UK Distributor?

[jason404]

Is there a UK distributor for Tom Bihn bags?

I want to get one, but the shipping seems to be expensive and the bag with brain cell is really expensive as it is!

[Badger]

The only distributor in the world is the TB factory. Here's one thing you could do: ask on the forum and see if any US citizens are heading to the UK. You could send them the money + US shipping and ask to meet them. And then buy them a pint.

Perhaps some of the other overseas forum people could comment on whether shipping is flat rate? If it is, you could go in on a bunch of bags with other people and split the cost of shipping.

[Mark1966]

The freight is expensive, but then again it isn't.

After ordering my Tri-star including the $55 UPS Expedited shipping to Australia I noticed a Brain Cell in the size that fits my notebook on eBay. After checking with the seller on eBay the Brain Cell alone by regular Priority Mail was going to cost $47 to post to me - which takes around two weeks normally.

Volume is the challenge here rather than weight so order up big and save per item on postage!


Conversely the UPS package should be here next Monday after ordering last Monday (watching it via the online tracking is pretty neat too).

[doyleoliver]

I was first concerned by the high cost of postage, but decided to go for it anyway. The tracking was great and got my bag in under a week. Second order was exactly the same.
The only sting was having to pay the customs charge when the package arrived. Second time I just made sure I had some cash ready.

[sharkh]

In addition to paying Customs charges (VAT etc), UPS charges another £11 for clearing the Customs in U.K. I tend to place my orders on debut days and usually several items at a time. Unfortunately, it is sometimes difficult to get the colour combo that I want that way. I wish I could order anytime I fancy like our friends in the US.

[Kshni]

Well, UPS costs from the US to the UK for non-TB packages is far higher for far less. $45 is actually reasonable. But figure out what all you want and order everything together so you're making the most of the shipping cost. On the other hand, yeah, the customs fees are where it bites hard.

Tom Bihn stuff is beautifully and excellently made, and so, to me, it's worth it.

[Vertandor]

Another vote for the shipping (and customs) is worth it for getting hold of the TB quality. The tracking works, the communication and customer service from the crew is great; I have no issues. As others have said, if you're after a smaller order/accessories only it can seem a bit steep, but for any of the bigger bags it's not so bad as a proportion.

Plus I've paid more for delivery from other companies (not bags) when I've had stuff shipped from the US

[elliem8]

May I ask how much roughly the custom charges are? I'm saving up all my pennies and don't want to end up being short when it's at my door haha

[Kshni]

May I ask how much roughly the custom charges are? I'm saving up all my pennies and don't want to end up being short when it's at my door haha

It really depends on how much you spend. I've had some customs charges of under £20, other times, it came out to £150. Under USD$20, tends to be no customs charge, but you'll be hit with it if you go past USD$20.

[Perseffect]

May I ask how much roughly the custom charges are? I'm saving up all my pennies and don't want to end up being short when it's at my door haha

This is a tough one. The highest I ever had was for £105 but that was for an order containing a Tristar, synapse 25 and a bunch of other bits. Most charges have been around the £35 to £45 mark for orders containing bags such as the Pilot or Ristretto plus accessories. The more you spend, the higher the costs.

I'm not sure this is correct but sharing my gut feel on this. The TB invoice seems to be itemised (which I think UPS gets) so I think the import charges are based on the individual items not the total cost. So a large high value item might have a higher import charge than lots of very small accessory items which incur little or no individual charges.

This could be a figment of my imagination though so don't quote me...


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[PaulT00]

Basically there are three elements of the customs charge:

* Handling charge - what the courier or other agent is charging you for the privilege of having them deal with customs on your behalf. Royal Mail charge something like £8 handling charge as I recall, other couriers like UPS may be a different figure.

* Import duty - this is a percentage of the total cost of goods, but the precise percentage varies depending on what the goods are - there's a database called TARIC which can be found online somewhere which will tell you the percentages, but it's designed around typical bureaucrat-speak and you need to search for a precise commodity; I think the import duty rate on bags made of fabric (yes, the rates can differ depending on the materials used!) is something like 3%, but don't quote me...

* Import VAT - this is simply UK VAT (if importing from a country outside the EU such as the USA) on the entire value of shipment, including the shipping charges, plus the import duty (so you're paying tax on top of tax), plus (I think) the handling charge. If importing something from the EU, import VAT isn't applicable because the VAT will have been charged by the originating country; import duty is probably not applicable either as there are very few tariffs chargeable within the EU.

There are threshold values for gifts and low value items, but basically any shipment over say £35 is likely to be hit with some combination of handling charge, import duty and import VAT. With shipments from TB via UPS, you will generally be required to pay on delivery (cheque is fine). For shipments of smaller items which arrive through Royal Mail at the UK end, it's a bit of a lottery and sometimes things will slip through without attracting anyone's attention. At the end of the day you just have to wait and see, and be prepared for a charge of say 25% of the shipment value, worst case...