raria

I see a lot of (apparently) genuine Shimano parts that ship directly from China for about half the price of the same part from US mail order vendors.

Are there any catches such as counterfiets, duty etc.

A also see a lot of non-Shimano parts of cheap items such as 3 x 8 shifters that are supposedly compatible with the Shimano part.

Has anyone had exprience with these type of parts.

Dave Mayer

I've recently been buying lots of small bike parts from Taiwan, Hong Kong and mainland China. Like stainless bolts, waterbottle cages, headsets, cartridge bearings, etc. No problems with shipping and the product quality, as long as you're buying from a high-feedback seller.

The prices have been roughly half of what it costs to import from the US, and shipping is usually free.

Since Ebay introduced the 'Global Shipping Program', buying anything from the US is basically impossible, due to extortionist random 'Import charges'.

It is sad that I can see the US border from my front window, but it costs a lot less to have products shipped halfway around the world to land on my door directly.

raria

1 and 2 seem to be at odds. 1. says you get hit with import fees but 2. says its cheaper to buy from the US.

Sorry if I misunderstood your post.

squirtdad

If you are buying things like groupsets, deraillers, brakes etc try the Uk bike shops. (ribble, probikekit, chainreaction, wiggle) known real parts at good discounts.

Jensonusa in the us seems to have pretty good prices.

I have no experience with buying from Asia market, but there have been a lot of reported scams.

Dave Mayer

I live in the Republik of Canuckistan.

Question: for buyers in the US, under the Ebay 'Global Shipping Program', do you get hit with these massive 'Import charges' when buying from say from the UK? Or the Great White North?

GrainBrain

I have a sneaking suspicion many of the Asia ebay groupos are probably factory "seconds", parts that don't make the cut because of blemishes or QA failure. They might be just fine, they might not. I'll spend the extra $150 and not worry. I don't think I've seen anyone on here that's successfully bought that $200 Ultegra group.

fietsbob

Throw The dice..

xiaoman1 

I am not sure that they are bootlegged or seconds...while they are headquartered in Sakai, Japan, Shimano's primary manufacturing plants are in Kunshan, China; Malaysia; and Singapore.
JM2C's, Ben

wsteve464

What are these "Massive import charges" I buy from Asia, Europe, and USA usually with free shipping. I have not noticed any additional charges.

DrIsotope

Shopping from random Chinese vendors can indeed work out. It can also put you where a guy at the LBS ended yesterday, when it seemed that no one could find an adapter to fit his hydro brake lever...

hermanchauw

sch

Chinese govt has been subsidizing export shipping for a long time, but the USPS has also been subsidizing import shipping as well. This may soon be coming
to an end: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...=.dce8538e7be5

and: https://blog.housewares.org/2018/06/...nese-shippers/

and: https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/b...ina-and-others

So between tariff threats and the above, the boom in cheap Chinese may drift away.

There is always the uncertainty over metallurgy and counterfeiting like the "Shimono" part pictured above. You have essentially no recourse in that event.

wsteve464: Individual Canadians can get hit with $50+ charges by UPS/FedEx for shipments from US to Canada as a tack on charge for customs papers and fees. Items
shipped to Canada by USPS are not subject to these fees, mostly because the vast majority of small $ stuff is not subject to customs beyond a simple form, but UPS
is acting like the airlines in charging what the market will bear.

Colnago Mixte

I've seen a few fire sales on Ebay recently from vendors who seem to be deathly afraid of this possibility. TBH, that stuff is so cheap already, it makes zero sense to actively subsidize it on both ends.

At this point, China is the last country in the world that needs extra help in building up its manufacturing base, I say let them compete on a level playing field. I don't mind paying more, if it will encourage more competition, which in turn will encourage more innovation.

novalyx

@hermanchauw What do you buy on taobao and is it that much cheaper than ebay or aliexpress for other stuff aside from bicycle parts?

CliffordK

Thanks for the links.

I agree that something has to change. Postage fees anywhere should reimburse 100% of the shipping cost.

It is also a problem if each shipper gets charged different amounts.

So Monster Business A ships a box for say $5
And Micro Business B ships the same box for $10
And Individual Shipper C ships that box for $15.

One can add in counter fees, of course, but to a large extent, people can pre-label packages minimizing extra labor.

CliffordK

As far as buying directly from China.

• There was a rash of fake E-Bay ads. Say a $500 groupset selling for $50. They are pretty obvious, and just avoid them.
• Also avoid complex big name products for an unbelievable price. So, if you find a Carbon Fiber bike frame for $500 that costs $2000 retail. Then inspect details carefully. It is probably a fake.
• Small ticket items are hard to tell. I bought several Shimano chains from China. They all wore very quickly. I could never determine for sure if they were real or fakes.
• Take unbranded or generic branded stuff for what it is worth. You won't get a major manufacturer standing behind the products, but there is a lot of quality small parts coming out of China. CNC?
  These generics are probably the best deals, but they also may have issues. I've gotten several bike lights direct from China. Good, but I've had cords come loose, and they were difficult to repair.
  On the other hand, I also have some US sourced lights that the charger plugs went bad, so one can't win.

xiaoman1 

[QUOTE=CliffordK;20563427]As far as buying directly from China.

• There was a rash of fake E-Bay ads. Say a $500 groupset selling for $50. They are pretty obvious, and just avoid them.
• Also avoid complex big name products for an unbelievable price. So, if you find a Carbon Fiber bike frame for $500 that costs $2000 retail. Then inspect details carefully. It is probably a fake.
• Who do they say gets born every minute?
• Deals like that are luring in the greedy....How would anyone think that they could get a 500 group set with detailed pics for 50.00?
• If the deal is too good to be true and you are not there to by first hand, pass.
• I got a great deal just the other day after contacting a person that wanted to sell a bike he originally bought and wanted to clear out his garage. I spoke with him over the phone ater another person passed. I told him the frame alone was worht more than the ask but he said I just want it gone....
• I have bought some great stuff when people know what they have but just want it gone, but I have made those deals in person not thousands of miles away.
• JM2C's. Ben

CliffordK

I meant to say, if using E-Bay, also look at the feedback rating.

For those $50 groupsets... if the seller has ZERO feedback, or perhaps has only buyer feedback, and no seller feedback, it is 100% fraud.

For something like an Alibaba or AliExpress frame of some big brand name, just expect to get a frame delivered, but that it to be a knockoff.

Of course, every seller starts somewhere, so if the item makes sense, some small aluminum CNC product, then you can buy from a newbie Asian seller.

HillRider

I would never buy through E-bay. I have bought directly from several UK suppliers (Ribble and wiggle mostly) and have never been hit by "Import charges". Shipping has always been free with a fairly modest minimum purchase and currently up to $800 is US duty free.

raria

Found this product.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/223141315423?ul_noapp=true

Picture says Shimano, title says Shimano, description says Shimano but seller says its "after market"

Ritalalala

I am buying a carbon wheelset from China and some small parts that work well.
My experience is to buy some of the rising Chinese brands, have their own operating websites, and have their shop on eBay or Amazon. I have observed some Chinese brands like dengfu, icancycling, lightbicycle, they seem not bad.

raria

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/SHIM...RoC9ekQAvD_BwE

UK Resellers have it for $65 so $45 isn't unrealistic. Are they fakes?

HerrKaLeun

Thanks for the links. I recently listened to a podcast about the "mighty mug" business in one of your links.
I'm all for free trade, but also fairness. I'd say if rates would be that shipping within the US and shipping to the US would be the same, or a $ more from abroad, it would be good. I don't want to go to the old days where shipping from abroad is outrageously expensive because the competition is good for customers.
Over the years I noticed many items i ordered from amazon or ebay came from china direct with some weeks shipping time (i knew about the long shipping when ordering). The few times i had a warranty claim I got my money refunded (or got to buy the item again on amazon ad they reimbursed me) without much discussion.
But I also think if the product is made in china, may as well cut out one or two middleman.

I order some spokes cut to length from ebay, but they seem to come from the US. but in this case the seller actually adds a value (cutting and threading) and doing that in the US is faster for me. For regular items, the seller in the US is just a passthrough with not adding any value.

That is just economy of scale and will never change. Your example business A ships a million items, person C only one. Of course A gets a discount. A is also cheaper for the shipper per item. Same way Giant pays less for one of the 6 million derailleurs than I do for my single derailleur. This is true for any industry and has always been, like supply and demand have always existed. i bet you as an individual could go to any business and offer up to buy 10,000 times the normal amount and you also get a large discount, this has nothing to do with discriminating against individuals.

Crankycrank

A few things on this particular seller. ^^^^^ Shipping is $21 to the US, It's from Alibaba-one of the biggest sellers of counterfeit and stolen patent products, the seller has a 97.8% positive rating which I'm not familiar with Ali express ratings but on Ebay that would be considered a low rating. Doesn't mean this is a fake but it doesn't end up being that much of a bargain with shipping. Buying from one of the other known legitimate sellers with a proven customer service record in the UK or ??? would make more sense to me even if I had to spend a little more. Many of the UK sellers have free shipping for purchases over $50.

CliffordK

It is probably legit. The seller has 600+ feedback ratings. Not the highest, but not atrocious either.

I have wondered if things like chains I bought from China were fakes, but the tooling required to fake a crankset like that would be prohibitive.

Also note, the shipping on that is about $21, so you quickly get up into the range the others are selling for.

Oh, one other thing about AliExpress. I think they hold the payments in escrow until after the shipment arrives, so that may well weed out fake sellers pretty quickly.