Australian Cycling Forums - Bicycles Network Australia

I'm planning a cycling trip to Italy where I hope to buy a bike, do some rides, then ship the bike back to Australia (the wife needs the luggage space to buy useless non cycling stuff). How do I go about shipping the bike back without customs slapping import duty on my new-ish bike?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Check with Customs, ring and explain the purpose.

AFAIK, s/hand goods do not attract duty, but you'll have to double check. You may need to provide proof that the bike was used there by showing photos, itinerary etc.

Have fun

Cheers

Michael B

Thanks Micheal

Risk of getting slapped with duty is very high when you ship it separately. You are much better off to bring it back with you on the passenger flight back. As bikes are counted as sporting goods, typically you'll just pay a fixed carriage fee (varies with the airline and some are free) and not have it count against your personal 20 or 30kg depending on your class of travel. On arrival, customs are typically pretty decent with bikes. Their primary interest is that you've cleaned your tyres well and are not bringing in any nasty seeds or germs. Note also that the duty free limit has been raised and when there's two of you, the coverage is quite generous now.

If you go the commercial shipping route, it doesn't matter if you've used overseas, the fact that it's an overseas purchase, you are liable for duty. No amount of holiday photo will get around this issue. As I said, your best bet is to just bring it back with your personal luggage.

Is the bike actually cheaper in Italy? If so, by how much?

Burn plenty of Glycogen
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mikesbytes wrote:Is the bike actually cheaper in Italy? If so, by how much?

It can be, similar to your experience with PBK. 11Speed is an Italian mail order house and they have probably the cheapest Campag prices internationally. Obviously you still need to shop around and the saving varies. Name a bike model and do a Google search and you'll get an exact answer. Road bikes are way over priced here in Oz and that's a known fact.

The big catch with buying bikes overseas is that the warranty typically aren't international. So if you have a problem with the frame, then it's back to the country of purchase for warranty repair/replacement. If you are willing to take the risk and know the exact frame size, then do it. And if you are buying in a country that you visits regularly or have good friend and relatives, then again it's worth serious consideration.

I'm planning to purchase a DeRosa King XL from Comobike in Italy (I'm unable to post the web address). The bike is more than $3k cheaper from Comobike than my LBS.

Nice bike. Interesting that they offer both compact and traditional frame geometry options.

http://www.derosanews.com/

box it up and post it using EMS back to Australia. Fast and reliable.

G'Day Longdrop I think the cheapest way is to bring it back with you as sporting equipment. Virgin allow 23 kgs. Good Luck. Recycler

The duty free limit when i went overseas in November was $900 each.....so $1800 for me and the missus.

I looked at buying a bike in Singapore, but was very hesitant about how it would be treated by the baggage handlers

you can buy specific bike bags and boxes which hold complete bikes, the bike is disassembled and takes minimal space, It could be treated as luggage in which case you can bring on plane etc. Could be an idea??

Returning to Perth about two years ago I saw a couple with a mountain bike each. Customs/quarantine wanted to charge them to clean the tyres then "treat" the tyres, at a cost to the travellers, the bike and tyres could be picked up at a later date from the treatment centre.
After a quick conference the male quietly removed his tools from his saddle bag, quick released the wheels, removed the four tyres and handed them over to the customs/quarantine guy.
They then went unimpeded through customs. I assume the treatment cost was more than picking up new tyres!

Road bikes wouldn't be such an issue i wouldn't think (with dirt on tyres) but mountain bikes yes. Last time we tried to bring back plant material (wooden ornament) it cost about $90 to have it treated, and took about 3 months to get it back.....by the time we got the call to go pick it up, we'd forgotten all about it

We learned our lesson and decided it was too much hassle.....i'm figuring this guy thought the same. If the bike hadn't been riden overseas (or off road anyway) it wouldn't be an issue i wouldn't think.....no different to ur shoes.