Not sure if this conflicts with the "where can I buy this the cheapest" discussion, but I thought this is interesting. Please feel free to delete if needed.

I am originally from the UK, but left 12 years ago and have lived both in mainland Europe and the US. Based on where I have lived and the fact that I travel alot for work I hardly ever buy things in Holland. I still buy alot of things in the UK and the US when I travel and mostly buy things on the internet. 99% of the time things are much cheaper.

However, I have discovered how cheap Europe is compared to other places for bike parts, especially European ones (I know this seems like common sense but check the price of a BMW in Europe compared to the UK or the US). I recently bought a 2011 Campagnolo Super Record Ti crankset for 579 Euros, and the equivalent in the UK from one of the well known good value internet stores worked out at 773 Euros. Even in the US this is $900, the equivalent of 650 Euros.

Yesterday I bought a Tacx Spider Team workstand and the same thing happened, 130 Euros here with free shipping and the UK equivalent is 180 Euros

Not advertising, or anything like that - this just opened my eyes to how much of a price difference there is around the world on the same product, and for once I am in the place that offers amazing value.

Moved to chat as it rather belongs there.

Thanks

_________________

from uk, live in germany. would say uk prices are better than germany.

_________________
Canyon Ultimate CF SLX Aero 09

Let's not forget the currency rates.
In early 2009 I bought heaps of stuff from Wiggle, it was one of the cheapest sites I could find, now it's the most expensive I can find.

In fact currently the best prices I found were in Germany. Of course sometimes it's because of grey market, you get OEM stuff. (e.g. wheelsets without wheelbags)

Yep, it's the same thing over here in Aus though probably to a greater extent. Examples from the last two weeks for myself:
2011 super record groupset (non-ti) - in Aus, $3800 ($US~3900) inc 10% tax. From the UK, ~$A1900 (inc 10% tax)
DT RR 585 rim: in Aus, $A170. From Starbike, $A62 (shipping ~$30 extra)
CX Ray spokes: in Aus, ~$A10/spoke (seriously, WTF!), From starbike, ~$2.10/spoke
DT Prolock nipples: in Aus, 25c/nipple. From starbike, ~$9/100 (9c/nipple)
Giro Ionis Helmet: in Aus, $A450. From Ribble UK, ~$A215

Cheers,
I

Prolock brass nipples cost AU$23-24 ex shipping from starbike.
http://www.starbike.com/php/product_inf ... n&pid=5647

I am from Denmark, and I find the German prices to allmost allways be better than those in UK.

_________________
Scott Plasma 3 premium
Parlee Z3SL
Cannondale F29 carbon3
Previous:
Parlee Z4
Argon18 E112
TREK TTX7.0
S-Works Transition
Pinarello F4:13

Is anyone aware of European online retailers that will ship abroad?

I do a lot of shopping from Japan (I'm there 80% of the year) via wiggle and CRC since Japanese prices are insane (often 2x the price or worse!)

Prices in the UK are cheap when you are overseas as you are not paying 20% VAT, plus you have the benefit of a weak British £ in the currency rates. It's obviously good news for you guys and it helps the British export market, but it sucks to be in the UK and paying full price for parts.

I often see great prices on German websites, however once shipping has been taken into account (plus any ballache if you need to make a return or warranty faulty items), it's just not worth the bother most of the time - the savings aren't great enough.

I'm waiting for the Euro to go back towards 1.5:1 vs the £ and then I will start going to Europe again on holiday, and swing by some bikeshops whilst there

_________________
Scott CR1SL 6.25Kg | CAAD10 6.56Kg

What are the german website that you all know ?I'm just with the Uk ones-crc/wiggle /pbk... Also does anyone know of the following two -they seem shady !! Price for a bora 2 wheelset ~ 2000$ plus other great parts at inexpensive prices - DATNARI.COM AND LINKCCYLE.COM .they are both from indonesia and also both do take paypal so that's intersting... If someone buys any item i'd like to know how it went. They do list a phone nr.and i plan to call them to see how "bike knowledgebale" they are. And one more thing- i read that if you live in Uk You paying 20% Vat -so if you open an overseas mailbox with foward delivery that should work I guess only in case of a big order...Allright.

Thoses ones are usually good:
http://www.jedi-sports.de/
http://www.bikepalast.de/
http://www.bike-components.de/
http://www.bike-discount.de/

is there a reason why you dont put http://www.roseversand.de/ : Ive always found them to be great and cheap (apart from their IDIOT photographers blocking my local climb for a photoshoot last month)

I always find http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk to beat most prices on the internet. Very often they have -10% and -15% coupons on their website which just makes it even better. Shipping is cheap aswell.

Wiggle and Crc are amongst the most expensive shops. They get a lot of custommers from their huge selection of items rather than their prices.

_________________
Scott Plasma 3 premium
Parlee Z3SL
Cannondale F29 carbon3
Previous:
Parlee Z4
Argon18 E112
TREK TTX7.0
S-Works Transition
Pinarello F4:13

If only they ever have what I want in stock (granted, I should check their site as often as I check ww).

_________________
Fast falcons: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3mTPEuFcWk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
www.falcobike.com
Facebook: falcobikeglobal

Wiggle employ a customer loyalty scheme so you only get really good prices if your a PLATINUM customer and if your really clever when they have discount vouchers you can still use them, for instance i could have purchased a set of MADFIBRE wheels for about £1400 earlier this year!

_________________
i like people... i just can't stand assholes