I checked the search and couldn't find any question specific enough that answers my question, so I am hoping you guys can help.

Hi, I have recently received a Speedmaster 105.012CB and I am sending it for repair to Simon Freese. I am in the United States. He recommended I use parcel pro to avoid the massive fee for the insurance declared value shipping to the UK. I called Parcel Pro and they said they do not set up accounts for people only looking to send one item, only for businesses and people that will be using the service often. Could anybody walk me through how I would go about using the service and or getting the item to him without having to pay a massive amount? Any help is appreciated.

 

This is quite an interesting first post. I am sure there are many watchmakers that could help you in the US.

Why risk shipping overseas when there are competent watchmakers in the U.S. that can help your one time need? So say you get it to the UK ok, what will you do with the return shipping? Is the seller going to use PP? If so, why does he not let you use his account to ship to him (because of liability?)? What if this shipment gets inspected and you get your watch seized?

3rd party insurers, such as PP, are established to assist businesses collectors move their valuables.

I am sure you are referring to customs fees when saying "having to pay a massive amount" because shipping is not that expensive. So basically you are trying to circumvent Customs duties and regulations abroad.

 

This guy was recommended by many people on this forum so I thought he would be the best to send it to. Also, many people recommend using PP to circumvent customs because of the customs fees. I am just trying to understand how other people have done it because Simon Freese has been used by many people on this forum.

 

If anybody could recommend somebody in the US that could service a vintage Omega Speedmaster reliability and to my specifications I would also be grateful.

 

Now you are talking! This I would recommend highly, your location may also help to see if there is someone local to you..

Plenty of knowledge here to help you out!

Cheers!

 

I am in Southern Virginia.

 

I'll let folks chime with recommendations.
I am in Northern Virginia and I use a WM in Herndon, Va., Herndon Clock & Watch. He has a Rolex as well as an Omega parts account. Look him on the web. He is very meticulous with his work.

Good Luck!

 

Hi @mihamlet

Welcome to the forum,

Theoretically speaking (and I may be wrong) there must be a way to set up the shipping (2 way) to let customs know that your watch will be exiting US, entering UK and then returning to you again after being repaired. It's not a sale so it doesn't make sense to have to pay customs duties on one or both or any legs of the journey. Most likely some obscure formality. Food for thought.

Good luck.

 

First ... I explained I was a collector and PP allowed me to join. Second .., if you declare an insured value to protect yourself you are going to get hit with customs charges. I do not believe there are any distinctions for servicing.,Third STS / Simon do appear to have a unique value proposition (old parts especially hands) but if it is a movement service you seek, you are taking needless risk and expense shipping to U.K. PP software also is not terribly noob friendly.

 

I sent my Ed White to Simon last week because he is the best guy in the UK to work on my watch and I am also in the U.K. It cost me £7.25 UKP to get the watch to him.

If the advice from others on the forum was send it to San Francisco or Hong Kong, then hell no I wouldn't have done it.

As others have said, there will be a US equivalent of Simon, find out who it is and get the watch over to them.

 

There is a bit of misinformation in this thread...

You are essentially correct, but the rules will vary based on the 2 countries involved. So what I'll outline below is speaking very generally and from my own experiences, since I service watches from all over the world on a regular basis. Note that all this will sound much more complicated than it really is, and provided that the person repairing your watch has experience in these matters, it's really not a big deal. Most of the work involved is on their end, not the watch owner.

When temporarily importing something for repair, there are several things to look at in terms of the possible costs, aside from the actual shipping or insurance:

1 - Duties
2 - Taxes
3 - Other fees

Depending on the countries involved, trade agreements, etc., many items can be imported duty and tax free if they are being repaired and sent back - most countries allow for this. In this case the "value for customs purposes" would be zero on the commercial invoice when the item is being sent to the repairer, which is perfectly legitimate and not an effort to circumvent laws or fees as some are implying. The value for customs purposes is not always the same as the value of the item, and if you use ParcelPro, of course the insured value is never shared with the carrier or any government. This is a requirement with ParcelPro since they want the items to be as low key as possible to avoid theft, so all their packages will have a value of zero on the label, regardless of the purpose of the shipment. Values, if any are stated, will be on the commercial invoices.

In some places the governments will charge the person receiving the goods for repair the duty and taxes up front on the full value of the item anyway, and hold that until proof is provided that the item has been sent back. In this case when the person doing the repairs has the proof that the item has been sent back, they apply to have the monies refunded (the watch owner is not involved in this at all - the proof required is all in the tracking information showing that the item has been returned).

The fees associated with clearing customs (sometimes done by the carrier, sometimes the local government, or by a third party customs broker) are not refundable. Depending on who does the customs clearance, these fees can be significant.

So what about when the repair is done?

When the item is sent back to the owner, what gets charged again depends on the countries involved and their agreements, but generally speaking if it is a warranty repair correcting a fault, there will be no duty or taxes. If it is a paid repair not covered under any warranty, then you may (depending on what exemptions are in place by your government) be required to pay taxes on the value added, which in this case is the value of the repairs. Some countries have quite generous personal import exemptions, and some do not, so if you have to pay will in part depend on the value of the work done in relation to the exemptions allowed.

Because it's been in the news here lately and will I suspect be part of the NAFTA renegotiations that the US has initiated, I do know that the US exemption is $800 (ours here in Canada is $20...and there will be pressure from the US to raise it).

I hope this helps clear up a few things.

Cheers, Al

 

I have also heard however that STS does not help navigate these issues. Am I right?

 

Since I'm obviously not a customer of theirs, I can't answer that...

 

Wow, what a valuable answer Lots of food for lots of thought. Would like to bookmark it somewhere for future reference. Thanks (again) Al...

What the OP shared, and what got me thinking. In conjunction with Al's explanation, one can infer several things from this, but its better not to. Perhaps the best advice yet was to 'find your local version of STS'. I am still looking...

 

That's the thing isn't it...who in America is like sts?

 

Are you seriously telling me that in a country the size of the US there isn't someone with a solid reputation for working on vintage Omegas. If true, how sad.

I got my e-mailed estimate off Simon this morning to work on my Ed White and gave him the nod to proceed.

 

Just to clarify, a watch sent for repair to a watchmaker in the UK is not liable for import duty.
What happens is that UK customs will hold the watch until the watchmaker has filled in and returned a certain form confirming that the watch will be exported after repair. Once customs has received the form they will forward the watch on to the repair shop.
Hopefully there will be no import duties due when the watch is returned to the owner if the package is marked "watch returned from repair" on the export documentation.