The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Hi all, and apologies if this is not in the right section. I am going on Vacation in Mexico and there is an AD where I am going. Has anybody had experience with buying a Breitling down south? I am in Canada. Curious about import duties and how much of a discount will "duty free" be?

Cheers,

Pogal

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Canadian wanabee breitling collector

Canadian duty free limits are fairly low - about $750 for 7 days I think, you have to pay tax on the difference (or at least the law say that you do).

and its a myth that you save that much down there.

The tax has to do with how long you are there?

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End of Discussion.

No. But the dollar amount of items you're allowed to bring back into Canada (THAT YOU CLAIM) are limited by how long you stay there... Weather you travel to the US or anywhere else in the world..

48 hours or less.. $50
48 hours - 7 days.. $400 (up from $250 I believe a few years ago)
7 days or more $750

No matter how long you stay, it's:
200 cigarettes OR 50 cigars (AND)
1.14 L Hard liquor OR
1.5 L Wine OR
24 x 355 mL Beer.

It allows you to travel and bring back gifts and such. Now. when I went to Italy/europe for 6 months.. I ended up traveling too long and the company I worked for had to ship my bags home, (long story short, I was traveling and got caught in Amsterdam leaving to UK, the bulk of my luggage was in France. There's a 3 months in 6 months out rule in the Schengen EU). When I went to go pick up my bags from Fed Ex, I had to go to Customs Canada for release forms (Without my bags with me) and they didn't care about anything other than asking multiple times (upwards of 5) if I had any alcohol or tobacco in my bags... (which I didn't). If you buy a watch down there just remember.. you purchased it at home and brought it with you on vacation. Hide the receipt somewhere in your luggage in a pocket of your pants, along with the box and everything, you brought that for protection of the watch. don't even mention you bought it. if you do. They (I believe) will charge you the Provincial tax on the retail value of the watch.

Hope this helps

Just remember that failing to declare is technically a criminal offence, as is making a false statement on the form (to cover the question about shipping goods separately).

PM me and let me know where you're going for vacation and maybe I can recommend an AD o search for past sales experiencies from a few watch lover friends here in Mexico.

Enjoy your vacation!

Interesting, thanks.

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End of Discussion.

I did forget to mention the whole criminal offense part about it. My boss did get asked if he was willing to go to jail over the $200 extra in taxes he was about to owe when he brought a truck across the border and the guy selling it gave him a receipt for $2000 or $3000 cheaper than he paid. He was more than willing to pay the difference... I don't know what the duty would be on a watch... but when I paid $300 for a Hamilton I had shipped here.. duty and brokerage came to $105. I think UPS charges $35 or so for brokerage.. so $70 in taxes..

Unless you're saving a PILE of money on it or you want a watch to remember your trip by, it may be cheaper to just buy from a local AD.

wa7mm PM sent. To all who have responded, many thanks. I understand the import rules and am not looking to do anything Iffy here. Import duty to Canada on a watch made in Europe is 5% plus 13% HST on the value. (makes it pretty expensive). Going for a week so the value would be discounted $750.
I have no AD here in Ottawa, so I am looking forward to checking out a decent collection at an AD. I was curious as to the RRP on Breitlings in the US / Mexico / Canada. They seem to differ quite allot?
I may end up just getting a nice "original" deployment clasp and a Blue calf skin strap. Probably well below my $750 allowance? On the other hand I may end up at the AD and fall in love with a fantastic piece....
In that event I need to be prepared lol

Pogal

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Canadian wanabee breitling collector

I went to Mexico 2 weeks ago. I went to an AD of Ulysse Nardin, Romain Jerome, Girard Perregaux and a few others.

The exchange rate with pesos is around 12 for 1. In the end prices were way higher than in Canada and the guy there didn't know the word discount.

Might be different at a Breitling AD.

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Mat

Breitling Navitimer 01
Omega Seamaster 300mc
Omega Speedmaster Pro "Mitsukoshi Mod"
Seiko Prospek Orange Samurai

I looked into this as well and overall, found that it was not worth it. With all things considered, duty, taxes, exchange rates, services fees or whatever else; you should do like i did...visit a couple of different AD while traveling around, browse their selection and whenever you find "true love", go spend a weekend in le vieux Montreal then go buy your watch from LaSwiss in Laval. Make sure they have it in stock before you head out though...only thing left do after that is to post a photo on here!!!

BR

I have just been to Mexico (DF and Cozumel). Checked out Breitling pricing in Cozumel at an AD (who had a really nice shop in shop and a good collection, but lousy staff), and depending on the real exchange rate (which moves quite rapidly between 12 and 13 Pesos/$), the prices are more or less the same as in most of Europe. There seems to be no real tax-refund system (except for diplomatic service members) for exports, at least the staff of that AD could not offer it or did not understand the question/concept.

BG
Thomas

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http://www.ellert.at