Ordering bike parts from the US to Europe?



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Antti Salonen

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I've been considering ordering some bike parts from the US, which don't seem to be available in
Europe. The weak dollar has made this more lucrative than it has been for many years. Velocity rims
for example seem to be impossible to find in Europe, or can somebody here name a shop that sells
them inside the EU?

Anyway:

Do the prices of the shops in the US generally include VAT? Is VAT deducted from the price I have to
pay? As I understand it, I should only have to pay VAT in my own country, which I have to do in
customs. For example, if you order from the great already cheap German mail order shops to the US,
17% VAT is deducted from the prices.

Anything else I should be aware of?

-as
 
Antti Salonen <[email protected]> wrote:
: Do the prices of the shops in the US generally include VAT?

AFAIK webstores are free from VAT in most states (notice the 'blah blah state residents add
hair-rising 4% sales tax' you see on many sites).

: Is VAT deducted from the price I have to pay? As I understand it, I should only have to pay VAT in
: my own country, which I have to do in customs.

Yes, you have to pay VAT in addition to the price. And customs too. And they are all multiplied
together. For t-shirts I had to pay 37% extra, and I had to sign a warrant so that they are not for
resale (after some questioning).

PS. They probably already know you are a bicyclist, but I hear there are some jobs you can get even
if you have a SuPo record.

--
Risto Varanka | http://www.helsinki.fi/~rvaranka/ varis at no spam please iki fi
 
if you're looking for velocity rims, why don't you order them directly from Australia - that's where
they come from.... they're a lot cheaper than any mavic rim here, and out dollar is not flash
either. Gemma

"Antti Salonen" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I've been considering ordering some bike parts from the US, which don't seem to be available in
> Europe. The weak dollar has made this more lucrative than it has been for many years. Velocity
> rims for example seem to be impossible to find in Europe, or can somebody here name a shop that
> sells them inside the EU?
>
> Anyway:
>
> Do the prices of the shops in the US generally include VAT? Is VAT deducted from the price I have
> to pay? As I understand it, I should only have to pay VAT in my own country, which I have to do in
> customs. For example, if you order from the great already cheap German mail order shops to the US,
> 17% VAT is deducted from the prices.
>
> Anything else I should be aware of?
>
>
> -as
 
Gemma Kernich <[email protected]> wrote:

> if you're looking for velocity rims, why don't you order them directly from Australia - that's
> where they come from.... they're a lot cheaper than any mavic rim here, and out dollar is not
> flash either.

That is a good suggestion. Can you recommend a reliable web store that ships to Europe?

-as
 
On 14 Feb 2003 17:09:28 GMT, Antti Salonen <[email protected]> wrote:

>Do the prices of the shops in the US generally include VAT? Is VAT deducted from the price I have
>to pay? As I understand it, I should only have to pay VAT in my own country, which I have to do in
>customs. For example, if you order from the great already cheap German mail order shops to the US,
>17% VAT is deducted from the prices.

From personal experience, small parcels will probably slip through the net if sent by USPS but
anything sent by courier is likely to arrive wih an invoice from Customs & Excise for duty *and* VAT
(which is also charged on the duty, adding insult to injury).

Harris Cyclery (http://www.sheldonbrown.com) is one place I've bought from, and I've bought some
second hand books from the USA (which has been painless). Oh, and some dogtags - following a
suggestion hereabouts - which was a great idea.

Guy
===
** WARNING ** This posting may contain traces of irony. http://www.chapmancentral.com (BT ADSL and
dynamic DNS permitting)
NOTE: BT Openworld have now blocked port 25 (without notice), so old mail addresses may no longer
work. Apologies.
 
>Oh, and some dogtags - following a suggestion hereabouts - which was a great idea.

I am sure that was purely American humour, as you are still posting.

--

_______________________ALL AMIGA IN MY MIND_______________________ ------------------"Buddy Holly,
the Texas Elvis"------------------
__________306.350.357.38>>[email protected]__________
 
Just zis Guy, you know? <[email protected]> wrote:

> From personal experience, small parcels will probably slip through the net if sent by USPS but
> anything sent by courier is likely to arrive wih an invoice from Customs & Excise for duty *and*
> VAT (which is also charged on the duty, adding insult to injury).

That's exactly what you need to pay here as well. However, rims might be make a very small parcel,
and to my experience, our customs personnel might be more careful than yours.

> Harris Cyclery (http://www.sheldonbrown.com) is one place I've bought from, and I've bought some
> second hand books from the USA (which has been painless). Oh, and some dogtags - following a
> suggestion hereabouts - which was a great idea.

At least in .fi, if you order goods valued more than $50 or so you must pay customs fees. For books
however, the the limit is around $120. It's actually a lot more complicated than that, and I get the
idea that the intention is to scare people from even trying.

-as
 
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