Buying bikes from USA

leana

Hi folks, I've been looking at tt bikes and frames on eBay in the US and Jaysus there are some great deals over there compared to here. Just wondering if anyone else has done it and are there any pitfalls. I know if you go second hand you won't get hit for tax.

Thanks
P

Ceepo

I know if you go second hand you won't get hit for tax.

Thanks
P[/QUOTE]

Don't be to sure. As I bought a 2nd hand road bike a few years ago from a private sale of ebay and had to pay duty on it. Even though used item was clearly stated on the package.

But don't let that put you off. As the full bike was still cheaper than what I would have paid for the same frame here.

Take the chance, sure what could go wrong. ..

catweazle

Make sure you sort the delivery fee in advance with them, I did look at doing this a while back and the few who would sell to me charged astronomical delivery fees. I cant remember now but there was one major courier company which was much more competitive than the others when it came to it.

I eventually in the last seconds pulled the trigger on one only for him to have forgotten to take the international bidding block off it.

Theres good value in the Irish second hand market too if you are prepared to be patient, I ended up with a better deal from the local bike shop from someone trading up than what I was looking at over in the US

ChickenBalls

I got my Cervelo P2C from racycles a few years ago and paid $1700 but the guy put a $500 value sticker on it so when customs rang me they charged me double the tax - I think it was 14% of $500 and then VAT on top! It worked out at 180 quid that I had to pay. If they put $1700 as the value I'd of paid a sh*t load more!

US is great value for bikes thou. I also recently got my Garmin 910XT from there for €280 with the quick release strap as well. It's €400 here in most shops.

leana

Thanks folks. What I was thinking of doing is getting it sent to USbuyers club. It's run by an Irish fella and you can buy stuff in the states and have it sent to them and they'll find the cheapest shipping rate. They can also repair cel it ;-)
My wife uses them a lot for companies over there that won't deliver to Ireland.

P

catweazle

leana wrote: »

Thanks folks. What I was thinking of doing is getting it sent to USbuyers club. It's run by an Irish fella and you can buy stuff in the states and have it sent to them and they'll find the cheapest shipping rate. They can also repair cel it ;-)
My wife uses them a lot for companies over there that won't deliver to Ireland.

P

Interesting - have you a web address for them, I have often thought about sticking the US based sisters for a few purchases but I know they wont take money for the delivery charges so I don't want them out of pocket over me.

How does this service get around ebay reading your location when signed in and refusing you automatically to bid on the item if the seller has stated he will only deal with US only

leana

There's a way around that I think, I'm not 100% sure till herself gets home but I think she registered for €35 for the year but you can actually send them a link to the item on eBay and they will buy it and have it shipped to them.

She used it an awful lot coming up to christmass and we made huge savings on buying the same products here. That's why I'm looking at getting a bike or frame over there.

Anyone any experience of how much cheaper it can be to buy all the parts seperately and build as opposed to buying a new bike?

Ill post the website address later when herself gets home.

P