[Closed] Paying for a Canyon in euros - can it be done?

[quote=coolbeanz ]I know I could ship to a friend/relative in the eurozone, but that will be a lot of hassle!Or go and collect it in person?

This subject has been done several times and there's no way Canyon will change their policy.

I know I could ship to a friend/relative in the eurozone, but that will be a lot of hassle!

Been lots of posts about this of late and the above is your only option. Up to you to work out if the hassle is worth the saving.

EDIT: What he said ^^^

Do they use their own exchange rate or is this just the general situation currently? Otherwise, you're going to be exchanging pounds to euros at some point in the process however you do it are you not?

Just buy something else I reckon. I've put the strive in file 13 because of this.

Got any friends in Ireland ?

Do they use their own exchange rate or is this just the general situation currently?

I think their [s]excuse[/s] reason was due to fluctuations in the Euro they can't constantly monitor the exact exchange rate adjusting their prices accordingly, so they just stick the £££ price up as a blanket solution.

Book into hotel in Calais, get it shipped there. Cheap late night ferry :D.

"Can it be done ?" Yes, it can.
I was out on my new Strive CF 8.0 Race last night, all the more enjoyable because instead of £3248, I paid a net £2830 delivered 🙂

"Is there any way to pay in euros and convince Canyon to ship directly to the UK"
Absolutely not, I was quite persistent in this as it would have been less hassle than what I did.

"Or go and collect it in person?"
If you are near Koblenz and don't mind lugging a bike back then this is a good option.

"Do they use their own exchange rate or is this just the general situation currently?"
I was told that the prices for every region are set at the start of the season, October-ish. Back in 2014 the exchange was a lot worse for us than it is now and the 'Canyon rate' was closer to fair, but still way off. I expect that October this year they will increase the Euro prices across the board and leave the UK price as-is instead of dropping it.

Here is how I did it-

Set region to UK and English, add the bike to basket and start checkout.

For billing address use your own house in the UK where the credit card is registered. I used a Post Office card because they give a clean wholesale rate and no extra fees for foreign currency conversions.

Here is the important bit: set the delivery address to Germany, then Canyon's showroom address (Canyon Bicycles GmbH, Karl-Tesche-Straße 12, Koblenz, 56073). This changes the price to Euro's.

There is a section at the bottom to add a note, it only allows a few words in there. I put something like "Please pack into a bikeguard and I will arrange a courier to pick it up from your showroom."

Sometime later I got an email with an order confirmation PDF, including an order number like this VA0000000, and a note on the form "Bitte im BikeGuard verpacken, wird vom Kunden von UPS abholen lassen." That roughly translates as "Please pack in BikeGuard, will be picked up by the customer of UPS." Which I found reassuring that they got my note and expected a courier to pick it up and not me personally.

Wait for a later email that allows you to pick a date to get the bike from the showroom. I would recommend one about a week away to give time to sort out the courier.

I rang round EVERY courier I could think of and they either refused to import a package or would only deal with a business account or the box was deemed too large. Even worse one person at UPS said OK (I called to check before getting the actual pickup date) and they when I called back was told NO. I ended up with P4D.

At http://www.p4d.co.uk/ choose a quote for "Import back into the UK"

Enter from Germany to UK, postcode 56073, Size 150x27x78, Weight 15kg

Choose "TNT Economy Express Import", add insurance cover for the full amount, unless you are mad. It was about £60 extra.

It should be about 3-4 days to arrive.

There were a few issues along the way, the UPS guy telling me porkies meant that at one point I had paid for a bike in Germany and no way of getting it, until I found P4D.

After paying for delivery I got an email from TNT in German text, that translated to something like - please sign this label and hand it to the driver ! I called P4D and they thought it should be ok without it. In general P4D were pretty good customer service. TNT had issues at Calais because of French strikes, so the bike was delayed for a while. TNT didn't pick up the bike at the first appointment because they claimed it wasn't ready. I called Canyon (6th time lucky) and they said it was picked up !!!! They then said they would get back to me with a status update which never arrived. TNT picked it up the following day OK.

Canyon Germany are TERRIBLE at sales, which for a company that only does direct sales is not a good tactic. If you email them at info@canyon.com they NEVER answer. In fact the order confirmation email states 'do not reply to this email'. I also called them 5 times on different days and was on hold for 15-20mins each time with no answer. It disconnects you after 20mins. If you use the web form they don't read it and merely direct to the UK service centre. They can't answer anything related to sales, delivery or Euros and suggest you contact Canyon Germany, ARRGGHHH !

Having said that, the UK service guys are pretty good at answering email and phones, and I have heard decent things about warranty issues so I hope I don't need to contact the German office again.

As for the bike, I am 5'10" and got a medium. It seems a good fit so far. I was worried the race top tube would be a bit long but its fine. It came with tubeless valves for the SRAM wheels and a bleed kit for the Reverb. The shock pump goes to 300 but I need a tad more than that in the Monarch shock. The ISCG tabs are not 05, so probably the old school version. I dropped down to a 28t ring and removed the XCX chainguide, fingers crossed it won't drop a chain.

Overall, not easy, but a saving of over £400 is pretty significant so worth it eventually. This worked for me, but I am sure they want the extra bounty they get when we Treasure Islanders pay in Sterling.

I expect that October this year they will increase the Euro prices across the board and leave the UK price as-is instead of dropping it.

I'd have wangled a trip to Koblenz personally.

Use Transferwise, YT only accept in Euro's and this is how a friend paid for his.

[url= https://transferwise.com/ ]https://transferwise.com/[/url]

remembering that 90% of their market is Germany, and € is the de facto currency in which they bulk buy shed loads of OEM kit.

[s]£5 [/s][i]5euro[/i] says they buy bikes and kit in $ and are currently making almost no money on euro sales as the value of the euro drops. They'll be dealing with suppliers all over the world and the default is usually suppliers want paying in local currency because that's what they have to pay their suppliers in, if not then $ as that's pretty much stable. I'd be surprised if they can pay shimano in euro's.

I can't quite work out why Canyon are getting a hard time about this? No other brand constantly changes pricing all the way through the season, I suppose the only difference is that it's easy to see what's going on here? If you priced a GBP Giant versus a EUR one I'd imagine you'd see something very similar.

Having said that, the UK service guys are pretty good at answering email and phones, and I have heard decent things about warranty issues so I hope I don't need to contact the German office again.

Will the UK office deal with your warranty if (for example) the shape-shifter dies?

All ye latecomers...

I bought my Aeroad when they shipped to the UK, but you paid in Euros. the wait of a month to let the exchange rate work in my favour meant I got an absolute bargain 🙂

Considering we're in the common market and we're supposed to be able to buy from anywhere in europe, I'd love to know the legality of this. I know nobody's going to challenge it, but manufacturers distribution agreements come a distant second to EU law stuffs.

I can't quite work out why Canyon are getting a hard time about this? No other brand constantly changes pricing all the way through the season, I suppose the only difference is that it's easy to see what's going on here? If you priced a GBP Giant versus a EUR one I'd imagine you'd see something very similar.

I think the difference is that Giant you have to buy from Giant-UK (via an LBS) so you accept that someone's had to buy them at a fixed price. Canyon are shipping the bike from their HQ regardless of where in the EU you are, but are charging different prices (which to my armchair lawyer understanding was against EU rules on free trade). And until this year the £ price updated regularly, I was very close to buying a 29er HT last time the euro tanked.

They are getting a hard time - and deservedly so - by refusing to let UK customers buy from the German company. It's blatantly illegal.

Which specific laws are they breaking? Have you contacted your MEP?

before going to the European Parliament, has anyone said to Canyon that it's illegal to see what they say?

we're in the common market and we're supposed to be able to buy from anywhere in europe, I'd love to know the legality of this

That's a bit melodramatic. They are not refusing to sell to anyone; they are merely applying some T's & C's, like anyone can.

And if you don't like them, other bicycle retailers are available.

before going to the European Parliament, has anyone said to Canyon that it's illegal to see what they say?

Theres nothing illegal about what they are doing. If you dont like the sterling price then buy a different brand , or import it yourself.

They are getting a hard time - and deservedly so - by refusing to let UK customers buy from the German company. It's blatantly illegal.

They are not refusing to let you buy it from the german company, they are just converting the euro price to sterling at their own chosen exchange rate if the delivery address is in the UK.

[quote=julians ]Theres nothing illegal about what they are doing. If you dont like the sterling price then ..... import it yourself.That's what the OP wants to do, but Canyon won't let him. You do know that it's possible to Import goods without going to collect them yourself?

[quote=julians ]They are not refusing to let you buy it from the german company, they are just converting the euro price to sterling at their own chosen exchange rate if the delivery address is in the UK.Not true, or the price would change daily.

The sterling price wouldn't change daily unless the euro one did (and even then they can tweek their own sums to control it), or they changed their exchange rate

That's what the OP wants to do, but Canyon won't let him. You do know that it's possible to Import goods without going to collect them yourself?
julians » They are not refusing to let you buy it from the german company, they are just converting the euro price to sterling at their own chosen exchange rate if the delivery address is in the UK.
Not true, or the price would change daily.

see post from scoobaru for a method of being able to import one priced in euros without the purchaser having to leave the UK.

They are just setting their own euro:sterling exchange rate, they set it once (presumably at the start of their financial year) and they havent changed it yet.

I repeat theres nothing illegal about what they are doing. It may make their bikes uncompetitively priced compared to others, and it may annoy UK buyers, but thats their choice and they can do it. See also Orbea.

I'm sure that, if it was illegal, they wouldn't be doing it.

What was it that the car manufacturers were doing though - refusing to supply RHD cars on the continent at local prices? I thought they got stopped from doing that.

Wonder if its worth me setting up a sideline importing canyons into the uk at the Euro price plus a nice markup for me (say 50% of the difference between UK and Euro prices).

I have an address in a euro currency country , but live in the UK.

Some people really do go to a lot of trouble to save a few quid!

"Can it be done ?" Yes, it can.
I was out on my new Strive CF 8.0 Race last night, all the more enjoyable because instead of £3248, I paid a net £2830 delivered

i read your post, for the hassle and farting around you did, id have probably just clicked buy at £3248

Orbea have said that they're going to bring their UK prices in line with their Euro prices for 2016.

Good right up scoobaru, quite a bit of hassle but good saving!

Sounds very like a breach of EU competition law. By denying someone from the UK purchasing goods from the German outlet in euros and paying for delivery to the UK in a reasonable way they are artificially dividing the common market. Because they are actively preventing passive sales into the UK like this it sounds really dodgy. This sort of stuff the EU commission is meant to deal with, but I suspect it's a bit too small to come on their radar. It's been a while since I've looked at EU competition law in detail, but this definitely sounds like it's not legit. If you're bored look at the treaty of Rome - article 100ish I think.

i read your post, for the hassle and farting around you did, id have probably just clicked buy at £3248

Yeah, thats always an option. I also looked at a YT Capra which they let you buy in Euros for a similar spec/quality bike.

I am one of those people that likes a bargain so felt it was worth the effort. On a lower priced bike I wouldn't have bothered.

Driving to go and pick it up wouldn't be a completely mad option for some people. 800-900 miles = £100. Ferry return = £25 or Tunnel for £46.

Total Cost - about the same as above, possibly a bit cheaper?

do people not value their time?

do people not value their time?

I know, right. I just read the whole thread too.

Some people really do go to a lot of trouble to save a few quid!

I don't think it was that much trouble to save £400 and fair play to the OP for thinkin it through and not being a sheep.

They should most definately let you pay in euros and have shipped wherever.

Nixie might have something there.

Friend in Calais or Dunkirk. Get it posted there and buy a walk on ticket for the ferry...

Think I'll give that idea ago as I could stand to save nearly £600.00 , well worth it .

Just checked the exchange rate today, a strive 8 is £3250 delivered to the door in the UK. If buying in euros and delivered to an address in the euro zone £ 2290.00 hell of a saving to be had .

Could save over 1600 quid off a top spec Speedmax. Tempted to suggest a weekend in Cologne to Mrs Blobby!

Could save over 1600 quid off a top spec Speedmax. Tempted to suggest a weekend in Cologne to Mrs Blobby!

Ms Spoon has suggested going to the Christmas markets, I'm crossing my fingers they don't adjust their prices in Sept/Oct if they start to announce 2016 prices.

To answer the OP, no you can't get round it. Had mine delivered to Germany from where a work colleague bought it over on one of his regular flights with Lufthansa as hold luggage. It was his only hold luggage so it was free (well, part of his ticket price that he doesn't usually use, as nothing is free).

He checked with Lufthansa first. Had this not been an option the back up was a courier which was quoted at £94 with Insurance.

Either way, minimal hassle to save 15%. Only a £320 saving on my Dude, obviously bigger £££ savings to be had on more expensive bikes.

Could save over 1600 quid off a top spec Speedmax. Tempted to suggest a weekend in Cologne to Mrs Blobby!

I ended up looking at the Speedmax prices after these threads kept popping up (still flirting with a TT bike!) and noticed the £4000 one was around £3300, huge difference and £3300 seems cheap compared to £4000 somehow!!

Isn't there a legal issue with offering a different price / offers in different EU countries - Disneyland paris was in the news last week after it was revealed that french customers were saving €1000 over Germans on certain days.

Isn't there a legal issue with offering a different price / offers in different EU countries - Disneyland paris was in the news last week after it was revealed that french customers were saving €1000 over Germans on certain days.

With regard to the Pound/ Euro debate, haven't we, as a nation, constantly rejected the Euro.
Having cake and eating it rings a bell here.

captainsasquatch,

Those are different matters entirely, the cost of a coffee from two different shops on opposite sides of the continent aren't supposed to be controlled by EU law, what is supposed to be controlled is the selling of goods/services across the EU, in this case mail order bikes from Germany, under EU law they should be sold at the same price (plus postage) to anywhere in the EU. The coffee shop in Athens isn't offering mail order coffee to Warsaw and Berlin and charging more for one than the other.

It's also not a case of having your cake and eating it in that way, cheap euro's make it easy for Germany to export (in this case Canyon bikes), it's bad for the UK as a whole as it means our equivalents (On-One, Ribble, Singular, etc) are effectively priced out of the EU market so can no longer export. If we were in the Euro we'd be watching the price of everything sky-rocket at the moment (be equally exports to the US might be doing well).

Nothing will likely happen though as we're only a few months away from 2016 bikes being launched, and I'd expect to see the euro prices shoot up and the £ prices stay fairly static and the £:$ has stayed relatively static over the last year compared to £:euro (pretty much anything is traded in $ internationally, much rarer to buy something in Euro or £).

Just checked the exchange rate today, a strive 8 is £3250 delivered to the door in the UK. If buying in euros and delivered to an address in the euro zone £ 2290.00 hell of a saving to be had.

Its not £2290.

You took the UK price in GBP and divided it by the Euro exchange rate. What you need to do is change the country to Germany at the top to show the actual Euro price of e3700, add a bikeguard for e17 to get e3717 total and divide that by the current Euro rate for £2617, then add the cost of a courier.

With regard to the Pound/ Euro debate, haven't we, as a nation, constantly rejected the Euro.
Having cake and eating it rings a bell here.