Buying from Europe

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Gazktm1050
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Buying from Europe

Post by Gazktm1050 »

Has any one ordered any parts or gear from outside the uk . And did they get stung for import tax or any extras on top or nothing at all .
mechanic
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Re: Buying from Europe

Post by mechanic »

Seems to be a bit of a lottery at the moment to be honest. Some taxed some not. I’ve even had a second hand wheel, returned to my seller in Italy due to non uk homologation. This was for a 30 year old aprilia wheel. I’m sure it will pan out in time. No problem with big sellers on line though, their policy’s are usually on the website. Mainly private deals and E/gay that have taken a hit.😏
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zimtim
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Re: Buying from Europe

Post by zimtim »

I have had several companies that have stopped shipping to the UK all together.

Yet I ordered some KTM parts from a dealership in Spain was half expecting to get stung for import duties. It all arrived in post nothing more to pay, it worked out cheaper to buy from them than it did a KTM dealer here.

If you can keep you orders under the import duty threshold which I think is around £140. You should be good.
I have had shipments delivered in two parts to get around this. I think also it depends on what the declaration states. Goods, samples, or gifts (gifts seems to work)
I know some have grasped the idea of sending customers orders in one or mores parcel and as a gift or as a sample
Simply to keep trading with the UK
Onenoodles
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Re: Buying from Europe

Post by Onenoodles »

Wanted to buy some Heed crash bars for my S10 but they emailed to say they have stopped shipping to the UK now ... shame.
Billy Bananahead
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Re: Buying from Europe

Post by Billy Bananahead »

Last week i bought a genuine new Suzuki part from CMS due to item being unavailable at Fowlers or Robinsons Foundry and the book price was £62, then with import duty and postage it came to £79.
Yesterday i bought some new aftermarket silencers for the same bike, VX800, and the book price was £340 and with postage and import tax it came in at £412.
I think it's a case of if you want an item that badly then you'll stump up otherwise do without. I wonder if things will change due to all the problems?
Yeah right, i'm not holding my breath.
Sanqhar
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Re: Buying from Europe

Post by Sanqhar »

It's comprehensively explained here:

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopp ... st-brexit/

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Peirre
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Re: Buying from Europe

Post by Peirre »

Slightly off topic
I ordered an Olympic 2” weight lifting bar back on February from Rogue in Belgium and received it last week, there had been some hit and miss reports of some people getting bills for the import taxes and fees and some not getting billed. So Rogue emailed me to say I must pay them before they will ship it, and they will administer the payment to whoever. So I had to pay an additional £62 in costs, so I suspect that this will be the norm for European suppliers in the future
Last edited by Peirre on Tue Apr 13, 2021 12:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
catcitrus
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Re: Buying from Europe

Post by catcitrus »

There is no doubt that its a minefield--and the best approach is to buy from a UK source. I had a recent example of the odd situation--and I've done this twice as I needed two parts----I ordered a skidplate for the new Honda Rally 300(just released)--THROUGH my local KTM dealer (they also do Honda offroad so have access to Honda parts). The price was a lot lower than the previous 250 part although virtually identical. I was quoted a price by the dealer(standard book price) and paid it up front. Now the part probably came in from Europe(and from Japan or Thailand)--both orders were completed successfully with no further duty or charges(or comments from the dealer)--in other words business as usual---so the message is buy local if you can--the bigger organisations have obviously sorted the parts supply out. I read the blurb site above--its confusing. I thought that a part Made in the UK and exported shouldn't attract duty, just local VAT at the EU destination country. However, our HMRC have decided that all parts COMING INTO the UK attract VAT and duty (above 135 GBP)--Including the EU--so we have the UK government to thank for making life even more difficult, not Brexit. They could easily make imports from the EU exempt from duty and VAT for everything up to say 500 GBP--would that really lose the treasury that much money(which they never had anyway)--and it would help loads of small businesses. Interestingly exporting MOTORCYCLE Parts to the US doesn't attract any duty as long as the value is less than $600. Importing from the US has always attracted a combination of import duty and VAT (a total of 28%)--and the POs handling charge for requesting the duty--again something that could assist trade if the limit was like the US!--say 500 GBP before duty and VAT were charged.
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Re: Buying from Europe

Post by DavidS »

Are these suppliers removing their national VAT as surely that should happen first.
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Peirre
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Re: Buying from Europe

Post by Peirre »

In my case their website was originally setup post Brexit with an EU and Non EU option on their store page, the Non EU side prices where VAT and fee free, with the emphasis on those cost being collected by the courier company (UPS) prior to delivery. But they screwed up the fee collections which meant some people didn`t pay anything. So the vendor rejigged their website so that ALL buyers pay appropriate VAT + Fees at checkout, and the vendor then submits the fees to the appropriate authorities, and the goods are delivered to the customer with no further charges.
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