The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Hi. I was wondering what the average price increase is when buying a Breitling (new or used) in the UK compared to buying in the U.S.

Thanks!

Like for like bargaining an over the counter sale, I'd say around +20% in the UK but probably varies a lot depending on the dealer/model. But if you buy in the US and ship to UK, overall it'll cost pretty much the same as you have add duty, shipping and 20%VAT on everything. Probably a huge over-simplification, but my point is that as a UK buyer, the headline price advantage in the US (or perhaps other territories) can be easily eroded when you weigh up everything. Of course, Breitling have all this figured out in their global market pricing strategy.

In addition, the piece that always gets missed is that North American prices are always quoted before tax, while European prices are quoted inclusive of tax.

I was in New York a couple of weeks ago, and had planned a purchase while being there, dollar exchange rate against Euro and all that. But when I was there in person, and adding the tax on top the net price in every store (even after negotiating a 10% discount) was still higher than what you would see at the AD here in Germany, not by very much but still. And its definetly not worth taking it through customs either, so I found out. I looked at Breiting, Omega and Panerai.

Breitling prices seem very high in Sweden for example, though I think in Germany you get the best prices. Havent been Switzerland yet to check it out. But I may not be that far from it, maybe in a couple of months.

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Navitimer, Steelfish, Colt GMT, Aerospace, Chronospace, Chrono Superocean

Thanks. I was actually flirting with the idea of buying a Breitling (Nothing too expensive, used Chronomat maybe) and carrying it over to to London with me to resell (under UK prices, of course) later this month. Partly just to help someone in the UK out with a reduced price, and partly to make a small contribution towards my very own "Chronomat Fund" .

Blingal: That sucks. We use the USD where I'm from so at least when I'm in Europe I already know things are more costly to begin with .

I know I couldn't get my sister to consider going to Germany for a birthday trip this month, she decided on Italy. Kind of curious as to what the prices down there are like in general. We'll see.

Hey all,

I've wanted a Navitimer World for quite a while now, but only now have decided to take the plunge. I'm from Sydney, Australia and watches, like most things here, are much more expensive than elsewhere in the world.

I was wondering what actual prices are like in the USA and Europe. RR is close to $8,000 here and from recent enquiries made, roughly $6,500 in the States. From having a read through a few threads, I take it the cheapest prices are in the US, which suits me at the moment with the exchange rate. I have, however, seen prices on websites listed in these forums much cheaper - under $5,000 and I'm sure when it comes to bargaining a bit in store, prices come down too.

Would just like a bit of feedback regarding prices, realistic (discounted) prices and reliability of purchasing a watch from an AD overseas and having them shipping it to you.

Thanks,

Marco

Contact jnelson3097 for contact details of George at Govbergs and he'll give you a price. FEAR's AD won't ship to Australia so that won't help your situation. Remember that online prices are not from ADs so no warranty.

Australian members can advise you on how much import duty / sales tax you are going to get charged bringing it into Australia.

Hi Marco,
Like you I'm in Australia. Certainly we pay a premium for being at the end of the Earth and the dollar price in US etc is cheaper. If you're considering buying from an AD in the US and having them ship to you its worth looking at the importation laws on the Australian govt website.

From memory you'll pay an import duty of 5% on the price of watch plus shipping. Then you'll pay GST of 10% on top of the whole price including import tax (So roughly add 17 1/2% to the price of whatever you buy). This applies to basically anything over $1000AU in value.

You might decide that you can still get a better price buying from an overseas AD. Certainly i wouldn't advise trying to get around customs; they're not friendly, forgiving folks. All the best with the purchase.
Greg