Cyclepump - More expensive than I thought
 

Just ordered a cyclepump after many good reviews

Only $100US (£50 approx).... Bargain I though so happily entered my card details into the site but failing to read the small print "Postage will be calculated and added to final cost"

I didnt think it would be much as I have had many things sent over from the states for less than $20 and a little cyclepump shouldnt even cost that.

Well

Postage to UK £20
Duty (thanks for ticking as GIFT :thumbdown: ) £15
Parcel force "duty release fee" £15


Im not blaming the company as they did it all legally and as it should be done, but just a warning to those buying kit from abroad..

My £50 pump ended up costing me £100 !

I have a CyclePump, an Airman pump, and some other brand of small air pump.

All of these small pumps, costs ranging from almost $100us to about $20us, have pastic chucks on them, the connection from the air line to the valve stem. A high-dollar pump should have a metal chuck, IMO.

Still haven't made the 800 call to buy a Ginzu knife....

I just ordered the cyclepump plus some other bits from their website.. I spent about $150 in total, before delivery.. then yesterday, I got hit with £34 in UK VAT / import duty, including the infamous parcelforce "release fee"... I'm not a happy camper (pun intended) as a result...

Does anyone know if there is a "grey" way around the "gift" checkbox issue? Apparently, in the US, the merchant can be charged with perjury if they check the "gift" box, and it isn't a gift, so I don't really blame them for not wanting go check it.

The chance of them being caught is incredibly low. The chance of them getting fined etc if they get caught is the same odds as winning a double rollover lottery win.

Iv never known an international seller who hasnt ticked the box and iv bought countless things from the states but you cant argue with a company wanted to be fully legitimate. I just wish they would state costs on their website.

Once customs have their hands on it you HAVE to pay duty. Theres really no escape on that one. Parcel force fee is the piss take though. Surely that should be accounted for by the original shipping cost (which isnt cheap by a long way)

Yeah, it's frustrating alright. I'm starting to develop a dislike for Parcelforce as a result though.. this is the second time I've been caught for VAT/import duty and Parcelforce's fee, and the last time, it took me nearly a week to get the parcel after I had paid the fees, because parcelforce were so disorganised.. first they gave me the wrong tracking number, and couldn't locate the parcel, then they were supposed to keep it in the depot for me to collect after work, but they sent it out in one of their vans instead, then they sent me off to a local post-office to collect it (when it hadn't been delivered there at all!), but eventually they came good when I started to kick up a fuss.

It's a pity there isn't a European distributor / supplier for stuff like this for bikers. They would clean up. Hell, I might even look at doing it myself.

C

!
 

Hi all

What's wrong with a bicycle pump or even a car footpump? I'm sorry to say it, but you guys seem to be asking to be ripped off.

KISS! Keep it simple stupid!

Car footpump = too much space !

Have you tried to get a tyre bead to seat with a foot pump or a bicycle pump ?? No thanks... It usually takes about 50 psi to seat the bead.

When you've had 3 punctures in one day, id like to see how happy you are with your bicycle pump..


C02 is good until you run out and sometimes you need constant pressure to seat the bead..

£50 isnt expensive for an electric quality pump (£100 is though :()

Caminando,

Thanks for sharing that with us. It was very helpful and informative.

Colm

Yes it was a great piece of advice which clearly you loved. Are you annoyed at me in some way?

No, I was lamenting the fact that you keep on making it personal. You seem to have made a few other friends in this forum with that same approach.

Lets take this offline. I'm sure no-one else has any interest in reading this, or your poor attempts at insulting me.

US Shopping
 

I've bought quite a lot of stuff from the US over the last year:
electric jacket from WarmnSafe, electric gloves sent back and forth for size, 2 separate orders of DLComfort tights, and various bits and pieces that I could not find in Europe. I was never caught by custom. I had all items delivered at my office though. Maybe this make a difference if you send to a company? Or maybe I've just been lucky?

For me, I've only seen this problem twice in the last 3 months. In both cases, there were multiple items in the order, the order was with a company, rather than with an individual, and the order was delivered to my home address, rather than to work.. I've had a couple of deliveries from amazon, ebay, and from private sellers in the US, and this wasn't an issue either. I'd be interested in figuring out if there's a pattern!

got burned too
 

I too got suckered buying bike stuff off the net from the States and then having to pay GBP 105 to parcelforce for VAT, Tax and admin charge..

delivery was at work address and I had even called the retailer to ensure it was posted as gift (or similar .. can't remember what,) which would have avoided the customs people

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I wanted to get one of these cyclepumps but never did because of the VAT / import issue..

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but if you guys came up with a way to avoid that it would be great

Invoice seperately
 

Hi , I buy quite a bit of stuff from the US , the best guy I deal with is Mike's XS who sells Yamaha parts .He always sends the invoice ahead in a separate envelope and always understates the value .This saves me a lot of hassle and expense ,plus it means a loyal customer and repeat business .

If the value declared is less than £25 they wont bother. so maybe split a package ??

Remember when woolworths charged 6d for everything, a pack of card s was 6d, but then so was the packet :)

There are a whole range of catagories for imported goods. with different rates of duty/vat. Books for instance are free of both. Agricultural machinery has very low duty, so the harley people should be alright. ( Apologise, just could not resist that one :) )

Replacements/repairs under warrantee are also excempt, but you either have to have teh customs people seal the paket, or see the original is destroyed.