Shipping New Bikes?

[crazyegg]

Hi all, apologies if this has been asked before.

 

All the family bicycles are fairly old and past their best. On their last legs with rusty bits etc. In short, not worth trying to clean up and taking with us.

 

I've seen some good deals for new kids bikes in the UK and I've heard that bikes are expensive in Oz (is this correct?).

 

So, it occurs to be, are we allowed to buy new bikes over here and ship them to Oz with the rest of our stuff? If room in the container obviously.

 

It would obviously makes sense as they won't need any cleaning etc and would be brand spanking and still in the boxes.

 

I've read somewhere around paying import tax on good less than 12 months old, would that apply here?

 

If so, I suppose I could always unwrap and assemble just prior to going into the container and they'd never know :-)

 

Any advice or experience on this would be great thanks.

[Guest]

You would need to declare that they are less than 12 months old and risk paying import tax - we declared some goods and weren't charged which is why i say 'risk' - as you say though you could disguise the fact they were new and take a chance, I suspect most people would.

 

I don't know about pricing but why not just have a look at some Australian bike shops online - no idea of the type of quality of bike you would be looking for but here's one to get you started http://www.bikes.com.au/c/118896/1/kids-bikes.html

[Guest]

Oh just to add we didn't ship my son's bike in either direction because it would have meant him being without it until the container arrived - on the way out we air freighted a bike each and on the way back we just got him a new bike as soon as we landed.

 

So even if it is a bit more expensive there may be a benefit of getting your bikes there and being able to get out and explore your new environment straight away

[Guest hoffer]

Not worth it really. Unless your after bikes that are rare over here like Lappierre i havent seen a huge difference in price.

 

Also things like chains and helmets etc seem cheaper

[Guest]

Agree with Hoffer, unless you are buying something hard to come by I'd not bother. Can get good deals over here.

 

My hubby flew his Canyon road bike over with us (he races and its not sold over here so no way was he leaving it or selling before we left). My bike got sold and our son's bike was in good nick so was taken apart and scrubbed. TBH managing 3 or so months without his bike was a pain as he wanted to cycle from the off. We ended up borrowing one for a while but in hindsight would rather have sold his bike in the UK and bought one for him to use as soon as we arrived.

 

I got a gorgeous new Electra for myself a few months after arriving and son will be going up to a larger frame soon. He'll probably move over to a road bike of some kind too. Good prices over here if you shop around and compare etc. I gave my business to a good local independant even though my bike cost $50 more in their store than if I had ordered online. I got a service thrown in and they assembled it all for me also. I went back a couple of times for some minor alterations to the position which they were happy to do.

[wolvesaussie]

we shipped a brand new one still in the box. Only because it was a tandem and I had been watching ebay australia for ages and none were coming up and the new prices were all in the $1,000s. declared it but didnt have to pay anything. If its a normal bike though, I think u may as well just buy it here...

[Guest zakir500]

How many charges you have paid for shipping?