"Mainland uk postage only"
4 words we put onto everything we sell.....and up until yesterday it never even crossed my mind that this was an issue.....let alone could be taken as a racist comment.
Like most here, retrobike is and extension of my enjoyable hobby of building old bikes, which in turn is an extension of my very enjoyable hobby of cycling......I've been doing it all my life, I've worked in shops, im now retired and have more time for the pottering part. Enjoyable....nice....
Buying and selling parts is just a function of that hobby and a " necessary evil" as far as I'm concerned......I don't enjoy it greatly.......don't get me wrong, it keeps the wheel (literally) going round, but its a pain. That said, buying on retrobike has been the best experience I've had both as a buyer and seller. Friendly, trusting, helpful.
I stress when I sell stuff.....probably more than is healthy or right, but hey I can't help it.......will it get there in one bit, will it get lost, will they be happy, were the photos good enough, is it the right price....am I being fair.? The reason? Because I want the buyer to enjoy their hobby too. Plus the older I've got the more I stress....
To keep the stress to a reasonable level I don't post outside the uk mainland....it gets more complicated, there's more chance of it going wrong, getting broken, lost, additional paperwork, time scales, payments.....etc. NONE of this has been helped by our shift from the EU....imho.
I also don't buy from outside the UK for the same reason....
If I was to get involved in all the above, I would no longer enjoy this part of my hobby....in fact it would be enough to make me empty the parts into the metal skip at work and just say "fxxk it". So i choose not to. That's it, nothing more....no other reason.
So Im somewhat horrified and concerned to learn that people think the words " uk mainland postage only " might be a racially motivated move!
I'm also pretty disturbed as to what people now think of the average british person if they believe that we dont sell parts outside the uk because I don't want them going to foreigners! Is this where we are at.....in our global comunity....Jeeeees.
So, can I please clarify for all of our retrobikers outside the uk mainland (and I believe I speak for 99.9% of people on here who use "those words"), it really is just the admin and paperwork, the worry, the time, the stress, the wish to keep it simple and the right to enjoy our hobby on our terms, that stops us posting abroad......
4 words we put onto everything we sell.....and up until yesterday it never even crossed my mind that this was an issue.....let alone could be taken as a racist comment.
Like most here, retrobike is and extension of my enjoyable hobby of building old bikes, which in turn is an extension of my very enjoyable hobby of cycling......I've been doing it all my life, I've worked in shops, im now retired and have more time for the pottering part. Enjoyable....nice....
Buying and selling parts is just a function of that hobby and a " necessary evil" as far as I'm concerned......I don't enjoy it greatly.......don't get me wrong, it keeps the wheel (literally) going round, but its a pain. That said, buying on retrobike has been the best experience I've had both as a buyer and seller. Friendly, trusting, helpful.
I stress when I sell stuff.....probably more than is healthy or right, but hey I can't help it.......will it get there in one bit, will it get lost, will they be happy, were the photos good enough, is it the right price....am I being fair.? The reason? Because I want the buyer to enjoy their hobby too. Plus the older I've got the more I stress....
To keep the stress to a reasonable level I don't post outside the uk mainland....it gets more complicated, there's more chance of it going wrong, getting broken, lost, additional paperwork, time scales, payments.....etc. NONE of this has been helped by our shift from the EU....imho.
I also don't buy from outside the UK for the same reason....
If I was to get involved in all the above, I would no longer enjoy this part of my hobby....in fact it would be enough to make me empty the parts into the metal skip at work and just say "fxxk it". So i choose not to. That's it, nothing more....no other reason.
So Im somewhat horrified and concerned to learn that people think the words " uk mainland postage only " might be a racially motivated move!
I'm also pretty disturbed as to what people now think of the average british person if they believe that we dont sell parts outside the uk because I don't want them going to foreigners! Is this where we are at.....in our global comunity....Jeeeees.
So, can I please clarify for all of our retrobikers outside the uk mainland (and I believe I speak for 99.9% of people on here who use "those words"), it really is just the admin and paperwork, the worry, the time, the stress, the wish to keep it simple and the right to enjoy our hobby on our terms, that stops us posting abroad......
......I should have realised before....all that picked stuff they eat and their love of competitively priced flat pack furniture!
