Buying stuff from Euro suppliers

Fabdad

Member
Sep 1, 2020
9
4
West Mids, UK
Specifically has anyone bought a helmet and how much did you get stung for import duty? After taking a spill the other day and smacked in the gob by a branch I’ve been looking at FF lids and fancy an IXS Trigger but can’t seem to find any in the Uk but there’s a German store advertising them on EBay but I don’t know how much import tax I’ll have to pay?
 

Jackware

Fat-tyred Freakazoid
Subscriber
Oct 30, 2018
2,057
2,261
Lancashire
If you have an Amazon account, switch from Amazon GB to Amazon DE, and there are a few options for the IXS Trigger FF;
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Mikerb

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
May 16, 2019
6,535
5,012
Weymouth
Unless you are replacing an identical IXS helmet you would be better advised going to a bike shop and trying on some helmets. Even open face helmets vary in head shape but full face helmets are lot more specific in terms of fit and comfort. You dont necessarilly have to buy at a bike shop but at least you get to try a few brands for size/fit and comfort and even if you cannot find a good fit there it narrows down your search.
The other thing I suggest you consider is finding a helmet brand that also supplies goggles.....I found a matching set of helmet and goggles invariably work together far better.
 

Zed.

Active member
Apr 26, 2023
142
205
Deepest Bandit country (Wales)
I thought safety equipment was vat exempt??

I've bought a good few things from europe via ebay & direct, some purchases drop below the tax threshold and some have been missed 😜
ebay sometimes uses their 'global shipping policy' that sorts duties as part of the sale / postage price if the seller has signed up / ticked the boxes...

about 6 years ago I I bought a motorbike helmet from FC Moto in germany, iirc there was no duty to pay & it was seriously cheaper than buying here in the UK.

as if on topic, I've recently bought a set of Manitou Dorado Pro forks from Germany through ebay and AM expecting to get a letter / email requesting some of my hard-earned but they will still be a cheaper pair of forks than buying locally (if anyone had some stock!!!)



as to helmets, I use (have bought a few, crashed in one without injury!) 7idp's 'Project 23' carbon ff lids, on discount at the moment to £149 AND if you try the code EXTRA10 drops it to £135 (y)

Rich.



Rich.
 
Last edited:

RustyMTB

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
Jul 22, 2020
2,834
6,846
UK
Further to the tax rates, most of the Euro box shifters now apply minimum order values to UK buyers. Eg. R2 bike €160, Bike.de €200 plus shipping etc.

Look up their help pages & they say it's due to the aggravation of fannying about with UK import regulations arising from that great idea the government had a few years ago that weren't a problem prior to it.

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