elsewhere
£2000 extra to import a bike from Poland, £1500 not to import it.

It strikes me that buying a bike 3 days before the Brexit deadline was probably asking for trouble, but still.

 

[Paul H]

Someone has messed up, import tax shouldn't be applied to consumer goods under £135 and the VAT should have been collected by the retailer for goods under that same value.  UPS should know this, I hope you've complained, you ought to at least get their fee back.

This is UK -> EU direction. So the retailer collecting VAT is not yet in effect. That takes effect on July 1st.

J

I'd forgotten that the VAT changes had been postponed, but I think the other points remain the same. 

[Davef]

The no tarriffs on trade between UK and EU doesn't seem to have made it to UPS. I just got charged ~€5 for
"Tax" on an €37 nut I ordered from the UK. Plus another ~€2.50 in VAT. And of course, UPS charged me €13 to collect this money...

J

Someone has messed up, import tax shouldn't be applied to consumer goods under £135 and the VAT should have been collected by the retailer for goods under that same value.  UPS should know this, I hope you've complained, you ought to at least get their fee back.

£135 is to do with vat treatment, not tariffs. There is no exemption for consumer goods. I would say if tariff has been charged either the product is not tariff exempt due to its origin or the exporter screwed up the paperwork (ie missing or incorrect EORI) or the delivery company fumbled.

Of course it could be that no tariff has been charged and   the 5 euros “tax” is the vat due in the destination country, 13 euros the handling charge, 2.50 euros vat on the handling charge ?

[quixoticgeek]

£135 is to do with vat treatment, not tariffs. There is no exemption for consumer goods. I would say if tariff has been charged either the product is not tariff exempt due to its origin or the exporter screwed up the paperwork (ie missing or incorrect EORI) or the delivery company fumbled.

Of course it could be that no tariff has been charged and   the 5 euros “tax” is the vat due in the destination country, 13 euros the handling charge, 2.50 euros vat on the handling charge ?

Yep, it works out as exactly 21% of €13.

I think if I purchase anything else from this supplier, I'll wait until after July 1st to do so...

J

[Paul H]

£135 is to do with vat treatment, not tariffs. There is no exemption for consumer goods.

Customs Duty
You’ll be charged Customs Duty on all goods sent from outside the UK (or the UK and the EU if you’re in Northern Ireland) if they’re either:
excise goods
worth more than £135

https://www.gov.uk/goods-sent-from-abroad/tax-and-duty

I'm pretty sure that's applicable in both directions.

[Davef]

£135 is to do with vat treatment, not tariffs. There is no exemption for consumer goods.

Customs Duty
You’ll be charged Customs Duty on all goods sent from outside the UK (or the UK and the EU if you’re in Northern Ireland) if they’re either:
excise goods
worth more than £135

https://www.gov.uk/goods-sent-from-abroad/tax-and-duty

I'm pretty sure that's applicable in both directions.

Thanks. I was not aware. I wonder if that is just a U.K. thing. I can’t see any mention of it on the eu side.

[Cudzoziemiec]

£135 is to do with vat treatment, not tariffs. There is no exemption for consumer goods. I would say if tariff has been charged either the product is not tariff exempt due to its origin or the exporter screwed up the paperwork (ie missing or incorrect EORI) or the delivery company fumbled.

Of course it could be that no tariff has been charged and   the 5 euros “tax” is the vat due in the destination country, 13 euros the handling charge, 2.50 euros vat on the handling charge ?

Yep, it works out as exactly 21% of €13.

I think if I purchase anything else from this supplier, I'll wait until after July 1st to do so...

J

So you've been charged VAT on the VAT-collection fee? That has to be wrong. Not necessarily incorrect – you've been charged NL VAT on a service carried out within NL – but still "wrong".

[Paul H]

£135 is to do with vat treatment, not tariffs. There is no exemption for consumer goods.

Customs Duty
You’ll be charged Customs Duty on all goods sent from outside the UK (or the UK and the EU if you’re in Northern Ireland) if they’re either:
excise goods
worth more than £135

https://www.gov.uk/goods-sent-from-abroad/tax-and-duty

I'm pretty sure that's applicable in both directions.

Thanks. I was not aware. I wonder if that is just a U.K. thing. I can’t see any mention of it on the eu side.

I wondered that myself, it does apply both ways, be a bit odd if it didn't:

Customs Duty is not due for goods, provided directly to the buyer when their value does not exceed 150 euros.
https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/individuals/buying-goods-services-online-personal-use/buying-goods/buying-goods-online-coming-from-a-noneu-union-country_en

[slugbait]

To present the view from the other side of the North Sea. My original plan was to not order stuff from the UK for a couple of months and wait for the Brexit dust to settle. But my beloved Alpkit Argonaut jacket really needed replacement after 3 years of almost continuous abuse. I bought the replacement last week and expected it to arrive somewhere in May.

It arrived within one week without any additional charges.

(Wiggle is still charging ridiculous delivery fees, however, even through their .nl-website.)

[rogerzilla]

Brooks still aren't taking orders from the UK, according to their webshite.

They apparently have a moronic distribution practice that involves making saddles here, shipping them to an Italian warehouse, then back again.  I assume they have been caught by the paperwork and VAT issues.