Plastic Part Threaded into Al: Grease?

On Monday, March 23, 2015 at 2:50:21 PM UTC, Duane wrote:
We don't have VAT exactly in Canada but we do have import taxes. I
found this the hard way buying some Assos bibs for half the local price
and ended up paying more in the end. The trick here seems to be to keep
it under $100 CA.

Most Customs offices have some specified level of discretion, but it is a privilege for the citizen, not a right, unless it is actually encoded in the regulations as "free of duty to X amount".

In Europe the dispensation is mostly discretionary on the part of the Customs officer. In hard times, they are more likely to levy it; currently here in Ireland they hit even packages worth just about nothing coming in from China. The level is different in every European country, and applied differently too. In Italy the custom is particularly fierce, and nothing gets through.

Some anglophone countries have a "favoured nation" relationship with the United States, and that used to mean that imports from the States to $200 were not liable for customs duties though they still attracted VAT (sales tax).. But it now appears that was one of those discretionary things because it seems no longer to apply.

The cost of a parcel from the States delivered here in Ireland could have one or more of these elements included:

(((Cost of goods + cost of exchange -- often hidden in a very high proprietary rate as at Amazon + carriage + form-filling fees by carrier) + a percentage of that entire total for import duties) + a percentage of that entire total including import duties for Value Added Tax) + a fee to the Post Office for collecting the taxes at your door. Paying sales tax on an import tax you already paid the government really inflates the price. In the end it isn't difficult to pay double in Euro what an item cost in Dollars in the US..

Andre Jute
Praise the Lord and pass the aspirin

On Monday, March 23, 2015 at 3:49:27 PM UTC, jbeattie wrote:

We have import duties, too, although enforcement is lax when ordering from certain U.K. sellers and using certain shippers. DHL will stick you -- don't use them.

In Europe, Fedex is notorious for being officious about paying customs duties. They do it not because they're law-abiding but to collect the form-filling fee.

Andre Jute

On 3/23/2015 10:50 AM, Duane wrote:

BTW went to my LBS for their spring sale Saturday and it was snowing
like all hell.

I didn't realize it ever snowed in hell! Learn something new every day,
I guess.


--
- Frank Krygowski

On Monday, March 23, 2015 at 10:34:00 AM UTC-7, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 3/23/2015 10:50 AM, Duane wrote:

BTW went to my LBS for their spring sale Saturday and it was snowing
like all hell.

I didn't realize it ever snowed in hell! Learn something new every day,
I guess.

Oh ye of little knowledge. Perhaps no snow, but plenty of ice. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dante%27s_Satan

-- Jay Beattie.

On Monday, March 23, 2015 at 11:49:27 AM UTC-4, jbeattie wrote:
On Monday, March 23, 2015 at 7:50:21 AM UTC-7, Duane wrote:
On 23/03/2015 10:33 AM, jbeattie wrote:
On Sunday, March 22, 2015 at 4:45:52 PM UTC-7, (PeteCresswell) wrote:
Per Andre Jute:
The context is that us Europeans can only look with envy on the very low prices you Americans pay for components.

I am in the process of trying to send a GoPro Hero cam go a guy in
Germany.

Straight-up, unsolicited gift.

I *thought* I was going to just click a few boxes on Amazon.com, fill in
the shipping address and forget about it. Turns out that Amazon
declines to ship that item to Germany.... and I am beginning to
understand why.

Such a mess... Right now I see at least 19% VAT tax and/or up to 50%
"Gift" tax - the worst part being that I currently have no clue what he
will get hit with on his end.

A little bit like giving somebody a puppy and calling it a "Gift".

Where is The Global Marketplace when I need it? .... -)

Gift tax? Christmas in Germany must be more complicated than tax season. Do you give a gift along with the German version of a 1099? Can you avoid the tax by purchasing in the US and shipping to Germany?

I'm taken aback by Andre's comment because Lou gets Contis so cheap, and Wiggle has unbelievably low prices -- PBK, too.

Here in PDX, we're headed in to the spring shop-a-thon with all the bike shops running sales -- warehouse sales with some great deals, if you don't mind the herd scene and can avoid Costco-fever (frenzied buying of cheap-ish items that are unnecessary, redundant, etc.)



We don't have VAT exactly in Canada but we do have import taxes. I
found this the hard way buying some Assos bibs for half the local price
and ended up paying more in the end. The trick here seems to be to keep
it under $100 CA.

BTW went to my LBS for their spring sale Saturday and it was snowing
like all hell. -16C and windy today. Not feeling much like spring.

We have import duties, too, although enforcement is lax when ordering from certain U.K. sellers and using certain shippers. DHL will stick you -- don't use them. Import duties vary by component, and some parts have no duty.. http://www.dutycalculator.com/popula...s-for-bicycle/

Sales tax varies by state. There is a federal "gift tax" -- subject to a $14,000 annual exemption -- and of course no VAT.

The dollar is pretty strong right now, and one of my partners is headed to Vancouver for a vacation. It was about $.75 USD/$1 Canadian a week or two ago (IIRC), but it seems to be trending up a little -- closer to $.79 USD. He's getting some killer deals on hotels. Vancouver is closer than California, and if the dollar stays strong, I think I'll go there during the summer. It's like a bit-o-Europe, but you can drive there, eh?

-- Jay Beattie.

YEAH RIGHT...YOU CAN PASS the Canadian Liberteens going south.

After years in Portland a vacation on Vancouver would seam reasonable ...Iceland's nice but the people are all drunk n smell like fish

On 3/23/2015 2:40 PM, jbeattie wrote:
On Monday, March 23, 2015 at 10:34:00 AM UTC-7, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 3/23/2015 10:50 AM, Duane wrote:

BTW went to my LBS for their spring sale Saturday and it was snowing
like all hell.

I didn't realize it ever snowed in hell! Learn something new every day,
I guess.

Oh ye of little knowledge. Perhaps no snow, but plenty of ice. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dante%27s_Satan

-- Jay Beattie.

Wow. Nobody can claim this group isn't educational.


--
- Frank Krygowski

jbeattie wrote:
On Monday, March 23, 2015 at 10:34:00 AM UTC-7, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 3/23/2015 10:50 AM, Duane wrote:

BTW went to my LBS for their spring sale Saturday and it was snowing
like all hell.

I didn't realize it ever snowed in hell! Learn something new every day,
I guess.

Oh ye of little knowledge. Perhaps no snow, but plenty of ice.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dante%27s_Satan

-- Jay Beattie.

Apparently Frank is an authority on hell as well as everything else.
--
duane

jbeattie wrote:
On Monday, March 23, 2015 at 7:50:21 AM UTC-7, Duane wrote:
On 23/03/2015 10:33 AM, jbeattie wrote:
On Sunday, March 22, 2015 at 4:45:52 PM UTC-7, (PeteCresswell) wrote:
Per Andre Jute:
The context is that us Europeans can only look with envy on the very
low prices you Americans pay for components.

I am in the process of trying to send a GoPro Hero cam go a guy in
Germany.

Straight-up, unsolicited gift.

I *thought* I was going to just click a few boxes on Amazon.com, fill in
the shipping address and forget about it. Turns out that Amazon
declines to ship that item to Germany.... and I am beginning to
understand why.

Such a mess... Right now I see at least 19% VAT tax and/or up to 50%
"Gift" tax - the worst part being that I currently have no clue what he
will get hit with on his end.

A little bit like giving somebody a puppy and calling it a "Gift".

Where is The Global Marketplace when I need it? .... -)

Gift tax? Christmas in Germany must be more complicated than tax
season. Do you give a gift along with the German version of a 1099? Can
you avoid the tax by purchasing in the US and shipping to Germany?

I'm taken aback by Andre's comment because Lou gets Contis so cheap,
and Wiggle has unbelievably low prices -- PBK, too.

Here in PDX, we're headed in to the spring shop-a-thon with all the
bike shops running sales -- warehouse sales with some great deals, if
you don't mind the herd scene and can avoid Costco-fever (frenzied
buying of cheap-ish items that are unnecessary, redundant, etc.)



We don't have VAT exactly in Canada but we do have import taxes. I
found this the hard way buying some Assos bibs for half the local price
and ended up paying more in the end. The trick here seems to be to keep
it under $100 CA.

BTW went to my LBS for their spring sale Saturday and it was snowing
like all hell. -16C and windy today. Not feeling much like spring.

We have import duties, too, although enforcement is lax when ordering
from certain U.K. sellers and using certain shippers. DHL will stick you
-- don't use them. Import duties vary by component, and some parts have
no du
y. http://www.dutycalculator.com/popula...s-for-bicycle/

Sales tax varies by state. There is a federal "gift tax" -- subject to a
$14,000 annual exemption -- and of course no VAT.

The dollar is pretty strong right now, and one of my partners is headed
to Vancouver for a vacation. It was about $.75 USD/$1 Canadian a week or
two ago (IIRC), but it seems to be trending up a little -- closer to $.79
USD. He's getting some killer deals on hotels. Vancouver is closer than
California, and if the dollar stays strong, I think I'll go there during
the summer. It's like a bit-o-Europe, but you can drive there, eh?

-- Jay Beattie.

Been there a couple times. Usually on my way up to Whistler but Vancouver
is nice. Haven't noticed any European feel. More oriental I guess. Quebec
on the other hand is very European so maybe I didn't notice.
--
duane

Apparently Frank is an authority on hell as well as everything else.

FRANK KNOWS OHIO

On Mon, 23 Mar 2015 13:33:57 -0400, Frank Krygowski
wrote:

On 3/23/2015 10:50 AM, Duane wrote:

BTW went to my LBS for their spring sale Saturday and it was snowing
like all hell.

I didn't realize it ever snowed in hell! Learn something new every day,
I guess.

Never heard the term, "Like a snowball in Hell"?
--
Cheers,

John B.