Frame orders to the UK

[Ant Warland]

Hi all,

Has anyone ordered a frameset from rivbike.com for shipping to the UK mainland in the last 12 months or so?

I'm trying to establish whether UK VAT is applied at checkout or later down the line and therefore how much the final bill would be for a new Sam frameset.

As a test I've added a Charlie to my basket, and the bill is as follows:

Frame (no prep): £1,363

Shipping (US worldwide expedite): £74

Total: £1,437.00

There's no indication at checkout of whether VAT is included in that price, however this line on the website makes me think it may not be included :

"Customer is responsible for all taxes and customs duties that go along with a package"

Thanks,

Ant

[Dorothy C]

We sent a Platy frame to my sister in North Wales earlier this year and she also has a Charlie frame arriving this week, both from Walnut Creek. The shipping is more than initially listed even for the smallest possible box, i.e. no frame prep, and was 
$267 for the Gallop and about $253 for the Platy.Riv add a placeholder amount for the shipping if you order online, and reach out to you for the balance once they know exactly.  UPS emailed me both times to ask for import duties and VAT after shipping but before delivery and that came out to £344.44 for the Platy, or about 23%, and the Gallop was £294.20. The Platy arrived in a week and the Gallop is due tomorrow after shipping last Friday. 

[Dorothy C]

Note that I listed shipping in dollars, but import duties in GBP as that is how I paid them

[Ant Warland]

Thanks very much for the info, Dorothy - that's really helped clear things up for me.

In case it helps anyone else I've plugged in your figures for the Gallop frame to get an approx final bill for illustration purposes (which will depend on the exchange rate):

Which is interesting as it reveals it's $28.41 (£21.78) cheaper to buy it in dollars with the current exchange rate (assuming no conversion fees):

£1,861.84 --> $2,429.25 vs $2,400.84

The Woods Cyclery are listing Sam frames for £2k so I think if I go for one I will just use them seeing as the difference is not huge and those fees sound pretty variable! Plus it feels good to support the UK's only Riv dealer.

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[der_amerikanische_freund]

Hi Ant, that is very interesting, thanks for sharing. I've done similar calculations myself for shipping a frame/bike from the US to Spain, and the conclusion is similar, especially considering how variable import fees tend to be. In Spain, in addition to paying VAT, there is another fee for customs handling, which is proportionate to the value of the item you are importing, and can be a considerable amount. Plus the VAT that is payable once is imported is that of the frame+shipping, not just the frame, so even more expensive than a regular VAT. In my case it seems safer and not that much more expensive to buy from La Chouette in France.