Huge price difference

[Bofh5]

Why is it the price of bike parts so high in the UK compared to the US ?
For example i just bought a set of downpipes for my CBR 600 for £12.50 !!!!! from the US.

The cheapest in the UK was between £95 - £140

I don't get it. Someone stands to make a truckload of dosh buying from the US and selling in the UK.
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(L)users...Disk space is to good for them.

Bikes: Honda 50 / CB125-TDC / 93 CBR600 F2 (Stolen & Trashed) / 2001 SP-1 (Sold) / 95 CBR600 F3

[LuckyDip23]

no idea - but i did the same thing for my thundercat and saved a fortune
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I have misplaced my pants.........
Derbi GPR 125 Nude (sold) ~ Yamaha YZF600R Thundercat (written off) ~ Suzuki GSX-R750 K2 ~ Triumph Speed Triple 1050 ~ Ducati Hyperstrada 821

[SlimRick]

[Bofh5]

[SlimRick]

Sorry...

[tutton]

The reason is UK buyers dont want to order it and get stung by customs charges that often happens on high value and big items in customs and excise?
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Past: '05 Peugeot XPS '99 Aprillia RS125 '94 FZR600R
Current: '02 ZX636 A1P '51 CCM R30

[Bofh5]

ummm how do customs value items ? new items are easy as they can compare to retail uk prices but with used items how can they calculate it?

in my case i'm lucky as i got the pipes shipped to our US office and my colleague is going to bung them in a packing case with an instrument
____________________
(L)users...Disk space is to good for them.

Bikes: Honda 50 / CB125-TDC / 93 CBR600 F2 (Stolen & Trashed) / 2001 SP-1 (Sold) / 95 CBR600 F3

[tutton]

Im not totally sure how they value items,
i know from stuff ive had come over the seller needs to value it on the package itself.. not sure if they trust that.
____________________
Past: '05 Peugeot XPS '99 Aprillia RS125 '94 FZR600R
Current: '02 ZX636 A1P '51 CCM R30

[SlimRick]

They usually go on the declared / insured value - so if the shipper lists the value as a quid then you shouldn't get clobbered for vat. If it gets lost or damaged though you can only claim a quid!

[LuckyDip23]

i think they do it on the value the package is insured for - almost sure thats what they did on mine.
____________________
I have misplaced my pants.........
Derbi GPR 125 Nude (sold) ~ Yamaha YZF600R Thundercat (written off) ~ Suzuki GSX-R750 K2 ~ Triumph Speed Triple 1050 ~ Ducati Hyperstrada 821

[Faldo]

It's the same reason everything else is cheap in the US, if there's more of something about it becomes cheaper. If gold was as common as steel, it would be cheaper.

I'd imagine there's a lot more CBRs sold in the US than the UK as their population is much bigger.

I import new (car) parts from the States, and they are a lot cheaper than here in the UK. The main reason I think is that distributors can place bigger orders with manufacturers as they know there is more demand in a place with 300+ million people than 60+ million people here. The more of 1 thing you buy the cheaper deal you'll get from manufacturers. I wonder if that's why their fuel is so much cheaper ?
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Current: ZZR1400
Previous: ZXR 400 L9, ZX-7R P5, ZZR 400, ZX-7R P6, Bandit 600, GSXR 750 Slingshot, DRZ400, DR650, ZX10R C1H, ZXR 750 L1, ZXR 750 L3, '99 ZX7R P4, KTM 300 EXC, ZX-9R E1, TDM850

[SlimRick]

[Faldo]

Yeah, that's probably got more to do with it actually
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Current: ZZR1400
Previous: ZXR 400 L9, ZX-7R P5, ZZR 400, ZX-7R P6, Bandit 600, GSXR 750 Slingshot, DRZ400, DR650, ZX10R C1H, ZXR 750 L1, ZXR 750 L3, '99 ZX7R P4, KTM 300 EXC, ZX-9R E1, TDM850

[Bofh5]

Customs duty - this is usually charged as a percentage of the value. The percentage varies depending on the type of goods and their country of origin. Duty is charged on the price paid for the goods including any local sales taxes plus postage, packing and insurance costs. However, postage is excluded from the calculation for duty on gifts sent by post except for Express Mail Service (EMS).

Where the value of gifts is below £290 per consignment a flat rate of duty of 3.5% will be applied, but only if it is to your advantage.

Note: Customs duty will be waived if the amount is less than £7.

Found this on the customs and excise site. Its not very clear but as long as your item is less than £7 then your ok. over that then its a percentage game. Still very confusing and i'm so glad i don't have to worry about it. The joys of working for an international company.
____________________
(L)users...Disk space is to good for them.

Bikes: Honda 50 / CB125-TDC / 93 CBR600 F2 (Stolen & Trashed) / 2001 SP-1 (Sold) / 95 CBR600 F3