Community Stories

If you are planning a purchase from Italy, be aware....

MSNWatch
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Wary of FedEx - have lost 2 watches that way. One I still miss - a NOS 1970 cal. 861 speedmaster with boxes and papers.
 
dennisthemenace
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MSNWatch MSNWatch
Wary of FedEx - have lost 2 watches that way. One I still miss - a NOS 1970 cal. 861 speedmaster with boxes and papers.
God, that must have hurt.
 
adam78
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I think there's no perfect carrier, unless hand-carried by a friend! One can find horror stories associated with each carrier, it seems.
 
ilrocco
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adam78 adam78
I think there's no perfect carrier, unless hand-carried by a friend! One can find horror stories associated with each carrier, it seems.
Of course, but every time someone send something to me using Poste Italiane give me the creeps 😲
 
ilrocco
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ilrocco ilrocco
Of course, but every time someone send something to me using Poste Italiane give me the creeps 😲
Or maybe I just blame the postman 😡
 
STANDY
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Best way to send high end goods is bonded Air-Cargo. No way out of taxes but safest way, most expensive Art works are shipped around the world this way every day.
For me i could take it to a Qantas bond at any International airport in Australia and it would be able to be picked up at a overseas international airport bond store. You can even have them call the buyer when it is there. Never leaves a international airport grounds, is tracked and expected by customs the whole time. (as paperwork is needed before plane leaves now days)
Bit of paper work but as said if i was sending something worth over 10,000 it would be my pick.
 
Kringkily
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I always ship via FedEx Express and insure for full value via private insurer. Once it scans into the system boom fully covered 😀
 
Archer
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adam78 adam78
I think there's no perfect carrier, unless hand-carried by a friend! One can find horror stories associated with each carrier, it seems.

Indeed - for every person who says one carrier is better than another, someone else will have had a horrible experience with the "better" carrier. Like George I use FedEx with private insurance, and never had a package go missing....ever. And as you can imagine I ship a lot of packages to places all over the world...hundreds per year. Europe, Asia, Middle East, Canada, US...

In Canada we only have a few major banks, and it's the same way when people say "I would never bank at XXXX bank because they did this or that to me, so I moved all my accounts to bank YYYY". You will find someone who has done the exact same thing for the exact same reason, but going the other way...

People tend to take their one single bad example and apply it broadly to a situation, which is rarely ever a true representation of anything.

Cheers, Al
 
MikiJ
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I bought my NOS Homage 1894 from an estate liquidator in Italy. It was delivered by FedEx Express with no issues. Best of all they took my credit card for the customs due. I was prepared to pay cash, but the carrier said use my card in case there are any issues.

Pretty good deal all the way around ;-)

 
bill5959
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Kringkily Kringkily
I always ship via FedEx Express and insure for full value via private insurer. Once it scans into the system boom fully covered 😀
Naive question. I looked at parcel pro and it seemed to be limited to business owners. How can a civilian get such insurance? Thanks
 
jfwoodman
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Just received a watch today from Italy via UPS, no problem. Seller used insured courier to arrange shipping on Monday, already here Friday. Kind of expensive, but apparently worth it.
 
CajunTiger
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Ive shipped several watches to/from Italy via Fedex with no issues at all. Fedex is the best solution paired with Parcel Pro.
 
Aussie Jim
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I have just used DHL to ship a bezel to Aldo. Took 3 days from Australia. The bastards pinged me for 20 Euro duties on a valuation of 40 Euro. Can't for the life of me work out what that is about.
 
ConElPueblo
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Aussie Jim Aussie Jim
I have just used DHL to ship a bezel to Aldo. Took 3 days from Australia. The bastards pinged me for 20 Euro duties on a valuation of 40 Euro. Can't for the life of me work out what that is about.

Most of it will be for administration/handling and not have anything to do with the actual value of the item. Pisses me royally off when it happens to me 😡
 
TMas
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UPS, Fed Ex seem great with Italy, going in and out. Poste Italiane takes weeks....nerve wracking, long, tedious, sleepless weeks. You poor sellers/buyers down there.
 
wx_073
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As for me and my experience have been used DHL twice when bought and sold watches and everything went well [emoji52]
 
CTS-V
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Interesting thread! I'll be moving to Italy in the fall....good info to know.....
 
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