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How the hell do you guys ship watches over $10000?

ChrisN
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Do you really want to say the part in bold? You can't legally avoid customs duty, as far as I'm aware. By the way, in UK, most of the duty is VAT and the Vatman doesn't let anything past, much worse than the Inland Revenue.

Chris

edgware14 edgware14
For the last 6 years I've only ever been a buyer of watches - The most expensive being $8k US, this was when I lived in England and to avoid customs duty I was always happy to have under $500 value put on the parcels. I never had an issue and I was buying about 10 watches a year from America.
 
omegaswisst
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Parcelpro appears to be used often by members on the forum.

I ended up using another company based on cost and how easy it was to set up an account and insure a parcel.

Are there any forum members who have submitted a claim with Parcelpro and can shed some light on how it was handled?

As for shipping from Australia I've used FedEx and found their tracking system excellent.

I've also used Australia Post and the EMS network which is up to 50% cheaper than FedEx however tracking is not as good but still acceptable.
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Uniqez
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I would make a f2f delivery, I know it is quite a trip, but it is $18K watch you are talking about. Why would you take a chance for $18k watch? As soon as you declare what it is to the counter, chances of box missing increasing rapidly.
 
Archer
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omegaswisst omegaswisst
Parcelpro appears to be used often by members on the forum.

I ended up using another company based on cost and how easy it was to set up an account and insure a parcel.

Are there any forum members who have submitted a claim with Parcelpro and can shed some light on how it was handled?

As for shipping from Australia I've used FedEx and found their tracking system excellent.

I've also used Australia Post and the EMS network which is up to 50% cheaper than FedEx however tracking is not as good but still acceptable.

I know that WatchVault dude has made claims with ParcelPro, and he said they simply paid out what the insurance value was...

I'm certainly no fan of insurance companies and their efforts not to pay, but ParcelPro appears to be good that way based on everything I've ever read.
 
Wryfox
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omegaswisst omegaswisst
Parcelpro appears to be used often by members on the forum.

My experience setting up with ParcelPro was exceptional. They called me to help set up the account, explain the process, how shipments are made, how claims work, etc. I have this reps name and anytime I have a question he's the guy to call. He offered to walk me through as many shipments as I wanted until I felt comfortable with the service.

I have never filed a claim but if their service is like this all the way down the line, I'm already impressed.
 
omegaswisst
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Wryfox Wryfox
My experience setting up with ParcelPro was exceptional. They called me to help set up the account, explain the process, how shipments are made, how claims work, etc. I have this reps name and anytime I have a question he's the guy to call. He offered to walk me through as many shipments as I wanted until I felt comfortable with the service.

I have never filed a claim but if their service is like this all the way down the line, I'm already impressed.

That's pretty good service they've provided and it's always helpful to have a contact within the organisation.

Looking at their online application form it's tailored toward business operators. Did you set up the account as an individual or business?
I assume you are located in the US. I'm located in Australia and I sent a couple of emails to them when I was looking for insurance but did not receive a response.
 
mrs_LA
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gostang9 gostang9
Do shipping companies not scan packages at any point (x-ray)? Wouldn't a small solid metal item be pretty suspicious and easy to see in an x-ray image?
I don't believe so.

omegaswisst omegaswisst
Looking at their online application form it's tailored toward business operators. Did you set up the account as an individual or business?
I assume you are located in the US. I'm located in Australia and I sent a couple of emails to them when I was looking for insurance but did not receive a response.

I set up the account as an individual and as a watch collector. You do not need to be a business to start an account, but you do need to supply information such as Tax ID. That's surprising, because they're pretty responsive when it comes to customer service inquiries. Customer service hotline should be helpful as well.
 
omegaswisst
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mrs_LA mrs_LA
I don't believe so.



I set up the account as an individual and as a watch collector. You do not need to be a business to start an account, but you do need to supply information such as Tax ID. That's surprising, because they're pretty responsive when it comes to customer service inquiries. Customer service hotline should be helpful as well.

Thanks for the information. I'll give the hotline a try.
 
Hawko
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Larry S Larry S
Because that’s not a real number for a proper job.
Hmmm, elusive but on-point
 
Larry S
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I
Hawko Hawko
Hmmm, elusive but on-point
I use Parcel Pro. Not cheap but very reliable. There are other insured shipping services or insurance providers. None will be 100 on a big money watch.
 
marco
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I use DHL plus insurance by Securus.This is on the recommendation of my watchmaker who does a lot of international work.
 
Dan S
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marco marco
I use DHL plus insurance by Securus.This is on the recommendation of my watchmaker who does a lot of international work.
Out of curiosity, have you ever made a successful claim from Secursus?

They have been mentioned before; however, it seems that anyone on the forum who has ever attempted to make a claim has been denied, on the basis of some obscure rule or another. And since their rates are unrealistically low, there is some general skepticism about the company. This is exacerbated by the fact that an executive from the company showed up a couple of times on the forum to dispute some comments. IIRC, his demeanor didn't exactly inspire confidence.
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marco
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No I haven't had to do so but just take LewisWatchCo advice .
I was recently very concerned as US customs held up a package for over 2 weeks with no explanation as too why. This is unusual as DHL have customs embedded in most countries which speeds up clearance. DHL insurance is twice the cost compared to Securus being approximately 1% of the shipped value.
 
Dan S
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marco marco
DHL insurance is twice the cost compared to Securus being approximately 1% of the shipped value.
Yes, exactly. 1% is unheard of, and probably too good to be true. Everyone thinks they are getting a bargain until they can't make a claim. Please keep us updated if you ever make a claim yourself.

marco marco
No I haven't had to do so but just take LewisWatchCo advice .
LewisWatchCo may be referring you to Secursus, but I doubt they use it themselves, since they presumably have a business account with a highly reputable and established company. I am still waiting to hear a single first-hand account of a successful claim from someone credible.
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Evitzee
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Dan S Dan S
LewisWatchCo may be referring you to Secursus, but I doubt they use it themselves, since they presumably have a business account with a highly reputable and established company. I am still waiting to hear a single first-hand account of a successful claim from someone credible.
Adam Lewis does not have a business account with an established company, if you want insurance on something he is sending he will refer you to Secursus. I don't believe that has changed recently.
 
Dan S
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Evitzee Evitzee
Adam Lewis does not have a business account with an established company, if you want insurance on something he is sending he will refer you to Secursus. I don't believe that has changed recently.
Interesting, so as a customer, you are responsible for buying insurance. That's pretty unusual, in my experience, so I assumed otherwise. I have never done business with him, so I shouldn't have made that assumption.

In the US, at least, business accounts have access to better insurance (and for larger amounts) through shipping companies. And obviously they can get a ParcelPro account.
 
Fatcat
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Ask the buyer to take a flight to Australia with Emirates will cost around 1600 US$ and avoid %% in ……
 
flqt-9000
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marco marco
No I haven't had to do so but just take LewisWatchCo advice .
I was recently very concerned as US customs held up a package for over 2 weeks with no explanation as too why. This is unusual as DHL have customs embedded in most countries which speeds up clearance. DHL insurance is twice the cost compared to Securus being approximately 1% of the shipped value.
I had recently the same problem with DHL fron US. The watch was sent back to the shipper because considered dangerous.
 
marco
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Dan S Dan S
Yes, exactly. 1% is unheard of, and probably too good to be true. Everyone thinks they are getting a bargain until they can't make a claim. Please keep us updated if you ever make a claim yourself.


LewisWatchCo may be referring you to Secursus, but I doubt they use it themselves, since they presumably have a business account with a highly reputable and established company. I am still waiting to hear a single first-hand account of a successful claim from someone credible.
Well I guess you don't know how a claim will turn out but their reviews are good. Insurance is all about trust and you won't be in business long if there is no insurance.
From what I was told by LewisWatchCo you photograph the Waybill /watch and completed package showing address. This obviously has to be done at the dispatch office, DHL inspect the contents before they issue a Waybill and this is stated on the Waybill.
The main complaint seems top be settlement of a claim may take some time.
https://au.trustpilot.com/review/www.secursus.com
 
Dan S
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Good luck. I have heard horror stories from people making claims. It seems naive to take it on faith that a company is legit just because someone recommended it to you, and because they are apparently still in business. And online reviews are notoriously bogus. I suspect that 99% of the reviews are from people who are happy that the rates are so low and the think their shipment was successfully insured. Nobody ever seems to report a successful claim.

In one case, I recall that the claim was denied because the value was declared on the customs form, which was required by law, but apparently violated something in the T&C. In other cases, the claim was denied because it was not made early enough. The T&C require you to make a claim incredibly quickly, even before you know if the package is actually lost. This seems like a real scam. If you wait two weeks for the package to sit in customs, it will be too late to make a claim.

The T&C have a ton of fine print, and the company apparently looks for every possible way to avoid paying a claim. So I would not go by what LewisWatchCo says, it's not enough to take photos, there are many detailed requirements. Read every word of the T&C yourself. Or don't, just continue to use them because they're cheap, and hope for the best. But please don't make personal recommendations for an insurance company until you've actually made a successful claim.
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