Buying forks from German sellers

jrewing

Eats Squid
What’s the way around Geo blocks for simpletons like me. After a set of Boxxers and they are a great deal cheaper.
 

kten

understands stuff moorey doesn't
Keen to know this too. I briefly tried to get around the Hayes geoblock from the US unsuccessfully.
 

leitch

Feelin' a bit rrranty
@Haakon is the guy for freight forwarding from Germany. Note that you won't get the -19% VAT discount if it's delivered within EU so do all your calcs at full price, and be prepared to get stung with GST and import duty when it reaches Aus (you might get lucky, but plan for the worst hope for the best).
 

beeb

Dr. Beebenson, PhD HA, ST, Offset (hons)
I think @beeb recently used a drop-shipper in Deutschland?
I did. If you can, ask the seller for exact dimensions and weight of the package they're going to send out. I ever so slightly underestimated the weight of the parcel they sent, and it cost half as much again to ship. I also paid up for the DHL Express - so costs were significantly higher - but "only" took ~3 weeks and the parcel was at least somewhat insured.

Unless you can get exact dimensions/weights - forget about the quote process IMO. Unless you want basic, uninsured, ocean shipping - just get ready to bend and spread and wait for the pain to stop. The fee structure was/is very opaque, I asked for a picture of the parcel and extra protective packaging "if required". Took payment up front for both, they then re-packed it and sent me a picture of that box. In hindsight it was a "lost in translation" thing, but still annoying. I used Mailbox.de and a lightweight XC shock, in retail packaging and a slightly larger box (~500g IIRC) cost €109.69 - yep, 109.69 Euro.

With the lower retail price of the shock through Ze Germans, plus their VAT and shipping meant the total delivered price of the shock was still about the same as buying locally (if stock had been available).
 

Haakon

Keeps on digging
@Haakon is the guy for freight forwarding from Germany. Note that you won't get the -19% VAT discount if it's delivered within EU so do all your calcs at full price, and be prepared to get stung with GST and import duty when it reaches Aus (you might get lucky, but plan for the worst hope for the best).
mygermany.com and mailboxde.com are the two I’ve used. My Germany better for bigger things, they’ve both got calculators if you know the size/weight of the box.
 

kten

understands stuff moorey doesn't
Good info on the freight forwarders (I use myus.com for stateside stuff) but can the geoblocks be gotten around to order direct?
 

beeb

Dr. Beebenson, PhD HA, ST, Offset (hons)
Good info on the freight forwarders (I use myus.com for stateside stuff) but can the geoblocks be gotten around to order direct?
Generally not once you enter the delivery country.
 

kten

understands stuff moorey doesn't
Generally not once you enter the delivery country.
Some of them (Hayes in the US) won’t even let me buy and ship to my US on shipper, was hoping to get around that. Oh well….ze Germans it is.
 

Sethius

Crashed out somewhere
Some of them (Hayes in the US) won’t even let me buy and ship to my US on shipper, was hoping to get around that. Oh well….ze Germans it is.
You didn't get pushed to Taiwan Hq? They were same price as US distri and were happy to post.
 
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