Anyone got UK supershops to split delivery/invoice?

[Ross]

I want to buy a groupset worth around A$1500 and would like to avoid paying duty and GST and have emailed a couple of the UK supershops asking if they would split the delivery/invoice but they won't do it. I don't believe I'm asking them to do anything illegal, one site even admits that parts can come from seperate warehouses so potentially I could receive two or more deliveries. Has anyone had any success getting a shop to ship a large order in two or more shipments and invoices? The cheapest locally I can find the group is for $2K, which is still dearer than adding duty and GST.

[MichaelB]

But it is illegal. You are doing it to avoid customs duty etc.

The reality is that customs guys have a good handle on this type of activity, and if you get away with it, you are lucky. The alternate is no goods and a fine to boot.

[Ross]

But it is illegal. You are doing it to avoid customs duty etc.

The reality is that customs guys have a good handle on this type of activity, and if you get away with it, you are lucky. The alternate is no goods and a fine to boot.

How is it illegal to send the delivery in two shipments and halve the value on each invoice? The value of the goods is still the same. Not asking them to falsely declare what the goods are worth.

No different than if I ordered a heap of parts worth over $1000 and some of them weren't in stock and so they just sent what they had which had a value of say $600 and then a couple of days later the rest came into stock and were sent to me with a value of say $500.

No different to you ordering $999 worth of parts today and putting in another order for $999 worth of parts tomorrow and another $999 the day after.

No different to me sending 10 x 1kg parcels o/s which is cheaper than 1 x 10kg. It's not illegal, it's just smart.

It's a groupset. There are dozens of parts that make up a groupset. they can send some parts today and some parts tomorrow, no difference for them.

[V8rider]

http://www.customs.gov.au/faq/DutyGST2.asp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

"If you are receiving multiple packages from the same supplier within a few days of each other and the total value exceeds AU$1000 you will be required to submit an import declaration for the entire consignment. Similar rules apply if you have submitted an order from a single supplier for goods valued over $1000 in total, but are receiving them as part shipments."

[Ross]

So customs/govt want their cake and eat it too? Must be on Gerry Harvey's payroll. The threshold is either $1000 or it's not. If I want to order $900 worth of stuff today and then decide tomorrow I want another $900 for whatever reason then I should be allowed to do it without copping duty.

[RonK]

Good luck finding a supplier who will split a shipment. Every one I've used explicitly refuses to do so in their terms and conditions. They face heavy penalties if found guilty of making a false customs declaration and simply will not take the risk.

[Ross]

But it's not a false declaration. Full groupset is say $1500. They just write "bicycle parts" on the declaration and a value of $750 (or whatever that is in pounds). Rinse and repeat next day/week. Every shipment of bike parts I've ever received from o/s has had this written as description on the declaration. They never write specifically "deraileur" or "handlebars". You could argue that the value of the individual items is more than $1500 so technically going of your "rules" they are making a false declaration if they only list it as being worth $1500.

[RonK]

But it's not a false declaration. Full groupset is say $1500. They just write "bicycle parts" on the declaration and a value of $750 (or whatever that is in pounds). Rinse and repeat next day/week. Every shipment of bike parts I've ever received from o/s has had this written as description on the declaration. They never write specifically "deraileur" or "handlebars". You could argue that the value of the individual items is more than $1500 so technically going of your "rules" they are making a false declaration if they only list it as being worth $1500.

No point trying to convince anyone other than the supplier in question. As I've already said - good luck with that!

[queequeg]

So customs/govt want their cake and eat it too? Must be on Gerry Harvey's payroll. The threshold is either $1000 or it's not. If I want to order $900 worth of stuff today and then decide tomorrow I want another $900 for whatever reason then I should be allowed to do it without copping duty.

It's really quite simple. Either pay the GST or order your parts separately from different suppliers at the same time, or order your first set of parts, wait until they ship and then order the next set.

I have done this many times and never fallen foul of the customs laws. If you get pulled up just pay the GST. sometimes it really isn't worth mucking about trying to dodge the money. I had my whole bike shipped from the USA under full expectation of being asked to pay $430 GST & customs processing (which I was, and which I paid). My bike was still $1000 cheaper so it was not a problem.

[chocwege]

The cheapest locally I can find the group is for $2K, which is still dearer than adding duty and GST.

[/i]

There is one online bike store that I have used that will price match the UK price plus GST. You just send them the link to the UK website and they will price match it within 24 hours.

It doesn't resolve your GST issue but you the parts for the same price with local warranty.

[Ross]

Yes but they take into account the duty and GST (and delivery, if applicable), so works out the same. Meh warranty, it's just a word written on a bit of paper. Means JS. Most times it would cost more in postage/freight to return the goods, even "locally" (interstate), this cost is generally not covered under warranty.

[Hoyley]

No one would do it for me so I shopped the cheapest groupset components from different shops and it only cost $50 or so more.



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