Capetonians combining orders to save on delivery costs from Germany?

[MORNE]

58 minutes ago, Mountain Goat said:

@MORNE  it would be interesting to see if it works, shipping to Switzerland is about 5 euros more expensive and free in some instances. When checking out you won’t pay German VAT and it automatically includes Swiss VAT and duties. DHL will handle the first leg of the shipping on behalf of the seller and then Aramex the second. 

 

maybe try it on a low value item to test it out. I actually have some bits on the way at the moment from Condor in the UK. Ive noticed though that sometimes these websites don't calculate currencies correctly or maybe they are outdated. That spicific site also removes uk vat and changes prices to Rand. the item i bought was 90 uk pounds...incl of 20% uk vat. When you change it to rand and they supposedly remove that vat...the price reads R2400 on the dot. Now my maths skills are average at best but that sum didnt ad up. So using the website it Uk moneys to send it to uk aramex with priority Royal mail fir an extra 2 pounds...the total amount came in at R1850 ish randelas. aramex uk to aramex Sa is R215 on this package. Then the vat here will be 15% etc. in total it will probably come close to 2400 landed...but if I paid them 2400 right off th bat it would have been closer to 3k+

Edited June 25, 2021 by MORNE

[Mountain Goat]

54 minutes ago, MORNE said:

maybe try it on a low value item to test it out. I actually have some bits on the way at the moment from Condor in the UK. Ive noticed though that sometimes these websites don't calculate currencies correctly or maybe they are outdated. That spicific site also removes uk vat and changes prices to Rand. the item i bought was 90 uk pounds...incl of 20% uk vat. When you change it to rand and they supposedly remove that vat...the price reads R2400 on the dot. Now my maths skills are average at best but that sum didnt ad up. So using the website it Uk moneys to send it to uk aramex with priority Royal mail fir an extra 2 pounds...the total amount came in at R1850 ish randelas. aramex uk to aramex Sa is R215 on this package. Then the vat here will be 15% etc. in total it will probably come close to 2400 landed...but if I paid them 2400 right off th bat it would have been closer to 3k+

That's interesting, I will test it out when I need something. The main advantage of AGS is that you have the ability to shop all of the niche brands and you can bypass the geo-blocking. When I eventually get around to doing this I will share my experience.  

[MORNE]

On 6/25/2021 at 8:24 AM, MORNE said:

maybe try it on a low value item to test it out. I actually have some bits on the way at the moment from Condor in the UK. Ive noticed though that sometimes these websites don't calculate currencies correctly or maybe they are outdated. That spicific site also removes uk vat and changes prices to Rand. the item i bought was 90 uk pounds...incl of 20% uk vat. When you change it to rand and they supposedly remove that vat...the price reads R2400 on the dot. Now my maths skills are average at best but that sum didnt ad up. So using the website it Uk moneys to send it to uk aramex with priority Royal mail fir an extra 2 pounds...the total amount came in at R1850 ish randelas. aramex uk to aramex Sa is R215 on this package. Then the vat here will be 15% etc. in total it will probably come close to 2400 landed...but if I paid them 2400 right off th bat it would have been closer to 3k+

so just for reference. my package has landed. 6 days. 

As mentioned...£93 incl shipping to aramex london. +\- R1850 inclusive of 20% uk tax. 

aramex UK to SA courier = R223

15% local VAT incl duties R340. So thats about R560 ish extra for a total of R2410. 

Thats almost exactly the amount the bike shop's website shows when you change currancy to Rand and it supposedly removes 20% uk vat. If I pays that way I would have paid about R3200 for the item instead. That store has no way of accurately predicting what SA duties, VAT will be so i cant believe that them initially saying R2400 all in was more than a thumbsuck based on outdated currency exchange info. 

Anyway. still got it cheaper than local even with paying 2 x VAT. the local distro's must think we are numpties. They get that stock at distribution prices from the manufacturers....not oversees retail prices. Then they pretend that they pay international retail prices and then load another 25 - 30 % on top of that in general and blame it on exchange rates or shipping costs. absolute BS. The fact that you can pay full retail in another country...pay duties, courier shipping, and even double vat in some cases, and even then still get it landed cheaper than what they flog it for here is just sickening sometimes. Imo their biggest problem is they dont bring in enough stuff to justify or offset shipping costs. Anyway. I'll keep supporting local when and where i can. But when i want something now and you don't have it....i'll find it myself lol. 

[HenryS]

I decided to try Aramex Global Shopper to see how well it works. I ordered a couple of things which I couldn't find locally from bike-discount.de. The total came to €144 - around R2500 including 19% VAT. Courier to SA from Germany was R414. Aramex received the package on 1 July and then spent the next 25 days getting it to me. On the plus side, there was absolutely nothing extra that I had to pay; no VAT, no duties.

[MORNE]

9 hours ago, HenryS said:

I decided to try Aramex Global Shopper to see how well it works. I ordered a couple of things which I couldn't find locally from bike-discount.de. The total came to €144 - around R2500 including 19% VAT. Courier to SA from Germany was R414. Aramex received the package on 1 July and then spent the next 25 days getting it to me. On the plus side, there was absolutely nothing extra that I had to pay; no VAT, no duties.

Yea i had the same with two packages recently (delays). But there was a notice on the website. Donething sbout the unrest and local staff. One from USA and the other from germany via Greece. Funny enough, the one from the US came in with 0 duties/tax as well…just paid the shipping of R239. Was a $200 order. Germany via Greece i had to pay everything though…and i learned their shipping from Greece is so something like R520. It is right there in the calculator though…should have checked. Anyway. Going forward ill check.
 

just a reminder going forward, when shipping things to the Uk from the EU ….Brexit lol. At some stage one might be liable for import duties sending stuff via there from the EU. There is free trade (so duty free) trade between EU member countries. 

 

 

[FootballingCyclist]

A bit off topic, But i won a competition on Instagram(Yeah I also couldn't believe it) and I was contacted and asked for my address etc etc, The company sent the parcel via UPS, It literally took 7 days from Denmark to my doorstep which included a weekend, So 5 working days, From Denmark. 

[MORNE]

yea..dhl or ups is first prize. but not all the international vendors offer the service.

I ordered two packages from the UK last month. Ordered on a Sunday evening...was at my door on Wednesday morning.

DHL express. 

Edited July 27, 2021 by MORNE

[NickGM]

15 minutes ago, copperhead said:

But what did you win?

A Danish passport?

[Jewbacca]

40 minutes ago, MORNE said:

yea..dhl or ups is first prize. but not all the international vendors offer the service.

I ordered two packages from the UK last month. Ordered on a Sunday evening...was at my door on Wednesday morning.

DHL express. 

I ordered a few small bits for project 20" from CRC, got to free delivery which arrived 6 days later and a day wasted by me as I missed the clearence fee invoice. Free delivery with DHL express.

Banging!

[MORNE]

34 minutes ago, Jewbacca said:

I ordered a few small bits for project 20" from CRC, got to free delivery which arrived 6 days later and a day wasted by me as I missed the clearence fee invoice. Free delivery with DHL express.

Banging!

CRC offers DHL express now???

{hears local stores whimpering in background...}

 

edit: answered my own question:

 

"

Worldwide DHL Express 

This is a priority paid for tracked service. For approximate charges and estimated delivery times for your specific country please click here. 

We'll dispatch your order using DHL Express. Once we've dispatched your order we'll email you to let you know, including a link to ’ YOUR ACCOUNT’ where you'll be able to log in and view your order and all the shipping details for that order."

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/customer-service/delivery-options?stop_mobi=yes

"

Edited July 27, 2021 by MORNE

[FootballingCyclist]

1 hour ago, copperhead said:

But what did you win?

Ceramicspeed OSPW

[FootballingCyclist]

55 minutes ago, NickGM said:

A Danish passport?

LOL that wouldn't have been half bad..

[lukelockie]

11 minutes ago, FootballingCyclist said:

Ceramicspeed OSPW

Is it on your bike yet?

 

[FootballingCyclist]

2 hours ago, lukelockie said:

Is it on your bike yet?

 

Do they go on E-Bikes?

[FootballingCyclist]

2 hours ago, lukelockie said:

Is it on your bike yet?

 

on a serious note, I haven't even taken it out the box yet LOL, I also haven't ridden my bike for 2 weeks either.. And yours?

[njandrell.2704.com@gmail.com]

I am looking to upgrade to a DT Swiss wheelset, I'm considering the DT Swiss XR 1700 with a qr conversion kit. I can't seem to find a shop in SA that has these products from DT Swiss, so I am thinking of using Bike24. I have read a lot of negative things about the postage when it gets to the SA side, is there a way that I do not have to use SAPO? Or does anyone know of a shop/online shop in SA where I could order these parts through them? Any help would be appreciated.