New panniers buy before I leave or once in Europe?

[jemo27]

I'm looking at updating my pannier bags to waterproof ones, most likely Ortlieb ones. My next tour will be in Europe, would it be cheaper to buy panniers in Europe?

Or should I have all my gear before I leave?

[Tim]

You'll have to shop around a bit.
It seems to be getting harder to order Ortleib gear into Austalia from overseas now.
I bought all mine from PBK about 18 months ago but they won't deliver to Aust. any more.
Cell Bikes have some pretty good prices.

[rifraf]

It depends I imagine. When you buy from say bike24.com (or other), you dont pay Europes Vat. You do of course pay postage. If you buy them when in Europe you'll pay what the Europeans pay - the full price including VAT. With some form filling you can probably receive most of the VAT back when you fly out (possibly with a administration fee). Personally I'd buy them from here just to escape the form filling and any potential BS when your trying to get to your flight. You'll be all paid up and with no paperwork. Others may have a different opinion and angle. Good luck with your choice.

[RonK]

Buy them in Europe. You can claim the VAT back, about 20% and its a straight forward process. It's unlikely you'll buy cheaper here.

There are no import duties or GST applied when you bring home used goods.

[elStado]

It was far cheaper and easier for me to buy mine online from the UK. COuntries like Germany have a great range of pannier bags but they are pretty expensive unless on sale (rare).

However this was a couple of years ago, in the good old days when you could buy Ortlieb panniers and Brooks saddles from Wiggle. I understand that many brands are now not being shipped to Aus to protect the local sales channels.

[Mike Ayling]

You'll have to shop around a bit.
It seems to be getting harder to order Ortleib gear into Austalia from overseas now.
I bought all mine from PBK about 18 months ago but they won't deliver to Aust. any more.
Cell Bikes have some pretty good prices.

What Tim wrote.
Wiggle and Evans have also been nobbled by the authorised Oerlieb agents for Oz.

Mike

[iacl]

I recently ordered ortlieb stuff through cyclesportsuk.co.uk with no troubles, pretty much entire range available. You can still get some stuff through PBK but you need to go to their .co.uk site not the .com.au. From a quick check round it's still noticeably cheaper to get them from the UK, though you should do your own sums.