Ordering conversion kits from China

[grldtnr]

Any pitfalls in doing this ? looked at greenbikekits , the price seemed a little on the 'ight' side,plus I am confused weather the battery pack is included, I don't want to order to find out that customs & excise would want their blood money before I can have it!

I know from working at 'Royal Mail' , that these 'luxury goods' are prone to getting VAT whacked,plus the Mails hefty handling fee,wouldit be more prudent to order from home market

 

[JuicyBike]

In terms of support, by phone, when you need it, then go for a UK supplier.

If you can risk the money then you can make savings by buying direct from China.

Our kits can be returned if not suitable, as I imagine is the case with all UK suppliers.
But if you know exactly what you want and are confident in your ability to fix things with minimum support from the manufacturer, and can afford to pay the import duty and VAT should customs choose to charge it, then go for it...

Then there's the warranty of course, but I've heard good things about the Chinese actually honouring warranty returns recently...

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Batteries are not included, by the time you include a battery, kits are not much cheaper than UK ones, which start at about £400, but you can get a better battery for your money and have more choice of power, speed and range.

Greebikekit seems to be a good supplier. I ordered my last two kits from them and their communication was good, delivery about 2 weeks, and they even supplied a wiring diagram and instructions.

If you order a battery, you'll have to pay duty of about £20 to £30. I didn't check the paperwork on my last dlivery, but BMSBattery normally write "wheelchair parts" on their paperwork, which helps avoid duty.

The only downside to ordering from China is that if anything goes wrong, you won't be getting a refund except if you stuff is damaged in transit or doesn't arrive. If a wire comes off inside your battery, your on your own, but having said that, I've not had any problems with about 14 kits and about 10 batteries apart from two motors damaged in transit, which were sent back free by the carrier so I got a refund.

 

[CycloTricity]

Our kits start from £399 including battery if you're doubtful about importing. Might be worth having a look Electric bicycle - Efficient - Durable - Stylish power bikes from cyclotricity

 

[Gdread]

I'm new to e bikes and opted to order a kit from Greenbikekit, they have so far been very pleasant to deal with but they had some issues with the holidays and supplies from Japan but the real problem has been the shipping arrangements. I naively opted for Parcel from Hong Kong/EMS which means that you end up dealing with ParcelForce in the UK and that's where the problems start. Nine days after it landed in the UK and I've now finally got the import duty reference number and paid both the import VAT and their 'clearance fee' (which until earlier this year was unlawful).

Total costs so far are nearly £400 for a basic GBK-100 front hub kit and Panasonic batteries so the savings on buying from a UK dealer are marginal and without the benefit of an accessible warranty.

Hopefullly it will be delivered later this week!!