Post Brexit Import/Export awareness

Jackware

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Oct 30, 2018
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Does anyone know what the import tariff is?
Depends if you get the Alibaba identical product...:unsure::ROFLMAO:

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Pigin

Well-known member
Jul 7, 2020
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Just as we get to hear about the EU wanting to play bully boy tact ticks over the vaccine and Northern Ireland. In the words of Karen Carpenter “It’s only just begun”.
 

RustyMTB

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
Jul 22, 2020
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It should be entirely possible to hold two or more competing notions in your head at the same time. The commission are flailing on the vaccine issue & doing real reputational damage. It's still possible to grasp that & believe we're better in it than out and with that, it's clear this thread has run its course by morphing from a discussion about how Brexit affects us as mountain bikers into a tedious euro bun fight with guilty parties all over, very much including me.

Time to put it out of its misery.
 

R120

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Apr 13, 2018
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Interesting comment from Specilized in this article given their recent price hikes:

“Specialized told us the Brexit deal doesn’t affect its main supply chain from Asia, because bikes come directly to the UK from the Far East. “The area where we may be affected is the sharing of inventory with markets within the EU. Inventory is sometimes moved between markets to where the demand is, but this is not the primary method for supply,” Specialized said in a statement.”

 

Mikerb

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May 16, 2019
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Interesting. That infers Specialized bikes are fully assembled ( less the normal amount left undone in order to box it, and completed by the retailer) in Se Asia. That could be in the same factory that produces the frames or at least same country. Then shipped to each market direct.
Depending on which SE Asia country that is and what trade deal the UK has now or in the future with that country, the trade tariff for imported UK Spesh bikes could change from WTO terms to something less. I suspect other major brands like Giant and Merida have similar distribution networks.
The extraordinary increase in shipping costs may however push brands to consider other distribution and manufacturing strategies, if and when those costs outweigh the benefits gained from low cost labour production in the far East.
 

Doomanic

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I wonder how many bikes you can get in a 40ft container?
 

Mikerb

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May 16, 2019
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Googling reveals answers around the 400 mark for a 40ft container
The container price increase in that article would only translate to an extra 6 Euros per bike then! Hardly a massive increase.
 

R120

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Yes but I am guessing theres the container prices in getting the components to the bike companies in the first place.

In many ways Specilized a business model makes a lot of sense (and I guess one implemented by Merida) in that you assemble parts and bikes made in the Far East, in the Far East, rather than shipping them all separately into Europe/US/Wherever and then assembling them, and shipping them again elsewhere.
 

R120

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Without really having a clue about what I am talking about, is there not an opportunity for someone like Canyon or YT to set up a UK operation for assembling bikes, allowing them to remain competitive here, but also taking advantage of any trade deal the UK strikes with other countries ?
 

RustyMTB

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Jul 22, 2020
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I sincerely doubt you can fit 400 bikes on a 40' container. The charities sending old bangers to Africa might do that wedging them in floor to ceiling, Sparklers from Taiwan in big old cardboard boxes will be a different story.
 

Mikerb

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
May 16, 2019
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Weymouth
Without really having a clue about what I am talking about, is there not an opportunity for someone like Canyon or YT to set up a UK operation for assembling bikes, allowing them to remain competitive here, but also taking advantage of any trade deal the UK strikes with other countries ?
It totally depends on the value of the UK market to those brands. Adapting to different market forces is bread and butter to any business and there are ways in which direct sales brands can retain the advantage of a lower cost route to market than the classic.....manufacturer/warehouse (distributor or importer)/retailer..model. Franchise is one example. There are still costs for a direct sales brand that can be a voided and offset the cost of a different route to market. Those costs for YT and Canyon for example include customer service, billing, and ( potentially) marketing. It is also the case that it makes things a lot clearer for a manufacturer what their "core" business actually is. Are Canyon and YT experts in customer service? Or are they bike engineers/designers? Not easy being good at both!
 

zaykay

Member
Dec 3, 2019
93
81
Finland
Truth is that there is only a bike boom if you got stock and they dont have stock so price rises are to cover their lost profit from lack of sellable stock.
This. A lot longer lead times cause cash flow issues. Smaller manufacturers might even go bankrupt in the middle of the ”boom” because of this.
 

R120

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Apr 13, 2018
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Must be very frustrating for the shops with all the demand and a lack of stock - I have had lots fo friends who aren't even into biking ask me about EMTB's or ebikes recently, and none of them have had any joy finding anything.

I recently stocked up on cassettes and chains, as I can see a situation where parts become scarce, already a lot of stuff hard to get hold of.
 

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