Can someone give me the quick low down on importing a vintage watch to the US (let's assume a $6,000 value), shipping issues, customs issues, import duties, how and when would they collect, how the duties are calculated and assessed, insurance while in transit, best shipping methods from Europe, etc.? Thanks all.

 

Ask the seller to describe the package as a faulty timepiece being returned for a refund. also ask them to send it the least expensive option with no insurance. The chances of any package getting lost in the system are negligible these days.

 

Really? There was a nasty case a few years ago on one of the forums. Basically, a buyer in HK committed to buying a ~50k Patek from a seller in the US. After payment, there was a request made to declare/insure it for ~$100(!). Long story short, Fed Ex paid out the declared claim and all hell broke loose.

The lesson is to always insure your expensive watches. To better advise you, can you specify the country? In my experience, duties/fees are a lot less likely when the foreign shipper connects with USPS.

 

Use FedEx, DHL, or any other shipping service, declare a lower value and insure the package with ParcelPro. Problem solved.

 

Not sure what you are saying. ParcelPro will insure a package that is shipped via FedEx, for example? The shipper is in France, if that matters. Also, what about the customs and import duty issues? How much are they and how does it work? Thanks.

 

I believe that his point is to hide the true value from the shipper (for security purposes) and then insure it via a third party like parcelpro.

As far as France, I would use http://www.colissimo.fr/particuliers/home.jsp
because they link up with USPS. Parcelpro would not be bad as the insurer.

 

I recently bought 2 items which were shipped from France to USA. A 400 euro dial which was shipped via colissimo and the shipment was a bit slow but ok. The shipment was turned over to USPS and no customs issues.

The second item was a 4000 euro watch which was shipped via Chronopost. This was a nightmare. Took 2 weeks. Had to pay a customs broker, customs charges. First and only watch from the EU that this happened to me. Bought many others and smooth sailing. Chronopost has horrible communication. The worst. Stay away

 

A very experienced Australian seller had to retrieve a shipment to me last week after it failed to clear customs through FedEx. Mine was apparently the only one to be snagged, out of a dozen that were shipped, but I'll be much more reticent about importing in the future. Archer has posted on this issue before, and gives good advice about coding the merchandise and declaring the value. Prepare to pay customs charges for high-value items like you are describing.

 

I purchased a vintage watch from a European seller with a declared value of over $3.5, it took four long shipping days from Budapest to my wrist, customs and import duties were non existent…

 

There seems to be rather inconsistent practices when being charged import fees to the U.S. If you can afford the watch be prepared to pay the minimal fees and do it right. Half the time it seems like it is much less than I would have thought. UPS made me most recently just write them a check before they would hand it to me, FedEx charged my account then my connected card automatically. USPS, well some say they don't regularly charge but the package may sit for a month, so to me it is worth using fedex or UPS to get it in 2-3 days

 

If it's a Rolex , don't do it. It's illegal to import a Rolex by mail into the U.S. You can only import one at a time, hand-carried across the border with duties paid.

This isn't one of those "everyone looks the other way" rules. Customs will take your watch.

 

If you can afford the watch, you can afford the duties. Seriously we are having a discussion on how to break the law?

 

I agree completely. I think of duty fees like I think of servicing fees; It just comes with the territory. or buy domestic!

http://www.dutycalculator.com/popular-import-items/import-duty-and-taxes-for-watch/

 

Never a smart move to falsly declare to a government agency and have a PM or email asking someone too. Thats all im saying

I am heading to USA in three weeks with work (From Australia) without a rolex

 

In response to OP's question, I've had good experiences with FedEx. Just be upfront and cordial with the import coordinators and your watch should get through customs without a hitch. I now have a guy at the FedEx trade network that I contact everytime I'm expecting a watch and my items usually get processed through customs within a few hours of reaching the US. One should never have problems with items below 2500 USD (depends where it is coming from), but occasionally I've been hit with fees for purchases above that. Like I said, comes with the territory.

 

This isn't entirely true.

Yes, Rolex has the US Government convinced that a private citizen can't own a Rolex under a twisted interpretation of the Lanham Act.

The way they get you is Rolex claims that any Rolex watch which has been serviced by a third party is a counterfeit. You must prove that your watch isn't a counterfeit. Counterfeit = if the watch was ever opened or inspected or adjusted or whatever.

Customs loves this scam because…they get to keep valuable Rolex watches.

I ran loss prevention for LVMH (Louis Vuitton, more specifically) for over a decade. More precisely, the company which I founded and was majority owner of, had LVMH as an account. Apple and LVMH were our (2) largest accounts. Burberry is the most counterfeited brand in the world. They were also a client of ours.

 

It has nothing to do with if it's been opened, adjusted, or serviced by someone else actually. Rolex does grant parts accounts to watchmakers that do not work directly for them, so they condone servicing by a third party all the time, since they sell parts to those third parties (although the number of accounts is shrinking all the time, but that's a whole other discussion).

The only legal importer of Rolex trademarked goods (parts, watches, boxes, etc.) is Rolex USA. The only exception to this rule is an individual who has bought a Rolex outside the US, and is bringing it back for their personal use, and that must be the only Rolex they have with them.

It has nothing to do with deeming the watch a counterfeit. A brand new never opened Rolex will still be confiscated if the customs people are on the ball...

Cheers, Al

 

Like I said, it's a whole other discussion...and yes I signed the petition for Save the Time a while back created by Nick Hacko, but of course that didn't help. Lack of parts access down under is one reason why we currently rule out that as a place to live...that and all those fecking spiders...

The way Rolex and other brands handles parts accounts varies based on the market. So for Rolex, nothing for Australia, Canada slightly more open so a few accounts are out there, and the US is certainly more open than Canada. For Omega everyone in the US had to attend SPT at Omega in NJ to keep their accounts, but no such requirement was made here in Canada. I went to this training anyway on a voluntary basis, but I didn't have to. But all I had to do was get there (used airline points for my flight), and pay for a hotel room, and 2 meals per day. Omega looked after getting us to and from the hotel each day, fed us lunch, trained us on co-axials for a week (plus other things), and gave us some free tools at the end.

Now Omega is about to announce a new program for certifying parts accounts - no details yet, and as far as I know it's again just for the US. Will be called the OWME - Omega Watchmaker's Evaluation Program. Possibly more hoops to jump through to keep your account after everyone just went through their previous training 3 years ago...

Cheers, Al