Hi Matt.

Thank you for this months newsletter, a good read as always.

I guess as your local Independent retailer I thought I should reply to Evert's piece on Internet buying.

Firstly let me say one thing - The  Internet is not a bad thing ! We have a Web Site, We sell by Mail order, I buy from suppliers far away & the fastest growing side of our Buisness is the Web & we will be opening our EBay store very shortly. However despite the fact we do it & accept it's the way to go I dread the day when commercial reality bites and we move to a bland out of town industrial estate. Everything we sell is sent out in boxes, and old Mr Smith who likes to pop in and have a browse and a chat finds the old shop is now just another overpriced Coffee shop.

I will try my best to find the time to write a piece for the newsletter that hopefully will give an alternative side to the hidden costs of distance buying. but for now could I leave you with a couple thoughts.

The first is a Legal one - as a club if suggesting the purchase of Cycling Goods from outside the EU i.e. USA it is important to point out to members that you do need to ensure that any goods imported are declared to HM Customs & Excise and Import Duty and Vat are paid. Typically this will add around 25% to the advertised price of goods from the USA. Details can be found on the HM Customs & Excise website. Note - failure to disclose purchases can lead to Criminal prosecution, Fines & Seizure of the goods. I have pasted an extract from the HM Customs Webiste below.

There is also a Moral Question - If we were all purchase our goods form overseas effectively dodging the payment of UK Tax - who then pays for the Roads we ride on, or the hospitals we use.

An Environmental Question - I have a friend who has a Bike shop in Southampton, earlier this year a customer ordered something from our Website he lived in Southampton. The same week a customer in Ipswich ordered something from my friend in Southampton. Both shops could have happily supplied the Local customer had they asked - Is carrying products half way round the Country a wise way of working in the context of what we know of the state of our environment.

Then, a Social Question - Buying over the Internet can seem attractive to some but who wins in the long run ? when I started in business in St Helens St we had a Butchers, a Bakers, A Grocers all providing a service to the local Community. Now if you want a lettuce you get in your car and drive to Tesco to buy one picked 2 weeks ago in a far away country. The UK bike trade is still hanging on, but it could go the same way as France where there are very few Independents and most towns only have a Decathlon. It's great to order a frame from Arkensaw but when your daughter needs a new Bottom Bracket fitted and the Shops are gone what happens ?

A) it gets thrown away, and a new one bought from Tesco for £50. like most electrical goods are now ( would you bother to put a new element in a Kettle now?).

A social, environmental and moral debate there !

Lastly a Sustainability one - Is distance buying really sustainable ? I have touched on the Environmental costs there are others, Taxation, Employment, Diversity, Community.  The Global Market could be good for some, but if taken to its ultimate conclusion what would be the cost to society if all goods were made in the Cheapest 3rd world country we could find, and shipped halfway round the world to save a few pence.

Well, I hope this comes across in the right way. Forgive me if it doesn't, I'm a humble bike Mechanic by trade, not a Lecturer or economist. It's meant to say there are choices and sometimes what seems to be cheapest doesn't always work out that way in the long run.

There is loads of stuff out there, on Fair Trade, the rights and wrongs of cheap labour, the debate on dodging uk tax (mainly for Cigs & booze) and the rise & power of Tesco's etc. I started out as a market trader selling fruit & veg to old ladys. I like shopping localy, I like people & I like fixing things.

We are fortunate to be celebrating 85 years of trading this year from our small shop in St Helens St. & over those years we have seen many changes the Internet is just one. When we started out we bought stock from the Local Wholesaler, we sold to the Local community & we repaired everything Freewheels, Mudguards, Hubs etc we re used, recycled and very rarely threw anything away. Times are different now but we are still here, doing our best and still willing to supply the odd nut and bolt, Jockey wheel or exchange the front mech for free on a Friday afternoon before the race that was bought from wiggle but came in the wrong size to fit (Yes this did happen !) 

Hope to see you soon,

Yours,

Steve Grimwood

@ Elmy's

Below taken from HM Customs Web site -

If you purchase goods through the Internet you should be aware that Customs duty and VAT will be payable, as follows:

Please see Notice 143, paragraph 3.3 for more details.

Customs duty is not payable on goods bought from countries within the EU. However, VAT is payable (if due) either in the EU country of purchase, or in the UK if the EU supplier is UK VAT registered. But, special rules apply to excise goods i.e. cigarettes, tobacco alcohol etc and these are explained separately.

The duty-free allowances for travellers arriving from outside the EU do not apply to postal importations and commercial goods may have other conditions applied, including the need for a full C88 Customs Import entry (see Notice 143).

Note: Some unscrupulous overseas suppliers openly advertise on the internet, or on their web-sites that they will deliberately either misdescribe items or underdeclare their value in order to evade customs charges that are legally due on importation. You should be aware that although the foreign sender may have completed the customs declaration form on the parcel you are regarded (in law) as the importer of the goods and responsible for the information on the declaration, and any customs charges that may be due. This means that if you purchase goods from these suppliers and the declaration is found to be false or misleading you may be liable to financial penalties or criminal prosecution. Furthermore the goods themselves will be liable to forfeiture. It is in your own interests to ensure Customs declarations are completed properly.