The Breitling Watch Source Forums :: View topic - Buying from abroad

Good Breitling people,

I am thinking about purchasing another 'Ling to add to my lot; as per a lot of people on here, I find the new ones too expensive, so naturally the second hand market becomes very attractive.

A lot of the sort of watches I would like to go for are abroad, so my question is what is the best way about going for this? One option I thought of was visiting the actual shop, but that of course rules out a lot of the countries that are very far away from me.

I live in north east England, and what I was wondering is what is the import duty on a second hand watch? Also, if I was to buy a watch from a foreign country, what is the best way about doing this, considering of course a lot of continental Europe use the Euro, whereas here in in Britain we still use the good 'ol Queens pound; so of course I would have to do the transaction in a way to ensure the shop gets the full correct price; no doubt our banks will take a substantial cut; if for example the fees came to 5% then that works out quite a large amount of money considering the high value of a watch I might want to buy.

Has anyone bought a watch in this way?

Author:	SimonC [ Wed Jul 18, 2012 11:25 am ]
Post subject:	Buying from abroad - advice required
Good Breitling people, I am thinking about purchasing another 'Ling to add to my lot; as per a lot of people on here, I find the new ones too expensive, so naturally the second hand market becomes very attractive. A lot of the sort of watches I would like to go for are abroad, so my question is what is the best way about going for this? One option I thought of was visiting the actual shop, but that of course rules out a lot of the countries that are very far away from me. I live in north east England, and what I was wondering is what is the import duty on a second hand watch? Also, if I was to buy a watch from a foreign country, what is the best way about doing this, considering of course a lot of continental Europe use the Euro, whereas here in in Britain we still use the good 'ol Queens pound; so of course I would have to do the transaction in a way to ensure the shop gets the full correct price; no doubt our banks will take a substantial cut; if for example the fees came to 5% then that works out quite a large amount of money considering the high value of a watch I might want to buy. Has anyone bought a watch in this way?

Author:	WatchFred [ Wed Jul 18, 2012 11:56 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Buying from abroad - advice required
well, being from a rather small country, most if not all of my purchases were from abroad. quite alot actually from the UK. when you buy from another EU country there is no import duty whatosever and exchange fees inside the EU are also regulated and not too high, just make sure you do not let paypal handle the exchange.

Author:	Jii [ Wed Jul 18, 2012 10:31 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Buying from abroad - advice required
I bought my Steelfish from the UK via phone using my credit card, so obviously my credit card company used whatever exchange rate they had from € to £. If you buy from a shop in Europe (The EU) I guess the safest (but not necessarily the cheapest) way would be to use a credit card, or Paypal. What you gain in security you lose in foreign currency rates I guess. And no import duty either on anything that comes from inside the EU.

Author:	ADIGA [ Thu Jul 19, 2012 1:59 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Buying from abroad - advice required
SimonC wrote: Good Breitling people, I am thinking about purchasing another 'Ling to add to my lot; as per a lot of people on here, I find the new ones too expensive, so naturally the second hand market becomes very attractive. A lot of the sort of watches I would like to go for are abroad, so my question is what is the best way about going for this? One option I thought of was visiting the actual shop, but that of course rules out a lot of the countries that are very far away from me. I live in north east England, and what I was wondering is what is the import duty on a second hand watch? Also, if I was to buy a watch from a foreign country, what is the best way about doing this, considering of course a lot of continental Europe use the Euro, whereas here in in Britain we still use the good 'ol Queens pound; so of course I would have to do the transaction in a way to ensure the shop gets the full correct price; no doubt our banks will take a substantial cut; if for example the fees came to 5% then that works out quite a large amount of money considering the high value of a watch I might want to buy. Has anyone bought a watch in this way? eBay has many German and Spanish power sellers with very good value.

Author:	sharkman [ Thu Jul 19, 2012 4:27 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Buying from abroad - advice required
I bought from a broad once..........wrong forum.

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Author:	Kodiak [ Thu Jul 19, 2012 5:33 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Buying from abroad - advice required
sharkman wrote: I bought from a broad once..........wrong forum. Is that why your a lawyer now?

Author:	Big Tav [ Sun Aug 12, 2012 3:52 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Buying from abroad - advice required
Hi, don't you still have to pay 20% VAT even on a used watch if you live in the UK and buy a watch from Europe? I know cigarettes and alcohol you do so I presume a watch would too since you can get duty free.

Author:	ADIGA [ Tue Aug 14, 2012 4:41 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Buying from abroad - advice required
Big Tav wrote: Hi, don't you still have to pay 20% VAT even on a used watch if you live in the UK and buy a watch from Europe? I know cigarettes and alcohol you do so I presume a watch would too since you can get duty free. Tobacco and alcohol are not taxed from within the EU. However, if it is not for personal use (excess amounts) it will attract a fee. Or if it was not VATed in origin (like duty free in EU), then again it will be taxed. If you buy anything (legal to own in UK) from EU its free. Subject to exceptions as always like the mentioned above (I remember something about pets where prior consent of authorities is needed). Bottom line, if you pay a VAT (or equivalent) in one member state then you do not need to pay it again. FREE MOVEMENT OF GOODS.

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