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Looking at buying a set of enve foks, the only avaliable ones I can find on line are in the US and on ebay..... But ebay want to charge £120 on top of the postage for import duty.... Which seems very high at over 25% of the value of the forks. I've always dealt with duty myself in the past, but it looks like I can buy these without prepaying the duty.
Anyone know why?
It's probably eBay's global shipping program, so they handle all the importation etc on your behalf, so they'll be looking to make a profit over and above what it would actually cost.
Same as the Post Office, who charge a handling fee for dealing with importation of goods from abroad.
import duty + VAT (payable on postage also) + probably a handling fee, 25% sounds about right to be honest!
Because ebay are dicks.
zilog6128
Member
import duty + VAT + probably a handling fee, 25% sounds about right to be honest!
This
kayla1
Member
Because ebay are dicks.
Rather than this
OK, 👍
Take back control
buy the ones on the classifieds?
https://singletrackmag.com/classifieds/advert/enve-carbon-cx-fork-and-longines-heritage-watch/
Ebay are actually dicks though.
Are you forced to use ebay as the courier?
They tried to dictate postal charges/method in uk to me, but you can alter the delivery method
So why not try that, or ask the seller if they will ship with your chosen courier, ie USPS, if youre not happy with their suggestion?
Just looked at it again. It's $27 for the international postage. Charged by the seller, then ebay want $117 for import charges - no mention of ebay international/global postal service etc.....
then ebay want $117 for import charges
On the assumption they do actually pay hmrc their due, it's about time companies started doing this.
If it's being shipped through the ebay international shipping method, ebay are probably the importer (ebay us sends combined items to ebay UK, who then breakdown and onward ship I expect) so are legally responsible for the duties.
But on an aside. It that's ($144) roughly 25% (which as above is about right) that means the fork is circa $600. A quick Google shows enve forks from £400 for 700c to £650 for a 29er fork so, assuming you were intending to "take care of duties your self" why on earth buy from the US?
Fork is £420 from the Us seller, there's only one shop in the US with it in stock at the moment. UK is out of stock as is the rest of the EU with a June restock date, and rrp is £510 in The UK. So it should work out about the same.... But with ebays import duties it comes out a little higher.
I could wait for eu stock and import from Germany for £475 with free postage which now seems like my best bet. Unless my lbs want to price match Germany.
Why do you think using a different delivery option will be cheaper, when it comes to tax and handling?
Oh, and remember, tax is due on the value of the whole delivery, including the charge for postage/delivery, not just the goods.
Why do you think using a different delivery option will be cheaper, when it comes to tax and handling?
Because its coming from within the EU so is duty free.
You said you were buying from the US, using eBay.
there’s only one shop in the US with it in stock at the moment. UK is out of stock as is the rest of the EU with a June restock date,
U(S)BYK?
To be honest I'd be very much inclined to wait for that to restock back into at least elsewhere in the US.
I'm guessing RRP in the US is about $500 given the sterling rrp so, only one in stock anywhere, at (I guess) 15-20% below rrp? Sounds too good to be true to me...
If it quotes imoort charges it is because they are using the eBay gsp, as Fair as I know. Pitney Bowes, who run it are pretty famius for coming up with a number that is much higher than it should be and they pocket the difference as a fee. I've seen the unaccounted difference top 20% on some things to some countries.
Oh, and remember, tax is due on the value of the whole delivery, including the charge for postage/delivery, not just the goods.
Are you sure? Because you'll have already paid taxes on the delivery in the origin country.
eBay’s global shipment service allows seller to post internationally without any hassle. They simply post the item to eBay’s in-country depot and ebay handles the shipment, the handling fees and the import taxes. It’s a default option for US sellers.
Ask the seller if hed be willing to post direct to you. It’s usually cheaper than through eBay even with the taxes.
Will you still have buyer protection if you use a different shipping method?
I recently bought some favourite old cross tyres from US Ebay. I was a bit reluctant to start with as there was hefty postage and a forced import charge at check out. But... on balance it wasn't horrific, the shipping was really quick and i got an update at every stage - and i didn't have to waste an hour going down the depot to pay the import charge. I was impressed.
Yes.
VAT is 20% and Import Duty is 4.70%, then there’s going to be a handling fee with whoever you use. So it sounds fairly reasonable...
.....
Oh, and remember, tax is due on the value of the whole delivery, including the charge for postage/delivery, not just the goods.
...............Are you sure? Because you’ll have already paid taxes on the delivery in the origin country.
Duty and VAT are charged on the value of goods at point of entry so part of the "new" value of the goods includes the cost of getting them to that place - so yes you pay duty then VAT on the non UK part of the shipping cost.
(saying you've already paid the tax elsewhere is a bit like refusing to pay VAT on a hot sausage roll in Greggs because you've already paid income tax)
forced import charges
Are all import charges not 'forced'?
I doubt they are viewed as voluntary
Curve ball.
I've owned and sold the ENVE MTN fork. Paid about £350 for it at the time new in the UK. Sold it recently for about £400. Great fork, nothing wrong with I just moved to boost.
Anyway, I also now own the Travers Prong fork. Not as sleak but certainly as strong and nice to ride, and cheaper.
Worth a check out.
(Enve stuff is fantastic so don't see this as a x is better than y.)
That document is quite a bit out of date and suffers from translation issues.
https://www.gov.uk/goods-sent-from-abroad/tax-and-duty
The costs you are being quoted are entirely reasonable and appropriate. To pay lesson would be to be pulling a fast one by under valuing on the paperwork or it getting through customs unchecked which is much rarer these days.
I think the general lesson is that unlike in the past importing stuff from the US does not make sense financially so is only worth it if availability is a reason. In 2006 I imported a Cervelo frame which even paying import duties saved me about 40% duty to exchange rates. Those days are gone.
Won't it be fun when it's the same from the EU too.
It's not that I don't want to pay import duty or vat, its just that I'd rather do it this side of the pond and not through ebay. It seems strange that there's no option of doing this.
Won’t it be fun when it’s the same from the EU too.
Yep, another down side of leaving - postal charges for eu will increase to Royal mail world wide cost. Filling in customs forms etc.
To be honest the importing outside the EU isn't really difficult at all.
And importing from inside the EU on consumer level is hardly worth it these days.
And importing from inside the EU on consumer level is hardly worth it these days.
I dunno I quite often find stuff cheaper than the UK and the postage cost is comoarible.
Yep, another down side of leaving – postal charges for eu will increase to Royal mail world wide cost. Filling in customs forms etc.
It's not the postal charges I'm concerned about. Depending on the type of Brexit we end up with we could end up with VAT and import charges (plus handling fees) from EU states too.
It’s not that I don’t want to pay import duty or vat, its just that I’d rather do it this side of the pond and not through ebay
You’re buying from a shop in the states?
It MIGHT be to do with this:
www.gov.uk/guidance/vat-online-marketplace-seller-checks
If e-bay left it to you and the seller to sort out, there may be some doubt as to whether the seller should be registered for VAT and e-bay may be held liable for it. But if they can demonstrate that you paid Vat and duty correctly on import, there's no problem for them.
(saying you’ve already paid the tax elsewhere is a bit like refusing to pay VAT on a hot sausage roll in Greggs because you’ve already paid income tax)
A better example might be not wanting to pay income tax in the UK because you'd earned the income and paid taxes on it in the US already...
I know this is true for businesses but I didn't think it applied to individuals. For one thing, how is an individual supposed to do the VAT value adjustment?
It's worth bearing in mind that the ebay international shipping program is quite attractive to sellers in that once it gets signed for at ebay's warehouse in their country it stops being their problem. Lost / damaged in customs / further transit is then dealt with by ebay, so it's a lot less appealing to ship directly.
They may even not be aware that it's being offered internationally as ebay do keep trying to stealthily default it to "on" on new listings.
For one thing, how is an individual supposed to do the VAT value adjustment?
They're not. They're supposed to pay up and get on with things. Hmrc take the opinion that the smaller you are the more you should pay since the bigger you are the less you do pay.
They’re not. They’re supposed to pay up and get on with things.
No kidding. There aren't that many places in the world that charge vat or equivalent on shipping because they rightly view it as a service occuring outside the country. Next thing you know hmrc will want income tax from emigres for life like the U.S