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So I’m looking to sell my Bird Aether 7 Frameset only at the moment - but if an impulsive decision as I want to try a 29er trail bike instead.
Someone on another bike website where lots of things get sold via classifieds has asked if I’ll ship to Spain.
You can only pay by PayPal not direct bank transfer - my worry is something goes wrong with the shipping and PayPal just refund the buyer and leave me out of pocket.
If anyone has done anything like this recently are there any suggestions on the following:
Who to post the frame with?
What tax / duty forms (if any) need to be filled in?
Are there any VAT implications from the Spain end?
What pitfalls are there / what tends to go wrong with these sorts of things?
Thanks in advance for any advice!
Not Spain. But I shipped a frame to a guy in the Netherlands last December. Was advertised here on STW. Plenty of exchange of messages etc on WhatsApp first. He paid by PayPal (gift, I think, but unsure). I booked delivery via Parcel Monkey, think the actual courier was Parcelforce. Insured to cover loss or damage to the value of the frame.
It was all pretty straightforward, but having made the original connection on here, I had a bit of trust (naive perhaps) that it was all genuine.
Not sure I'd trust eg contact through FB marketplace. If via PayPal, I'd probably insist on PayPal Gift if you can, but then, that doesn't give the buyer any protection.
I guess, if you insure the goods, and can prove via photos/video that the frame was collected from you in 'as described condition, you have some comeback on the courier if it fails to be delivered as expected?
Things have changed since December 2020.
Duty (which is 4% on frames i think) and VAT will be due when the frame is imported to Spain & possibly a courier admin fee on top. All costs are usually calculated on declared frame cost + shipping cost.
the duty forms / declarations are generated when you place the order (at the least they are via parcel2go) but the key is if you under declare the frame value and it goes missing then the insurance will only pay for the value you've declared.
I've used parcelforce to send stuff to europe in the past - but its sometimes a struggle getting the box inside the size limits - and I've definition been stung with additional costs where a box has been just a little over the size limit.
Overall, easier to sell to a UK customer.
Thanks slackboy- that’s sounds more what I was expecting. Seems a bit too griefy I think for me - I’m not desperate to sell the frame - it’s on a bit of a whim.
For what it's worth I wouldn't ship anything bike related abroad now.
I've sold and bought loads on here an PB over the years without a problem, cash, bank transfer and PayPal with no problems posted or at a meet up.
There are enough UK buyers around and its early days with your advert
If its priced right it will sell.
I've had time wasters but it very easy to spot them, also ones who think it might be stolen and want evidence of everything. It's down to trust and that's a two way thing. If it dosent feel right fo you then walk away, it's less hassle in the end.
For quite some time I have a list of names on here and on PB that for various reasons I won't deal with.
Good luck with the sale
I wouldn’t. We ship similar size & value stuff internationally every week at work but for a one-off it is not worth the hassle and risk.
Used to order from the Uk a fair bit but recently it just disappears into Spanish customs for weeks or doesn’t turn up at all. Slightly extravagantly, a mate here bought a frame off ebay and went to pick it up - flights are pennies at the moment.
I sold a frame + shipped it to France a few months back. Used DPD (£37)
No bother, but it was a low value frame, and I got the money PPG.
About the same time, I shipped some parts to Belgium using Hermes - nightmare as they got lost for 6 weeks before coming back to me and having to be refunded and re-shipped.
Definitely use PPG and insure it for the full value.
I suspect France is handling the uptick in customs processing better than Spain. Madrid seems to have a huge backlog of UK post.
Had two things turn up on the same day here, ordered weeks apart. Total value, around 30 quid. Duty, fees etc came to over 20 euros even though I’d already paid UK VAT.
Yeah I’ve given this a big swerve now - UK only!
I looked into this recently - in reverse, as I wanted to buy a used (but new) frame from a private seller in Italy and have it shipped to the UK. Duty and paperwork etc was going to be a PITA and simply not worth it in post-Brexit times. TBH I'd be surprised not to find a buyer for a Bird like that in the UK.
In the end I got lucky: seller stayed in Finale Ligure (a well know ex-PB editor), he passed it onto his brother who was visiting Morzine, who then brought it back into the UK where it was posted to me.