US to OZ?
Taiwan to US?
UK to Japan?

This thread is for discussion regarding importing/exporting folders: What's the best method to ship? Which pairs of countries are most amenable to importing/exporting folders? Is it cheaper to get a particular model by importing it yourself? etc.

Are you talking about importing large numbers of bikes for resale?

Or on the best method to get your bike across a specific border?

There are some people in Europe interested in Downtubes; but the cost of shipping one is pretty shocking, mostly due to import duties, VAT, or something like that. These do not apply to gifts, as I understand it. So my question was, what are the rules for, say, used bikes?

No, I'm talking about importing single bikes for personal use. For example, someone in OZ buying a Downtube Mini from the US or someone in the US buying a Strida 5 from Taiwan.

I believe there will be some import duties added to the cost of the freight alone. Might not be much but it could held shipment sometimes. I bought items from Europe and requested to ship UPS. UPS addedd import duty surcharges plus I have to personally pick the packages from a UPS facility.

Unfortunately USPS does not accept packages over 79" length plus girth to Australia, and 108" for all of Europe. Most of our bikes are packed in 34.5"x26"x14" boxes. Hence length plus girth = 114.5" over the 108" limit. Our mini is packed in a 31"x24.5"x14 which is exactly 108" length + girth.

Until today, I did not think I could ship the mini from the US to the UK via USPS. I get a price of $130 on USPS.com. Thanks for asking about this!

I will try to ship mini's to the UK, however I will never get my other bikes into small enough packaging to fit the 108" limit. It would be too risky because they could not be packed as well.

Thanks,
Yan

Yan,

How will that be arranged please? Will you just change the web page dropdown to offer USPS as an alternative?

I will have to do it on an individual basis for now. I don't want to make it an option on the site until I can see this is a fast, safe alternative.

Thanks,
Yan

Every single time I go to Brazil I take a bike with me and end up selling it there. My Last Dahon Curve D3 I sold for US$ 600.00. The regular price of a Dahon Curve down there is US$ 750.00, but they are out of stock. Downtube would be a great competitor if reaching the market down there. Every time I took one, I sold it for way more than I paid it brand new.

Next trip to Brazil in July. What do you want?

I've been wondering about buying a few Bianchi Frettas and bringing them to the UK. My 2007 monocoque with Capreo groupset cost me £623 brand new in Japan, and most of the old Birdys seem to sell for well over £600 on ebay. (I saw one sell for £620 and the seller didn't even know how old it was). I think that the shipping won't be that expensive, but when you consider taxes as well it's quite a risk.

There is a 50% anti-dumping duty on bikes made in China. Vietmanese bikes have a slightly lower anti-dumping duty. Don't forget to add VAT.

Some ebay sellers avoid the duty issue by charging very little for the bike and charging a ridiculous amount to ship (i.e. $50 product $500 shipping ). A 50% duty on $50 is not so bad.

Thanks,
Yan

Shipping and duties to Oz:

The DT Mini's box and weight falls within USPS' rules. I don't know the weight at this stage, but perhaps 30lb, that comes to about $140 US shipping, tracked, express.

Import duties:

If the value is less than $1000 Au, then no duties. Any of the DT bikes - no problem.