Thunderbike

[jizerbike]

Hi all,



I have recently purchased a part from Thunderbike. However, it seems that there are some problems! Parcelforce contacted me to say there is a VAT charge approx £13 and also once that is paid a Parcelforce clearance charge of £13 making it an additional £26 before I see the item.



As anyone else experienced this or has any advice??



Cheers

Jize

[haulin' daze]

I don't know anything about extra VAT charges (I live in the states), but I've purchased a few products from Thunderbike and the are quality products, and so far, a quality company to deal with. Good luck to ya.

[jizerbike]

Cheers for that! I was not worried about Thunderbike themselves as they have been most helpful so far. It is more to do with how whether Parcelforce should charge a clearance charge etc.



Cheers

[greg]

It's customs, the amount charged depends on the declared value of the item you have purchased. Expect it on abnything you buy from outside the EU.

[jizerbike]

OK the customs bit I get, but the £13 pound clearance charge by Parcelforce?

[geoff]

I cannot comment directly on the import system in the UK but I do have experience importing items into Australia. There is a good chance the systems are similar. In Australia an individual can buy an item from overseas, say Thunderbike in NZ. If the item is below a certain value customs let the item pass through without any problem. If the item has a value of over A$1000 our customs will hold the item for assessment of duty and GST (like VAT). The importer has to complete some forms, pay a processing fee (about A$50), pay any applicable duty (depends on the item category), and pay GST equal to %10 of the item cost. If the item arrives by general post you must do all this stuff yourself to get the item or engage a customs agent on your behalf to do the clearance. This will cost you even more money. If you have a courier like UPS they will complete this paperwork for you as part of their service and pass on the charges that they have had to pay.  To avoid these problems in future it is best to be aware of the Max. item value that you can import before attracting the attention of customs. Hope this explanation helps.

[jizerbike]

Many thanks for the explanation, it all make sense a bit better now. I expect to hear back from Thunderbike tomorrow to confirm items shipped to the UK usually go through this and I will mark it down as a learning experience.



I do not wish put any people dealing with Thunderbike as they do some great gear and I will purchasing some other bits and pieces from them in the future. But in the meantime ,once I speak with Parcelforce and find out a bit more how things work I will let you all know here the outcome for the benefit of UK Tiger buyers purchasing stuff from overseas.



Cheers

[greg]

It doesn't harm if the suppliers of stuff coming from overseas are willing to mark down the value of items for customs purposes, ask, they can only say no.

[jizerbike]

Yep that what I was told when I picked the parcel up!



Excellent product by Thunderbike by the way!

[Blackcat]

i have also purchased alot of items from TB. they are really great bunch to work with and their products are first rate. when i receintly put TB pipes on my scrambler i bought them through newbonneville as their price was less than buying them directly through TB.

joe

05 tiger

06 scrambler