Reply With QuoteYes high costs import duty not sure but it's about 15% maybe more check on the Internet for an exact price
Sorry if this is in the wrong section. I have found a very nice Speedmaster 3570.50 on the omega forums which is in the US, the seller has plenty of positive feedback and the watch is a good price.
He has asked me to send the money by wire transfer which I assume to be a bank transfer, this is probably a daft but I assum my bank can sort this out?
I was also wondering if there are any hidden costs, customs etc?
Sorry if any of the above is a bit trivial but I'm a bit new to this and haven't really purchased from overseas
Cheers
Yes high costs import duty not sure but it's about 15% maybe more check on the Internet for an exact price
IF it's the same as everything else I've ever bought from the US - expect to be hit with a bill from HMRC for the duty and VAT on top of what you'll pay the guy.
If it's a private seller, he can opt to tick the "gift" box on the Customs form which may have it "slip" through the cracks, but this may or may not be 100% within the confines of the law.
Your bank will be able to sort our an international bank transfer without too much issue. You'll need his IBAN and BIC codes.
I've done it before, but never again - I'd say it would have to be a super keen price to make it worth your while.
Say it was £1000, you'd be looking at £200 in VAT, shipping and handling (£30?), bank transfer (mine is £25), getting fleeced on the exchange rate a bit by your bank e.t.c. It soons adds up until you're in UK price territory. And it's still a bit of a risk on shipping.
I can understand with a vintage Rolex or something more obscure, but Speedys aren't exactly rare to find for sale over here at good prices.
http://www.dutycalculator.com/ has the rates of duty/VAT from different countries...
Good luck :-)
Exactly as above - I used to buy from the US often, now extremely rarely and only if it is something I really cannot get here in Europe.
You have to expect to pay 25% on top of the asking price in tax and other fees, and that rarely makes it worth it these days.
So clever my foot fell off.
Same here.Originally Posted by TheFlyingBanana
25% is about right, all in.You have to expect to pay 25% on top of the asking price in tax and other fees
Bank transfer - if you bank online, you can do this yourself. Depending on the bank, there may be a fee involved.
I have bought from the USA to and like others will not do again. I did challenge the customs duty which was based on the price insured for and written on the package. I got another invoice from the seller for half the amount it was insured for and then got a 50% refund. You could ask the seller to put a lower value on the package and risk not getting back what you paid if it went astray.
I don't buy,sell or trade with US ;)
Think I might have to re-think the purchase. This will sound very silly but I thought the customs charges were only paid on new goods, not preowned. Pity as other wise it would have been a good price, add 25% and it's expensive!
Good move! The C&E put paid to my fledgling watch trading attempt in the late 90's up until then
things seemed more how shall we say.....relaxed. Unless it's something really special try and source here.
You could also its your watch and you " left it behind you" while on vacation and a "family member was sending it back " you may avoid customs this way too.
I would also prefer to use PayPal as you may have more security this way.
Depends on how good the deal is to be honest, I have purchased from the US in the past although not in recent times
You could always ask the seller to declare the watch at a lower value ($90 say) and as something like "precision instrument for repair", you will still have the customs VAT to pay on anything above the threshold (now £15 I think). There is always the chance that customs would 'have a look' and decide that the value declared is not sufficient but I don't think this happens that often, especially if you use a shipping method like FEDEX International Priority as this should be the fastest possible and FEDEX pay any customs and then invoice you a week or two later.
I think it's possible to declare the item at a lower value on the customs forms and then use an independent insurer (ie ParcelPro) to cover you for the full value although I'm not 100% certain! maybe someone more knowledgeable can help ??
As always if you "buy the seller" then bank wire shouldn't be a problem, just make sure you do your homework first.
It could be that even taking customs and fees into account that the deal is still better than you could find over here
Or you could always combine it with a holiday to the states :)
Last edited by clemenry; 17th December 2013 at 19:45.
I've had a couple where the price of the watch post fees was still less than I would have paid had I bought it in the UK, but I tend not to buy much from the US these days.
Agree with all the others here - if you are going to do it properly then add 25%. Personally I wouldn't try to scam customs to evade VAT & duty as that is a serious offence, I do quite see how fitting a watch purchase in with your holiday makes good sense although this should also be declared of course when you return to the UK.
Have bought many times from the US, always declared lower value on package though, sent as "spare parts" or some such. With the VAT it can still end up cheaper than in the EU, so if its a watch you really want for some reason, go for it.
Bank transfer is easy enough, my bank charges £22 for the service though.
I always try to by from EU first. Have excellent experience with US vendors, but VAT and duty is something you have to pay when importing from outside EU. I do not even think about to avoid that.
See how these compare to the price the one on the Omega forum is being offered/accepted for.
Thanks for the link mate, if you take into account the customs etc then the US one would be more expensive.
I'll admit to not really looking on chrono24, I've had a bit of a browse but nothing serious. I should probably use it more often.
That is great until the package ends up lost then all the vendor can claim for is "spare parts"
Never had a registered/trackable parcel get "lost"... What are the odds of that happening. And what makes you so sure an insurance company would pay out, even if it was full value... I mistrust insurance companies more than I do the postal services, and so far that has saved me enough money to have several parcels get lost, and still be on the plus side :)
It certainly should.
;)
The VAT and duty pretty much kills all deals from the US. Often the US price is not better than the VAT-included EU price from a European seller, even before you add 25% government charges, as the dollar is still quite strong at the moment. And as most US buyers ship CONUS only (it's seems pretty much mandatory on some forums!), happily nothing is lost.
...but what do I know; I don't even like watches!
(I am quoting MB2's message here but this is really a comment in general about this point)
I find it interesting that people conflate the value stated on the customs declaration with the insured value. They are not necessarily the same (even if they perhaps should be in most cases).
The insured value is what you state to the insurer, be it the postal service or a third party. The value on the customs declaration is... the value on the customs declaration.
When I send stuff by Royal Mail Airsure, for example, I state the required compensation/insurance value to the Post Office clerk. What I write on the customs declaration can be entirely different. No one cares that they are different. No one checks. I recognise that the policies of other national postal services may be different: Some national postal services may ensure that the customs declaration value matches the stated insurance amount, but there can be no general expectation of this. Furthermore, if you obtain third party insurance (e.g. ParcelPro) then there is no way whatsoever for anyone to know that the value on the customs declaration might not match the insured value.
In short, the value on the customs declaration says nothing in general about what can be claimed in the event of loss or damage of the package. Indeed, if the package is lost then whatever is written on the customs declaration is moot!
Last edited by markrlondon; 18th December 2013 at 17:02.
Low, but non-zero. It happens. And if it happens to you with a valuable item and you weren't insured then you'll really, really, really wish you had insurance. ;-)
Because the probability of loss or damage is so small it means that insurance for loss or damage is very cheap. Thus it makes a very good deal in my opinion compared to most other insurance propositions: A small cost for a low probability but high impact/high cost event.
This is the question. In my opinion the only way to be sure is to be absolutely certain that you are adhering to the terms and conditions of your chosen insurance provider, to make sure that you can prove the value of the item you are sending, that you know on what basis your chosen insurance provider will accept valuations, and that you keep photographic or video evidence of packing and contents, as far as possible.
Very topical for me this at present, great thread so thanks for all the informative pointers - some knowledgeable folk on board ;)
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