Importing Powertaps

mclarent
mclarent Posts: 784
edited September 2010 in Training, fitness and health
Has anyone else noticed how cheap powertaps are in the States? Could save £100 on hub prices ordering through Amazon.com alone(!) And savings on the built wheels I've seen are all of the same order (I'm just using Google, custom or standard builds). Amazingly, a Pro+ hub seems only to be around $100 more than an Elite+!

Why are we paying so much more in the UK?! If I can save that much as a retail customer, the sellers over here must be making serious margins.
"And the Lord said unto Cain, 'where is Abel thy brother?' And he said, 'I know not: I dropped him on the climb up to the motorway bridge'."
- eccolafilosofiadelpedale

Comments

  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    Are you including import duty in that saving?
  • jibberjim
    jibberjim Posts: 2,810
    A powertap Pro+ on Amazon US appears to be 855 USD to bring it to the UK you'll need to pay 6% duty and 17.5% VAT, giving a total of 1064 USD, which is ~ 675 GBP if you can get it shipped for nothing. Otherwise remember the VAT and duty goes on top of the shipping to.

    A Powertap Pro+ from cyclepowermeters.com is 697.50 http://www.cyclepowermeters.com/powerta ... -466-p.asp

    So even if you were flying over there yourself and could bring it back (thus avoiding the shipping, and the shipping companies charges for collecting the duty and VAT) then you'd save 25 quid. If you had it shipped, the typical FedEx charge alone will eat up the saving, let alone the ~50 quid cost of shipping.

    Of course you could avoid the taxes by carrying it yourself and smuggling it in, but the difference in price appears to be all down to tax.
    Jibbering Sports Stuff: http://jibbering.com/sports/
  • mclarent
    mclarent Posts: 784
    edited September 2010
    fair enough, makes sense for a retail buyer, although if you took it down to "trade price" would be different - for the record I would understand but never condone smuggling, but I'm thinking about a shopping trip ;). FWIW you can get a custom built wheel for £645 inc shipping (from wheelsmith.co.uk), but the "upgrade cost" for a Pro+ is £160, against $92 at wheelbuilder.com

    BTW, I get the duty rate at 4.7% not 6%, but doesn't change the overall picture.
    "And the Lord said unto Cain, 'where is Abel thy brother?' And he said, 'I know not: I dropped him on the climb up to the motorway bridge'."
    - eccolafilosofiadelpedale
  • jibberjim
    jibberjim Posts: 2,810
    mclarent wrote:
    fair enough, makes sense for a retail buyer, although if you took it down to "trade price" would be different

    Eh? What would be different about it?
    mclarent wrote:
    FWIW you can get a custom built wheel for £645 inc shipping (from wheelsmith.co.uk), but the "upgrade cost" for a Pro+ is £160, against $92 at wheelbuilder.com

    But that doesn't mean the Pro+ is overpriced in the UK case, it could be that the Elite+ is overpriced in the US, price differentials not being the same don't really say anything.

    Good luck with your smuggling!
    Jibbering Sports Stuff: http://jibbering.com/sports/
  • mclarent
    mclarent Posts: 784
    jibberjim wrote:
    Eh? What would be different about it?
    Just that the tax component would be based on a lower price. Doesn't make any difference to me cos I can't get trade prices (or even know what they are) anyway!
    jibberjim wrote:
    But that doesn't mean the Pro+ is overpriced in the UK case, it could be that the Elite+ is overpriced in the US, price differentials not being the same don't really say anything.
    Completely true. But the differential makes a purchase of a PRO+ from the US (relatively) more attractive though.
    "And the Lord said unto Cain, 'where is Abel thy brother?' And he said, 'I know not: I dropped him on the climb up to the motorway bridge'."
    - eccolafilosofiadelpedale
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    Then there are customer service/warranty issues...

    Paligap distribute and do all the customer service in the UK. if you had a US bought PT you may struggle if owt goes wrong.

    FWIW the service by the powertap lad (Alex) at Paligap is bloody marvellous!
  • Pokerface
    Pokerface Posts: 7,960
    We pay more for pretty much everything in the UK. US prices don't include taxes. Ours do.
  • jibberjim
    jibberjim Posts: 2,810
    Pokerface wrote:
    We pay more for pretty much everything in the UK. US prices don't include taxes. Ours do.

    Even with the UK taxes, there's a lot of bike stuff which is more expensive in North America, I'm continually amazed by the cost of tyres everywhere else in the world.

    When I asked some North American friends where to buy some stuff online, they generally listed 3 sites which were worth looking at, Wiggle, ProBikeKit and Ribble...
    Jibbering Sports Stuff: http://jibbering.com/sports/
  • nmcgann
    nmcgann Posts: 1,780
    NapoleonD wrote:
    Then there are customer service/warranty issues...

    Paligap distribute and do all the customer service in the UK. if you had a US bought PT you may struggle if owt goes wrong.

    FWIW the service by the powertap lad (Alex) at Paligap is bloody marvellous!

    Yes, powertaps are great (I have 2), but they do go wrong - my number 2 hub has failed 3 times - all in warranty and fixed very quickly FOC by Paligap.

    I wouldn't get a grey import without a UK warranty.
    --
    "Because the cycling is pain. The cycling is soul crushing pain."
  • mclarent
    mclarent Posts: 784
    Disappointing to hear of reliability issues - nice when after sales service is good, but ideally you never want to have to find out.
    "And the Lord said unto Cain, 'where is Abel thy brother?' And he said, 'I know not: I dropped him on the climb up to the motorway bridge'."
    - eccolafilosofiadelpedale
  • Pokerface
    Pokerface Posts: 7,960
    mclarent wrote:
    Disappointing to hear of reliability issues - nice when after sales service is good, but ideally you never want to have to find out.


    Let's face it - pretty much everything in this world will have 'reliability issues' at some point. Some devices are more prone to it than others - especially ones that rely on a combination of delicate electronics, brute force and exposure to the elements.

    That being said - I've never had any problems with mine (and fingers crossed I won't as it is one of the grey market imports we are talking about!)
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    Mine was due to upgrading my SL from wired to wireless...

    When it was done (which was bl00dy quick) it developed an issue, I returned it and again it was sorted (bl00dy quick)...

    The wired was fine for the 18 months until I had it upgraded. It's been fine since it went back. Touch wood.

    Fantastic bits of kit!

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