I have sold a watch to someone in the US (I'm in the UK) and need to send to him. I have an account with DHL and need to fill in the item description and value. I am utterly paranoid about putting accurate info in there as I don't want the piece to be stolen in transit. What is your advice? Someone suggested 'Horological Equipment'? Thoughts?

 

Last time I told an inexperienced clerk that one in my local DHL, he sought advice from his supervisor; the latter bellowed in front of the whole shop, "yeah, probably an expensive watch".
You'll get much more risk reduction for the buck imho by using the shoebox size package that doesn't slip into a pocket.

 

I would not try to get creative with this because they might think you’re trying to avoid taxes and duties or some other nefarious purpose. Simply insure the package for its full value. It’s just the cost of doing business and should be expected IMHO.

Best regards,
Frank

 

For shipping to the US you will also need a watch worksheet, that breaks down the value of each part of the watch, describes the details of the watch (case material, strap material, number of jewels, chronograph or not) and send that with the shipment. It looks like this (this is a FedEx version so you may want to ask DHL if they have their own version):



For the description, it is normal not to use the word "watch" and in fact many insurance carriers will not allow that word to be used. I use ParcelPro, and they default any watch to a description of "precision instrument". This is not any sort of false declaration, because the real description of what is in the package is defined by the harmonized code that is applied on the commercial invoice.

Regarding the value, well if it is a straight sale, the only way you are not putting the sale value on is to commit fraud...

Hope this helps.

Cheers, Al

 

Thank you for the advice. I managed to navigate my way through the process and the new owner received his watch. I itemised each aspect of the package and the only difficulty I had was in breaking down the values. I had sold the watch, box, docs, parts for an agreed lump sum and was asked to break down the value of each in the declaration. I don't know if I did it right but I essentially valued the watch at the price agreed and valued each of the other items at 1p apiece.
Anyway, the recipient is happy, I'm happy and the tax authorities in the US will have received the accurate amount of tax. All's well that ends well!!