I would give it a few months I am sure everything will settle down with regards to buying from abroad. It’s not in anybody’s interests to do otherwise.
I’ve happily spent many a hours browsing the Sales Corner here, most often simply window shopping and using it as a sort of way of discovering many great watches I never knew about, which has been good but equally frustrating since I’m far from independently wealthy to buy at a whim.
I think its fair to say this watch nutters community is like no other, in terms of the camaraderie, the friendly banter and of course the unique SC where you can find anything from the plethora or Rolexes and other finely priced wrist appendices to socks, ladies knickers and everything in between. It was like some daily meditation session for me to wake up, have a cup of tea or coffee and browse my mails alongside taking a peek at what’s new on TZ’s SC. I knew most days I wasn’t even looking to buy anything, last few years especially I’ve set myself very clear limits compared to the fervent flipping I had been doing the previous decade or so, but there was always that faint thought I might just discover a new grail popping up.The pleasure was indeed in the journey rather than the destination.
With what our wise leaders now have in store, although no doubt I will still pop-in to have a curios look, I know I won’t be buying anything of significant value due to complications, same as I stopped buying watches from across the pond quite long ago. Its probably a good thing in the end as it will help with further curtailing the spending but I will surely miss it 😒
Happy Holidays and I hope you have something ticking under your tree this year🎄🎁⌚️😊
I would give it a few months I am sure everything will settle down with regards to buying from abroad. It’s not in anybody’s interests to do otherwise.
Oh yes, I know that but you're talking mainly for businesses and the like. For the personal purchases once they start charging VAT and what have you, don't believe there's a way to go back, same as is the situation currently with countries like Norway, Switzerland. Even with an optimistic outcome to the Brexit, it would still imply everything coming in from the UK would have to go thru import procedures and VAT...I guess there will be VAT refund for traditional shopping, but in the context of SC here, I doubt anybody would bother with all that even if it was possible.
But as I wrote above anything has a silver lining, which for me will be some freed up time and cash
Look on the bright side - while you're living in the EU, there are still 26 countries in which you can buy and sell without any import processes or VAT, etc. Those of us living in the UK are not so fortunate.
Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
Friedrich Nietzsche
it is sad that i will not be able to buy anything from UK in private sale, because of the VAT and vice versa.
Oh yes, absolutely this is a minor side-effect that nobody should care about that much. And yes, when it comes to VAT it is still quite a mess, because as you said, VAT is always paid in the original country yet there's no framework to claim it back (meaning if you buy a car in the UK and then export it out technically at least you can arrange to discount the VAT upon exportation, whereas for watches and other luxury goods that often can cost much more than a used car, there is no such arrangement in place
Absolutely, for me also it was not about watches only, from the time I used to live close to a decade in Cyprus where any kind of knick-knack, electronics etc. were priced at twice or more, we've been very big on shopping from Amazon UK or many other UK shops, due to familiarity as well as prices in general are quite a bit cheaper than the rest of Europe. Have switched to Amazon DE for some years since moving to Prague, but still had few instances where when I had bought an expensive laptop or phones it was still from the UK, both because of better prices but also due to proper keyboard etc. Now that will be out of the question too, as the slightly cheaper price in the UK will be largely offset by VAT implications. Quite certain that British online shops will take quite a big hit when the non-UK business slowly dries up...although big firms like Amazon and the like have their ways, I am talking more the small "mom&pop" eBay shops etc. where myself and especially my missus used to buy very often.
I guess only time will tell and we won't be seeing the effects straigh away but overall I have a gut feeling its a loss-loss situation for both sides, in economical terms, at least in the first few years. Perhaps longer term UK will be better off with the ability to set its own path to prosperity, no doubt that is a possibility.
Hello fellow Praguer, I've only noticed the location now :flag-cz:
Last edited by Dan83bz; 24th December 2020 at 17:51.
I find myself, as a NI resident, in a strange 'best of both worlds' part of the UK/Ireland.
Still in the EU trade zone yet still in the UK.
It'll be interesting to see how it all pans out.
Point taken :)
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
I’ve not read all the details but will there now be import charges when we buy from the EU?
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
Are you/we dead sure yet? My understanding is that VAT is applied to business transactions, not a private individual selling a possession to another private individual.
EU is, and U.K. will still be a VAT compliant regime, so I’ll wait further confirmation unless someone is a tax expert and knows the definitive answer.
Why do we get hit with import VAT on purchases from private individuals from the USA? Maybe because the USA is not a VAT compliant regime? Maybe because the post declarations do not declare that it is a private transaction and it is therefore assumed to be B2C or B2B?
Who knows? I don’t.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Never worked like that. EU was/is seen as a single country in terms of buying something, so besides paying for the shipping, there was nothing else to pay.
As I said above, at best UK will be in the position that Norway or Switzerland are now versus the EU, meaning that you cannot buy stuff from Norway or Switzerland even if for personal use and not pay VAT on it, except some small personal allowance.
For example I have few friends/former colleagues who now moved and work in Switzerland, couple of them in Geneva, and while its quite usual to cross over from Geneva to Germany for shopping (its very close to the border), you can only bring limited amounts of everything, not just alcohol but stuff like cheese, meats, whathaveyou, I believe the limit is 300 CHF and there's also specific limits like no more than 1kg of meat of any kind and the duties above those limits are VERY high effectively discouraging you to go and do your shopping across the border as it works better to just buy in Switzerland directly. It also has the positive effect that local producers can command much higher prices than they could have otherwise, which I guess is vital if they are to survive with the extreme cost of living in Switzerland.
Seems the bobble-heads finally announced some conclusion to this whole Brexit conundrum.
It would not matter whether its B2C or private sale, the same rules for importing things and limits on doing so would apply. To give an example, should you buy a product XYZ worth 1000 from a business or the same product from a private person, the cost to import it should be the same (whether its VAT only or some additional import tariff)
Despite Switzerland's low VAT rates (8% is max I believe), with the exception of electronics which are very marginally cheaper, everything else is greatly more expensive, on a massive scale, and the main reason behind it is that the country lives in its own little bubble it has created itself as a retirement/shelter place for the mega rich as well as a host of other reasons.
I’ve bought many watches and items on SC down through the years and I’m gutted not to be able to do this any more due to the VAT implications. An amazing act of self sabotage, this whole Brexit sh*te.
If he buys from outside the EU he will have to pay VAT on import. Not a big problem if buying from somewhere in the world that has not already levied VAT, but if he buys from the UK he will have to effecitevely pay "double VAT". The UK price with VAT built into it and import VAT into the UK.
Exactly. And whereas with a car you can claim it back once you are exporting the car, with something like an expensive watch it would only work if the watch is specifically bought with intent to export, as you have a limited time window, so effectively, yes, in real life it would mean the UK buyer pays full UK VAT and then if I buy said watch from SC, I pay full EU/my country VAT again.
https://www.revenue.ie/en/vat/retail...claim-VAT.aspx
https://www.gov.uk/reclaim-vat
All that happened was they changed the name, no such thing that EU forced the tax on UK, it was simply called "Purchase Tax" which by the way was much higher (25% at the moment it was replaced by VAT but as high as 100% prior). It was not a point of sale applied tax though unlike VAT but rather applied at manufacture stage. Another interesting fact is that purchase tax as well as VAT was initially conceived as a tax on luxury goods rather than a blanket tax but now when it's the main source of income for governments its applied on everything from Rolexes to essential medicines or services.
Last edited by Dan83bz; 25th December 2020 at 14:33.
I am sure you will be able to buy new watches and have shipped to you (exported) and only pay local VAT but I expect any private or 2nd hand purchases will incur "double VAT"
You may buy and sell less, but you need something to occupy your time and spend money on. Unless you replace watches with something else, your boredome level will increase as will your bank balance. As my wife keeps telling me, I cant take it with me.
The world is a very small place. Brexit makes no difference.
In Sweden, only VAT-registered companies avoid local VAT from a company abroad. As a private person, I buy new or used objects from a country outside the EU, I have to pay local VAT / market price and
get a surcharge of close to 30% when I import. This means that for me in the EU I rarely trade with countries outside as the price is significantly higher. I'm not sure when this starts with import from UK.
Not just EU. It is like that in any country (that doesnt have some trading/customs arrangement with others; EU is a free trade - no customs zone)
Last edited by martyloveswatches; 28th December 2020 at 09:49.
As I understand it, It’s another unfortunate consequence of Brexit that VAT will soon be due on all imports from the EU. Sadly, no more eBay/Chrono24 second hand purchases without the same customs charges as had been previously reserved to non-EU countries.
For private sellers it’s just the new reality. It’s ok for businesses as I understand they can reach distance selling VAT arrangements (ie not pay VAT in their own country) but presumably they have to make enough sales to the UK make it worth their while.
Another minor positive aspect for the UK of exiting the EU is that it will drop the VAT-exemption threshold for small value items, currently set at between 15-25 EUR equivalent for all EU countries, which included the UK. This had enabled the sellers of cheap tat from Asia to sell their wares for ridiculously low prices driving local ones out of business and spawning the dozens of sites such as Wish.com and all that.
Many countries, which now includes the UK have set hurdles in the way of this by applying VAT collected in advance or on arrival. Many US states, NZ, AU, Norway etc have had this in place for a while now and the EU hopefully soon follows suit.
It is absolutely normal, sound commercial thinking to protect your internal markets. EU is many countries but in terms of commerce it is one country, same as the US of A for example. And although the US is a bit more liberal with their imports than the EU, with higher exemption thresholds, still they do a lot to protect their internal market, Trump has been basing most of his campaign on this.
Last edited by Dan83bz; 28th December 2020 at 10:35.
I often hear this being said usually by people who have a small business, why would you think a consumer is suddenly going to either pay more for British made "cheap tat" and I say pay more as if the prices were the same nobody would be buying cheap tat from abroad in the first place? It seems delusional to say the least that customers who are used to paying X for an item are suddenly going to happily pay Y for it now. All you are going to really achieve is a lot of very annoyed customers who will just vote with their feet.
Same goes for pretty much anything, now we are out I am not going to suddenly pay more for a watch in the UK that I could have got cheaper a month ago from the EU I just wont buy it.
Looks like i've just been royally screwed then. I bought a watch off a German eBay seller on 17th December. Paid him immediately.
He shipped it on 18th December by DHL parcel. I was hoping it might arrive in time for Christmas. It didn't.
Instead it was returned to the seller on 24th December, because Brexit negotiations hadn't been finalized.
https://www.dhl.com/global-en/home/t...=CY210665204DE
I've asked him to re-send it. Will I have any recourse to claim back the VAT ?
It all depends on whether it’s new or used.
I’d imagine that, as per the rest of the world, you’ll buy new at excluding VAT prices and then pay UK VAT on arrival to the UK. The business in Germany (as per your example) will not have to charge VAT on anything they export from the EU.
Second hand goods will, in the main, not be VAT reduced on exit from the EU but will be subject to UK VAT on entry to the UK.
With the small caveat that they are actually registered for VAT. So if it's someone doing it on the side rather than as a main business, he may not be registered for VAT; in this case his price to German customers is the price you'll pay VAT on.
That is, once the system is fully sorted and all the links in the chain know what they have to do...
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
The related subjects of VAT leakage and double charging often see theory and real life diverge.
It’s likely that airport customs officers will become a lot busier processing VAT refunds on personal exports and of course VAT payments on personal imports in both directions between Britain and the EU. Unless some common sense prevails of course...