Bike clothing - is UK still a rip-off vs Europe?

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Following on from this Hein Gericke thread I inadvertently went to the HG German site. It is a German company after all.

So on their main page showing the Essex jacket at 79.95 Euros. That's about £64.28 at current rates. So went to the UK site Essex jacket. That's £79.99.

I'm sure you could argue £15 isn't that much difference. Yet it's still £15 more. It's not like they have to change anything. Plus I admit that's only one example but I'm sure I could find others.

So to me it looks like UK gets charged Euro prices. A bit like US products just changing the $ sign for a £ I think.

Don't you just love being part of one big happy Europe
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[bunglehaze]

We have not only the exchange rate to contend with but also the governments criminal import taxes on protective clothing seriously bumps up any items brought over.
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[oldenuff]

There may be a small difference in VAT but that does not account for a 25% uplift in price.

In general bike clothing is over-priced partly because the volumes are low and the dealers have to stock a wide range of garments and sizes but mainly because we have been trained to pay silly prices. When you see fabric jackets and trousers at anything up to £1000 you have to wonder whether we are being conned.

[Beez]

[HJM]

[bunglehaze]

[Rogerborg]

[bunglehaze]

[Rogerborg]

[L-Jam]

I would much rather buy a jacket from the local bike shop than pay 5% less and buy it from French baguette head.
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[kawakid]

[Rogerborg]

It is a fair point if you're comparing supporting a local shop where you can physically try on gear, versus buying sight-unseen on the 'tubes.

However, if you go down the latter route, then I can't see the merit in buying from the cheapest UK seller versus one in Elbonia.

Particularly as the cheapest UK seller is likely to be on the fiddle anyway, getting stuff shipped in from Cousin Imran labelled as gifts or massively undervalued - I've had one of those "$5" jackets sent direct to me.
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[621andy]

Generally in the UK you pay in £ what we pay in euros...that goes for bike gear,cameras and leccy goods.

However, I bought my Weise jacket in the UK, cos it fitted, seemed up to the job and isn't available in Germany.

France used to be even worse for marking up of prices; Blank CDs for example- pack of 50 in Germany = 10euros, same pack in France = 50 euros!!

A lot of it is supply and demand; The UK market is quite small, whereas europe, and specifically Germany is a huge bikers market(although Polo, one of the biggest chains, went into liquidation earlier this year-still trading though).
Have a look at comparison prices on German/UK Ebay for good examples...
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[L-Jam]

Nothing to do with racism Kawakid you twat.

I am simply stating supporting local business i.e. my local bike shop, Bevans, which has been ran by the same family for 70+ years, has always been nice to me and as such I would prefer to hand them my cash, especially in this economic climate.
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[HJM]

[L-Jam]

Nothing wrong with a bit of inter racial banter is there!

Racist gets bandied around too much these days, and throwing accusations around like that gets my back up that's all.
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[Maccydee]

It's best to shop around having worked all over Europe for a period of the three years the prices varied a lot. Weirdly we buy Mach 3 razor blades far cheaper here than in BeNeLux so my colleague in Holland would think nothing of spending about £40 in Superdrug on them

[HJM]

[WannaBeDude]

French bagueetee ! --- the height of racism has been reached, whoever called him a racist, i concur with Flyboy, that they be twat.
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Jogging on, destination living.

[c-m]

We live in a single market, I'm not sure why more people don't take advantage of that and buy from the cheapest (best) place (taking into account shipping).

As mentioned there are no additional taxes or import duties within the EU for individuals or business. It wouldn't be a single market otherwise.
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[L-Jam]

Cheers Covdude, it means a lot to me.
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Journalist, student, egotist.
Click here if you're a young biker, wondering what to do after a moped/125!
Skp 50 --> GS 500 --> CBR600F with custom HRC paint jobby --> GSX-R 750 K7, beautiful!