I've never bought a pre-owned watch, let alone a watch from abroad and wondered if I could double check my understanding of the import rules? I've googled and searched the forums and found quite a bit of info but I know these things change and was hoping some of you experienced people who've done it recently could confirm my understanding.

Example - I want to buy a watch from an OF member from overseas. Once we'd agreed a price there would be transaction fees relating to currency. But after that I would have to pay VAT once it landed in England which is currently 20%. I may also have to pay 2% customs fee depending on the value of the watch. This true regardless of where I'm buying the watch from if it's outside the UK - i.e. EU, non-EU European countries, US, Japan etc are all treated the same with regards to the buying process / importing.

Is that correct or have I missed something? Basically I should account for up to 25% of the sale price for the act of importing into the UK. Anything less than that is a bonus. I presume the same is true of any platform like Ebay or Chrono24 as well?

Any help for a newbie is gratefully received. I've already decided to avoid a dealer with a seemingly nice collection of Omegas in the UK thanks to the very useful information in these forums.

 

I believe you got everything covered, my situation importing from Japan to within EU is similar and is applicable for all platforms.

 

I’m on the UK and it’s less and less common that import duty isn’t required if full value is declared.

Once admin fees etc are applied it’s more like 27% on watches under £1000. As the price increases the flat rate admin charges reduce in proportion to the purchase price.

 

Useful site that lets you calculate what you will need to pay for VAT and import duty (can do upto 5 free calcs per day) https://www.simplyduty.com/

Also as Davidt said, don’t forget to allow for courier handling fees, will vary depending on the courier but should be listed on their web pages, eg DHL charge £11 or 2.5% of the total VAT & duty, whatever is the greater https://mydhl.express.dhl/gb/en/hel...ce/duties-and-taxes.html#/receiving_shipments

 

Don’t forget that VAT and duty is payable on the cost (declared value) of the goods plus the cost of shipping.

 

Perhaps consider a nice day on the continent

 

… or Ireland