Parts from the UK

General cycling advice ( NOT technical ! )
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cc1085
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Joined: 8 Feb 2015, 11:41pm

Parts from the UK

Post by cc1085 »

Hi all
I used to buy bicycle and motorcycle parts from the UK for many years but now it just seems like too much hassle. I can get the same from EU as I did from UK pre Brexit without any of the paperwork or extra charges. I wonder what are the opinions in the UK now that the agreement is completed?
Thom.
Jdsk
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Joined: 5 Mar 2019, 5:42pm

Re: Parts from the UK

Post by Jdsk »

Where are you?

And have you spotted this thread?
https://forum.cyclinguk.org/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=142589

Jonathan
Jdsk
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Re: Parts from the UK

Post by Jdsk »

cc1085
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Re: Parts from the UK

Post by cc1085 »

In Ireland and got great service from the UK for many years
Thom
PH
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Re: Parts from the UK

Post by PH »

It's been three weeks, was anyone thinking it would be a seamless transition? Yes I know we were told that, but did you believe it?
I don't know how it'll be in three months or three years, but if businesses want your custom enough they will make it as easy as possible for you to spend your money with them. Spa and SJS are struggling to meet demand and have longer than usual waiting times, plus their supplies are restricted in the same way as bike retailers worldwide. How much effort they'll put into restarting EU exports will depend on how much they valued it and how much they need it.
I don't like the current situation either, though it's no better or worse than I'd anticipated. I'm not expecting it to ever return to the simplicity of free movement, neither am I hopeful that the pros will ever outweigh the cons. However I am expecting the twenty mile queues at Dover and the inability to buy from Germany to be temporary.
hamster
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Joined: 2 Feb 2007, 12:42pm

Re: Parts from the UK

Post by hamster »

PH wrote:However I am expecting the twenty mile queues at Dover and the inability to buy from Germany to be temporary.


You might be able to buy from Germany, but you will have to pay customs handling and duty (remember that rules of origin mean that Shimano bits are non-EU sourced, so attract it). At that stage will it be worth it?
Jdsk
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Re: Parts from the UK

Post by Jdsk »

PH wrote:I don't know how it'll be in three months or three years...

However I am expecting the twenty mile queues at Dover and the inability to buy from Germany to be temporary.

When are you expecting each of those to be resolved, please?

Thanks

Jonathan
Oldjohnw
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Re: Parts from the UK

Post by Oldjohnw »

I heard on R4 that the Port of Holyhead was in trouble - possibly Cherbourg's gain. Of course there will be, I am sure, recovery, but for many it will be too late. How long can a firm go without business?
John
pwa
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Re: Parts from the UK

Post by pwa »

cc1085 wrote:In Ireland and got great service from the UK for many years
Thom

I suggest you get parts from wherever seems easiest for a few months, then look at it again when things have bedded in and people have worked out how to operate in this new situation.
PH
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Re: Parts from the UK

Post by PH »

hamster wrote:
PH wrote:However I am expecting the twenty mile queues at Dover and the inability to buy from Germany to be temporary.


You might be able to buy from Germany, but you will have to pay customs handling and duty (remember that rules of origin mean that Shimano bits are non-EU sourced, so attract it).

Yes, that's why I said " I'm not expecting it to ever return to the simplicity of free movement"
I've bought a fair amount of cycling and camping kit from the US, either because it wasn't available anywhere else, or because importing myself was a cheaper option. Also a few items direct from China, I've also received gifts from Taiwan which attracted duty and VAT. None of this was a simple as buying from the same free market, but neither was any of it complicated.
At that stage will it be worth it?

My crystal ball is no better than yours, at a guess I'd expect buying from Germany to save a fiver will be a thing of the past, but where it's previously been possible to save £10's or £100's it'll still be worth it, though not as much as previously. You might also ask why in a free market it's been common for a product to cost 30% less from the retailers in one country than in another, maybe there's a business opportunity there.
Psamathe
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Re: Parts from the UK

Post by Psamathe »

PH wrote:It's been three weeks, was anyone thinking it would be a seamless transition?....

I thought we'd had many months "Transition Period" prior to 1 Jan 2021 - "Transition" as in transiting from one system to another.

Ian
pwa
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Re: Parts from the UK

Post by pwa »

Psamathe wrote:
PH wrote:It's been three weeks, was anyone thinking it would be a seamless transition?....

I thought we'd had many months "Transition Period" prior to 1 Jan 2021 - "Transition" as in transiting from one system to another.

Ian

It wasn't used that way though. It was used for continued negotiations.

At work (various employers) whenever a system of work, or an IT system, has changed, we have been told "It will be better and it will work" and invariably the initial experience has been that it isn't better and it doesn't work. Always. When human beings set up new systems with lots of different things going on there is always a period of glitches, delays and problems to overcome. Only when that period has passed and the plateau of normal operation is reached can we say how it has worked out.
PH
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Re: Parts from the UK

Post by PH »

Jdsk wrote:
PH wrote:I don't know how it'll be in three months or three years...

However I am expecting the twenty mile queues at Dover and the inability to buy from Germany to be temporary.

When are you expecting each of those to be resolved, please?

Thanks

Jonathan

8 months, 2 weeks, a day and fourteen hours.
Next question.
Seriously, how would anyone know? How do you? I'd expect the queues at Dover to be reducing within weeks if not days, by how much and how quickly we'll have to wait and see. Buying from Germany will, as I've already said, never be so simple again. But it's a new tax regime, the VAT collection part isn't unique to the UK, there will be software capable of automating what will currently be a headache for suppliers, then they'll review what is and isn't worthwhile to them. My last three logistics roles have been a lot more complex than the collection and documentation of duties and taxes, all three are now automated. If you were a German retailer you could outsource some of the hassle to a third party, plenty of German bike parts still available via Ebay.
hamster
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Joined: 2 Feb 2007, 12:42pm

Re: Parts from the UK

Post by hamster »

PH wrote:My crystal ball is no better than yours, at a guess I'd expect buying from Germany to save a fiver will be a thing of the past, but where it's previously been possible to save £10's or £100's it'll still be worth it, though not as much as previously. You might also ask why in a free market it's been common for a product to cost 30% less from the retailers in one country than in another, maybe there's a business opportunity there.


I suspect it's been scale, the Shimano importer in Germany / DACH also might be taking thinner margins on larger volumes. Certainly Germany has always seemed to offer much wider Shimano spares coverage than Madison ever brought into the UK (single cogs and replacement brake hoods for example).
Of course there are opportunities for cross-border arbitrage. Things are valued differently in different places: antique furniture in France is valueless, and hub dynamos are a niche in the UK but mainstream in Germany and NL.
PH
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Re: Parts from the UK

Post by PH »

Psamathe wrote:
PH wrote:It's been three weeks, was anyone thinking it would be a seamless transition?....

I thought we'd had many months "Transition Period" prior to 1 Jan 2021 - "Transition" as in transiting from one system to another.

Ian

Wasted time, as you well know. Were you thinking it was going to be seamless on 1st January?
There was no preparation time for the businesses and individuals concerned between knowing how they'd have to operate and doing so, days. I'm not defending that, or any of this shambles. I'm saying now is not the time to be making conclusions.
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