SHIPPING A COMPLETE BIKE TO SHIP FROM VERONA ITALY TO NYC

Questions about bike hire abroad and everything light bike related. No off-topic chat please

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DEADRE
Posts: 61
Joined: Sat Apr 24, 2010 3:20 am

by DEADRE

Hi Everyone,


I want to purchase a complete bike from a seller from Italy, however the prices he showed me in a screen shot was going around 600 to 900 euros. Can anyone suggest from experience a courier that you have used, (shipped internationally) that the prices were at least inexpensive. Thank you in advance!

de' Adre

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ms6073
Posts: 4290
Joined: Fri Jul 23, 2004 8:24 pm
Location: Houston, Texas

by ms6073

I ordered my Colnago C64 frameset from a shop that is located near the factory in Italy and shipping via DHL in late October of 2020 was 129 € via DHL but there was also an additional $85 that I had to pay for US Customs duties once the box got to the US. Depending on the size and weight of the box, I would think that DHL would cost in the range of US $200 to $300 and FedEx and UPS being somewhat higher. Why not try using the shipping calculators from DHL, FedEx, and UPS to get a better idea of the costs involved?
- Michael
"People should stop expecting normal from me... seriously, we all know it's never going to happen"

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
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joejack951
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Location: Wilmington, DE
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by joejack951

Use a service like Parcel Monkey or Shippo (or international equivalent) in order to access discounted FedEx/UPS/DHL rates that big companies get due to their shipping volume. It still won't be cheap but it will be less. 'Counter rate' from those shippers, which is what you see when you use their online calculators, is absurd compared to the rate you could get. I get discounted rates via my own FedEx business account and the 'published' vs. 'discounted' rate is often a 3:1 ratio.

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ms6073
Posts: 4290
Joined: Fri Jul 23, 2004 8:24 pm
Location: Houston, Texas

by ms6073

joejack951 wrote:
Tue Dec 21, 2021 7:02 pm
Use a service like Parcel Monkey or Shippo (or international equivalent) in order to access discounted FedEx/UPS/DHL rates that big companies get due to their shipping volume.
While I knew there were companies that offered expediting services for times when you were traveling to a race or event, never realized there was a way to save on shipping rates like that.
Last edited by ms6073 on Wed Dec 22, 2021 4:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- Michael
"People should stop expecting normal from me... seriously, we all know it's never going to happen"

kervelo
Posts: 866
Joined: Wed Jan 21, 2009 6:58 am
Location: Finland

by kervelo

The https://www.bikeflights.com/ was mentioned in a bicycling magazine article.

joejack951
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Location: Wilmington, DE
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by joejack951

Out of curiosity, I calculated using Shippo shipping a bike box (110 cm x 82 cm x 28 cm and 16 kg) to Italy and the UPS quote was $310 and 4 days. DHL and FedEx were both around $425 and 4 and 8 days respectively.

jadedaid
Posts: 185
Joined: Fri Feb 22, 2019 7:43 pm

by jadedaid

I've used bike flights before and they were the easiest to ship with. Worth giving them a look.

CyclingGiraffe
Posts: 328
Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2020 10:04 pm

by CyclingGiraffe

Also had recent experience with bike flights for an international shipment; they used UPS, dealt with all customs, etc., and were still cheaper than if I just walked into UPS myself. Customer service was very responsive and knowledgeable. Definitely worth a look.

PoorCyclist
Posts: 783
Joined: Wed Dec 07, 2011 1:26 am
Location: California's country side

by PoorCyclist

If you are looking to save money just FYI US customs charged me about 10% of the product price from Italy. Had to pay UPS to release it.

I must say I am not familiar with duty or tariffs because I had ordered from Germany, Spain/postNL, UK, never saw any kind of duty charge. Does anyone know what/where determines these charges on cycling goods. It was the first time being 4 digits in value so maybe there is a price limit.

nowtaps
Posts: 35
Joined: Mon Mar 08, 2021 4:05 am

by nowtaps

I think it's under $800 for US. Anything over that you have to pay import duty, anything over $2000 means you need to fill out some paperwork.

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

www.starbike.com



jfranci3
Posts: 1572
Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2016 5:21 pm

by jfranci3

The box dimensions are CRITICAL. A CM here or there will save you 50%. Making it a CM shorter might give you 20cm to play with lengthwise on the same costs. Play with SHIPBIKEs or BIKESHIPPer (Fedex / UPS discounted) to see if you can have the guy rebox it. Otherwise, you'll need to find someone flying to the US to tranport it.

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