Question for all UK based watch collectors.
Have you noticed that UPS tends to charge a blanket so called ‘import fee’ which bears little resemblance to the cost of the item being imported? I’m new to watch collecting and don’t have much experience but I’ve ordered three watches from foreign retailers and have seen very different import fees imposed:
SWC Trench £477 (£60 fees)
SWC Ark £181 (£60 fees)
AliExpress Seagull 1963 £118 (£0 fees)
I expected to pay VAT and other import duties but was surprised that the Trench and the Ark had the same import fees, even though the Ark is half the price of the Trench. Both the SWC watches were sent using UPS while the Seagull was delivered by Royal Mail. I wonder if AliExpress had used UPS, would I have faced another £60 import fee?
Other UK collectors, have you experienced UPS charging import fees like this or are these charges correct?
Retired university lecturer now living by the ocean, enjoying the joy of nice watches and fountain pens.
Yup, import tax is a crippler. Especially from the USA, most other countries are prepared to mark as a "gift" so you get zero tax, or a substantially lower value is declared.
For some reason the Americans are far more law abiding and won't do this, so it's best just to avoid buying from there unfortunately. Japan often too.
Yup, import tax is a crippler. Especially from the USA, most other countries are prepared to mark as a "gift" so you get zero tax, or a substantially lower value is declared.
For some reason the Americans are far more law abiding and won't do this, so it's best just to avoid buying from there unfortunately. Japan often too.
Thanks for that, sadly SWC is one of my favourite brands but when I can I will avoid buying from the USA and Japan.
With regards to the import VAT element of the charge, it does depend what the sender has declared on the customs declaration. With your watch costing £477 for example the import VAT should have been around £95. Maybe SWC are declaring a lower set amount for the watch value. Shipments declared as gifts with no value can arouse suspicion, I received a watch a few years ago now from the US, which was declared as a gift, but the package had been cut open & resealed with tape from the department of homeland security!