If I purchase a watch from a private seller in Europe and it is shipped to me in the United States am I obligated to pay duty or a tax?

 

Depends on what watch, its DV, laws & regulations of the US customs (which I'm not an expert about), what type of item it is declared as, etc. But generally you do need to. How much though would depend on the case.

 

You may well be "obligated" to pay duties, but if it is of a lower value, and sent via USPS, it is unlikely that duties will be assessed.

 

I think US requires a specific form to be completed which breaks down the watch into movement type (mech/quartz), case material, band / bracelet type, and so on. From that, they will determine what, if any tax is due.

I'm not a US citizen, but I've heard from others that tax is rarely levied on watches delivered to US. YMMV.

 

In short, yes. However, it depends on a number of factors:
- The carrier the seller uses to ship the item. Postal mail (e.g. USPS) can fly under the radar, but they lost 3.9B last year. If the piece is valuable, trust them I would not haha.
- If the seller ship via DHL/FedEx/UPS, how they filled out the form as @oddboy mentioned
- Which state you receive the item. Some states apply a use tax (in addition to U.S duty). However, if this is a truly a private seller (and not a dealer), you can ask for an exemption.

Good luck! As you can tell from the responses, some people get lucky, some have to pay according to the laws. I've experienced both.

 

So I’ve imported a fair percentage of my collection. Courier to Fed Ex or (Holding My Nose) DHL . It needs to be declared for value paid and insured. Generally the watch form is filled out by the seller but usually I also do it when the watch is clearing customs. FedEx and DHL are good with this. Duty is paid before pickup with DHL and Fed Ex bills you. It’s just dumb to gamble with post, or either declaring a low value or shipping under radar. A few hundred spent on Duty on an insured and properly documented shipment is well worth the money. Plus these carriers allow you to hold for pick up. If the seller balks at shipping properly, walk away.

 

I was offered a sale to a buyer in the US and it just turned into too much bother with forms insurance and shipping, let alone payment.

 

I have no idea about the US position but importing to the UK is a PIA and often makes otherwise reasonable watch purchases from overseas sellers too expensive.

 

You are obligated to pay if customs decides to charge you. I have ordered a half dozen new watches (in the $500-1000) range from Asia and Europe, yet I have never been assessed any duty by US Customs. Guess I’ve been lucky that they didn’t want to bother.

 

It's hard to escape customs when the watch is shipped and the actual value is declared (which it normally is as more expensive watches are normally insured for its full value). In other words, yes, you are obligated to pay customs when ordering a watch from Europe to the US.