Buying from U.K. - not made it easy have they !

[KnittyNorah]

I have bought knitting wool from Scandinavia without any issue at all, it's just delivered in the normal way via some courier company. No forms to fill in, nothing any different to how it used to be except the postage is a bit more expensive than it used to be, I suppose to cover the cost of the paperwork at their end. BTW this is not cheap stuff, it is silk, alpaca and kid mohair blends. Cashmere I buy from a UK stockist.

 

[silva]

What I asked was a service that does the same as my bank did: along internetbanking I bank transfer the euro's to the service that swaps them for pounds to then transfer them to the bank account of the one I wanted to pay.

 

[Ridgeway]

From experience the DHL/FEDEX/UPS invoice typically arrives a few weeks after the item arrives, you've not off the hook yet.....

Most things arriving here from then UK are COD if they use the local post to execute the last leg, COD = our posty knocking on the door at 06:30hrs and asking for the exact money to cover the import taxes and admin fees..

Never needed to go through that ball ache you described above though and pretty sure that could have been avoided although it may be worth setting up an account with the major couriers, i found that helps in some cases.

Hope it all fits

 

[Blue Hills]

Since my bank ceased to provide automatical euro to pound exchange, I became unable to pay something in the UK along bank transfer.
And since Paypal made mobile phone obligatory, also no option.
What other options are out there?

Is the paypal mobile phone thing you mention because of two-step authorisation? I have used that for a while but is it now obligatory? (I seem to remember reading something). It's no problem at all - I use a non smart bog standard PAYG mobile for that. No contract. So no problem - and in fact I like the security.

 

[welsh dragon]

I bought a some leather from Italy this year and didn't encounter any problems at all with delivery or having to pay extra charges.

The only problem I had was the time it took to deliver the item. Probably took 10 days longer to get it.

 

[Deleted User]

And since Paypal made mobile phone obligatory, also no option.
What other options are out there?

I use PayPal on my laptop, I assume you have one or you wouldn't be on here ( you have no mobile apparently) can't you do the same?

 

[Deleted User]

I buy quite a few things from the EU and like most not really a bother, I have been slated before for mentioning this and accused of 'it must be alright then as Shep bought something from Europe '. Funny old World.

 

[silva]

Is the paypal mobile phone thing you mention because of two-step authorisation? I have used that for a while but is it now obligatory? (I seem to remember reading something). It's no problem at all - I use a non smart bog standard PAYG mobile for that. No contract. So no problem - and in fact I like the security.

Yes, that's the because.
And yes, it's obligatory.
I want to pay a bill for parts, not a phone.
I use computer and internet, that's it. That sufficed, until now, this silly mobile phone requirement.
In the end, my bank did exchange euro for GBP, then transferred those to the receivers account.
I now need to do these jobs myself.
1) buy GBP with euro's, ie an additional GBP bank account
2) transfer GBP to another GBP account.

 

[silva]

To give a followup, I found another bank with an account that provides that currency conversion service that my bank ceased.
Couple weeks ago I made such account. Drawback it has a monthly fee, annually about 72 euro, quite a cost.
Since supply got wrecked and prices blown up by the governments' economical sabotage of past 2 years, I decided to not hesitate and hampster - I ordered 10 chainrings (apparently the available stock quantity) at Velosolo UK, as soon as they finally received a batch and placed for sale.
Normally, I have then a drivetrain parts stock to span 20 years.
Velosolo (very happy about them - always have been) already shipped them, though this time its possible that the government here will add a tax, as retaliation for Brexit. Velosolo warned about that. All together, the per chainring price is alot higher.

 

[normgow]

Hoorah for Brexit ?

 

[Ming the Merciless]

 

[silva]

I've just discovered that Velosolo ceases business, now in a sell out with most gone.
Gonna need to find 1/8" bolt on cogs somewhere else now.

 

[Once a Wheeler]

We have found that sending birthday presents to members of the family in the EU is daft. You get overwhelmed with paperwork, you pay inflated fees and taxes and the recipient then has to pay again to receive the goods at their end. Instead, go on-line and find a local distributor of what you want to send. Pay for it in the local currency with a bank card such as Wise. Give the recipient's address as your own address. Get the local supplier to send it to the recipient. Saves 50% of the cost — sometimes even more — and ensures delivery in a reasonable amount of time.

 

[silva]

At VeloSolo we distribute our own range of UK made precision bike components including drilled disc hub mount and standard threaded cogs as well as chainrings, handlebars, tools and associated components. All UK manufactured and designed from start to finish - solid cro-mo steel bar and various aluminium alloy stock into the machine shop one end, finished components out the other.

We are based in the south of England and ship worldwide every day with customers in over 60 countries and across the USA.

Both above reads together as bad news.
If Velosolo branded parts were produced in UK specifically for Velosolo, then without Velosolo no further production.
And it could even be that the company producing the parts itself stopped, with Velosolo's stopping as a consequence.
And people that buy them in the UK from all over the world, means they didn't find the parts elsewhere.

= grim outlook to find in the future bolt on cogs with the same specs.
For ex on Amazon I find "16T Fixed Gear for Bicycle Disc Brake Mount Bolts-Fixed Chain Wheel 6 Screw Disc Hub Convert to Fix Gear Single Speed Fixed Cog "
It's listed as 1/8", so for wide chains.
The material specification is nothingsaying commercial rubbish: "heat-treatment steel"
So let's look at the weight, they DO list that: 38 gram
Now look at Velosolo:
https://www.velosolo.co.uk/weights.html

VS Disc Cog (cro-mo) 3/32" 16t = 30g.
VS Disc Cog (cro-mo) 3/32" 18t = 48g.
VS Disc Cog (cro-mo) 1/8" 16t = 50g.
VS Disc Cog (cro-mo) 1/8" 18t = 68g.
VS Disc Cog (7075-T6) 1/8" 16t = 18g.
VS Disc Cog (7075-T6) 1/8" 18t = 26g.

Notice the big weight difference between 3/32" and 1/8": 30 gram > 50 gram
The Amazon product is 38 gram, so it's closer to Velosolo's 3/32" than 1/8".

That's a plus of Velosolo: they let customers know what they buy. No nothingsayers like that "heat treatment steel" and limited data, but the full specs.

 

[Andy in Germany]

We have found that sending birthday presents to members of the family in the EU is daft. You get overwhelmed with paperwork, you pay inflated fees and taxes and the recipient then has to pay again to receive the goods at their end. Instead, go on-line and find a local distributor of what you want to send. Pay for it in the local currency with a bank card such as Wise. Give the recipient's address as your own address. Get the local supplier to send it to the recipient. Saves 50% of the cost — sometimes even more — and ensures delivery in a reasonable amount of time. A good work around, but joining the EU would be even easier.

I doubt you are alone in discovering this. I used to buy hard to get nerdy model making things from the UK, but now I get them from European suppliers.

Of course, this means that money previously being spent in the UK is being spent elsewhere, which isn't good for the UK.