Brexit and Buying from across the pond.

funnights74 · 28-01-2019 1:31pm #1

So with Brexit looming and I have been an occasional purchaser from the U.K, i was wondering if it would be a good idea to get in ahead of the cut off point with a few purchases i have planned, no one seems quite sure what is going to happen. One thing is for sure it isn't going to get any cheaper.

droidus · 28-01-2019 1:33pm

Au Contraire. Sterling/Euro parity on the cards. Main concern would be if customs duty offsets the difference.

Weepsie · 28-01-2019 1:44pm

droidus wrote: »

Au Contraire. Sterling/Euro parity on the cards. Main concern would be if customs duty offsets the difference.

Sterling has infact strengthened in the last 3 weeks. £100 is now €4-5 euro dearer than it was at the start of the month

Lumen · 28-01-2019 1:48pm

If you can reliably predict currency movements then you can buy CRC itself, not just one bike.

Lumen · 28-01-2019 1:52pm

Disappointed that I can't find a single photo of George Soros on a bicycle.

magicbastarder · 28-01-2019 2:01pm

a gauntlet has been thrown down.

Cee-Jay-Cee · 28-01-2019 2:12pm

Didn’t Wiggle buy Bike24? They already own CRC so if they also own Bike24 they have a European tax based company through which they can direct sales/shipping and avoid losing a massive European customer base because of customs taxes in those countries.

Mc Love · 28-01-2019 2:28pm

Just use Parcel motel because we might have the backstop

droidus · 28-01-2019 4:22pm

Weepsie wrote: »

Sterling has infact strengthened in the last 3 weeks. £100 is now €4-5 euro dearer than it was at the start of the month

Sure, but if/when they crash out with no deal that will change rather quickly.

benneca1 · 28-01-2019 5:52pm

As was said there will be customs duties

28-01-2019 6:11pm

Who knows?

letape · 28-01-2019 7:00pm

As 531 says - clearly no one knows, or we would have better things to do with our time than post here!!

I remember pre Maastricht (1992 or so) buying from parkermailorder and deeside cycles and getting parts vat free from the UK when the Irish Punt was almost equal to Sterling... (was then devalued 10%)... bike parts were cheap then!

Kevincavan83 · 06-02-2019 7:22am

Just a thought I had this morning, has anyone any idea what the story will be with buying bikes from uk stores on the cycle to work scheme when they leave the EU?
I know it's a stupid question considering the politicians still haven't decided what is actually going to happen.
Hoping to get a bike from Planet X UK but probably won't get it in time before brexit.

Kev

1bryan · 06-02-2019 8:41am

worst case I'd imagine it'd be the same as buying a bike from America, or any other non-EU country. It'll depend on trade arrangements but I'd expect the cost to be much higher.

For perspective, I bought Flo wheels from the US a good few years back. I thought I was getting a nice bargain, getting a pair of deep-section rims for around $900. When they arrived I had to pay an extra 100 euro or so, per wheel, to get them from the post office. Possibly VAT, but I'm not sure.

I bought a set of Mavic R-Sys from Canyon about 3 years ago for around 1000 euro. They were delivered with no surcharge or additional VAT.

Without any kind of trade agreement between the countries I think you can expect something like scenario 1 above

bilbot79 · 06-02-2019 8:42am

Wait. Can you buy a UK bike on the Irish cycle to work scheme?

1bryan · 06-02-2019 8:44am

bilbot79 wrote: »

Wait. Can you buy a UK bike on the Irish cycle to work scheme?

yes, it depends on the scheme your employer is in but, yes you can.

It's been discussed to death elsewhere on here

Peregrinus · 06-02-2019 8:54am

bilbot79 wrote: »

Wait. Can you buy a UK bike on the Irish cycle to work scheme?

Well, the bike is likely to be Chinese-made, if we're honest. The question is whether you can buy a bike from a UK retailer under the Cycle to Work scheme.

If you're a civil or public servant, there's an approved suppliers list from which bikes/equipment need to be bought. This is because public sector employers participating in the scheme are considered to be engaged in public procurement, so public procurement rules apply. SFAIK there's no reason why a non-Irish retailre couldn't get on the list, and I'm pretty sure that EU public procurement rules would ban any discrimination against retailers from other EU member states. But in practice I doubt if any have bothered to apply for inclusion on the list.

If you're a private sector employee, there's no restriction on whcih retailer can be used.

magicbastarder · 06-02-2019 9:22am

the problem is no-one is yet sure what is going to happen in the case of a hard brexit. it's quite possible/probable that customs and excise will apply which does not currently apply, thus making the bikes more expensive.

again, the ability to buy from a particular retailer depends on the policy of your employer. my (private) employer would not allow me buy from a UK only store, for example.

anyway, any posts on that topic can be moved to the BTW megathread.

Macy0161 · 06-02-2019 9:32am

UK Planet X and Ribble are both on the Government list, along with a number of other UK suppliers, for Civil Servants.

As to the original question - still an unknown. Hard Brexit - it'll be tarriffs and customs same as getting them from China. WA passed, same as now. Extension/ Revoking of Article 50, same as now. Possible Customs Union/ Single Market Alignment, most likely the same as now.

But this is pretty much the uncertainty that "Business" and everyone else is going on about!

Weepsie · 06-02-2019 10:18am

Threads Merged

Borderfox · 06-02-2019 3:41pm

letape wrote: »

As 531 says - clearly no one knows, or we would have better things to do with our time than post here!!

I remember pre Maastricht (1992 or so) buying from parkermailorder and deeside cycles and getting parts vat free from the UK when the Irish Punt was almost equal to Sterling... (was then devalued 10%)... bike parts were cheap then!

Ah the good old days, back pages of cycling weekly

Kevincavan83 · 06-02-2019 5:08pm

Borderfox wrote: »

Ah the good old days, back pages of cycling weekly

I was only 9, only pages I remember was the toymaster or argos catalogue and send off to santa ðŸ˜‚

seamus · 06-02-2019 5:42pm

It'll work out quicker and cheaper to go to CRC in Belfast for your stuff than trying to get it shipped. You won't get stopped and searched on the way back if you're in a passenger vehicle.

PringleDemon · 06-02-2019 5:44pm

CRC in Belfast wont be there for much longer .

CramCycle · 06-02-2019 11:06pm

Peregrinus wrote: »

Well, the bike is likely to be Chinese-made, if we're honest. The question is whether you can buy a bike from a UK retailer under the Cycle to Work scheme.

If you're a civil or public servant, there's an approved suppliers list from which bikes/equipment need to be bought. This is because public sector employers participating in the scheme are considered to be engaged in public procurement, so public procurement rules apply. SFAIK there's no reason why a non-Irish retailre couldn't get on the list, and I'm pretty sure that EU public procurement rules would ban any discrimination against retailers from other EU member states. But in practice I doubt if any have bothered to apply for inclusion on the list.

If you're a private sector employee, there's no restriction on whcih retailer can be used.

Just to clarify a few things here, depending on where you are a public or civil servant, it will depend on who they have stupidly outsourced the job too (I say stupidly, having seen the process, it is as much work to do it yourself as outsource it), so it depends who they have signed upto, most are with biketowork.ie, which is annoying as they take 10% of your money to add no value, they have a range of shops on their site who have signed up. In private companies it is at the discretion of the employer, they could name one bike shop or solely bikes from North London, so long as the rules are the same for all employees.

Kevincavan83 · 08-02-2019 11:45pm

CramCycle wrote: »

Just to clarify a few things here, depending on where you are a public or civil servant, it will depend on who they have stupidly outsourced the job too (I say stupidly, having seen the process, it is as much work to do it yourself as outsource it), so it depends who they have signed upto, most are with biketowork.ie, which is annoying as they take 10% of your money to add no value, they have a range of shops on their site who have signed up. In private companies it is at the discretion of the employer, they could name one bike shop or solely bikes from North London, so long as the rules are the same for all employees.

Luckily I have the option to add a UK company, as I can get the company setup on our accounts.
We dont use any company to setup btw it's done through our salaries

Beasty · 09-02-2019 11:20am

There could be some issues with the likes of Parcel Motel

I reckon you will probably be able to get away with the old "cycle the new bike over the border" trick though

It looks like there will be a customs union in place which in theory should mean business as usual.

Kevincavan83 · 09-02-2019 11:44am

Macy0161 wrote: »

UK Planet X and Ribble are both on the Government list, along with a number of other UK suppliers, for Civil Servants.

As to the original question - still an unknown. Hard Brexit - it'll be tarriffs and customs same as getting them from China. WA passed, same as now. Extension/ Revoking of Article 50, same as now. Possible Customs Union/ Single Market Alignment, most likely the same as now.

But this is pretty much the uncertainty that "Business" and everyone else is going on about!

Hi Macy, yeah I was wondering if the brexit might affect the uk companies being taken off the approved list.

CramCycle · 09-02-2019 9:28pm

Beasty wrote: »

There could be some issues with the likes of Parcel Motel

I reckon you will probably be able to get away with the old "cycle the new bike over the border" trick though

It looks like there will be a customs union in place which in theory should mean business as usual.

I remember my neighbours going up north as a child to get white goods, second hand from their uncle, even though they looked like they were just bought.

My local GP unhitched the trailer of white goods and drove down the road to see were revenue there, then drove back, rehitched the trailer and drove down.

Brexit and Buying from across the pond.

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