Watch buying from Japan
A tale of two preowned wrist watches
As I have been assembling my collection of watches, it has become quite clear that all dealers and all shipping companies are not equal.
Watch #1, a Ulysse Nardin San Marco GMT that I had to have, was purchased in mid May through a dealer who goes by WTIMES on the Chrono24 website. It was shipped from Tokyo, Japan via UPS. The tracking number was provided and I could see that it arrived at UPS International hub in Louisville KY. For days it didn’t move from that location. I contacted the shipper who said it must be a US issue and I would be better looking into it from my end. After talking to a number of UPS customer service retards I finally got to someone with half a brain who was able to find out why the package was not moving. Apparently, UPS requires a watch form to be filled out stating the individual value of the case, the movement and the strap or bracelet. They sent me this form witch I filled out honestly. I was then charged $40 something for Duty and almost $80 more for the customs broker. A few days later the watch arrived in excellent condition.
Watch #2, a Limited Edition Grand Seiko was purchased from a dealer known as shu590218nona from eBay website. It was shipped from Osaka, Japan via Fedex. The tracking number was provided and I watched the progress with no delays for four days. I was notified that the package was going to arrive earlier than anticipated and that it would require a signature. It arrived without any customs issues and no duty or brokers fees have been billed to me.
It is hard to say if Fedex is superior to UPS. Maybe shu590218nona just filled out the shipping documents correctly and WTIMES did not. Perhaps, shu590218nona has more experience sending watches to the US than the other dealer. From where I sit it is difficult to decipher the whole situation with the information available to me. It is certain though that the right Dealer/Shipper combination can save you a lot of hassle. I wish I could conclude by offering a means to know who makes it easy versus who does not. The only advice I have is read as much feedback as you can and if you do receive a watch shipped from overseas, please leave feedback and possibly warn the next watch buying colleague of ours about what type of experience he may encounter.
My name is Rich and I am building a collection of unique complications. I know it sounds more like the way you start a watch museum and not a personal collection. So far I have a Tourbillion, Retrogra...
I've purchased from "professional dealers" from Japan off Chrono24. Based on my research and talking to a number of folks, here are my simple heuristics:
Check these guys out. They have over fifteen hundred verified sales on the platform and nearly 2,500 current listings.
They know how to fill out the customs forms to minimize duties and to ensure no delays.
My experience with UPS has been HORRIBLE, so I'm certainly not surprised by yours.
Interesting, you are more likely to get DHL or FedEX when shopping internationally no doubt about it and you rarely have a choice. As OmegaNut said, buy the dealer. A legit dealer will always properly disclose the value and not try to mess with customs. It will catch up eventually.
Personally, I would rather have something delivered by donkey than FedEx as they historically are the slowest in the US. Throw in the fact the drivers are independent contractors who simply do not care about what they are delivering and I straight up do not do business with anyone shipping with them in the US. They are especially worse if you live in a city where they have no issue leaving a package on your doorstep 8 feet from the sidewalk in a high foot traffic area. Needless to say, nothing that was erroneously shipped to my home in the city ever made it to my hands by the time I got home.
All that said, everyone has different experiences and one's experience with local drivers be it FedEX, UPS, or USPS, largely determines one preference. You could have a great FedEx contractor and lousy UPS, but all all in all FedEx and USPS have better logistics than FedEx.
Isn't there a value that triggers customs duties - like $800 $US? Every overseas buyer whose watch I have looked at says Customs duties are the buyer's "responsibility." ????
Thus far, buying the superior Citizen Solar watches, I have had no customs problems. The problem is delivery. Fed Ex and DHL seem constitutionally incapable of final delivery. Instead, my neighbor gets the package, or a guy two roads over (two miles west) gets the package, or it is floating in the roadside ditch near my rural mailbox, or it was hung from the flag of said mailbox in a thin, clear plastic bag and only the tattered stump of the bag is there when I get home. Or I was "not available" (lie) and the package it at a drug store miles away. Last DHL experience, I happened to be leaving when the DHL truck pulled into my neighbor's driveway almost 100 yards away. I hailed the truck and, sure enough, it was my watch I was expecting from Japan - NOT intended for neighbor Kowalski. Every order is an adventure. USPS takes stupidly long to get packages to my area, but when it gets to my local PO, it is delivered promptly. UPS is in the middle - weaker than USPS but at least they hang the plastic bag in a tree half way up our drive, where no one on the road is likely to see it, or actually put it on our porch in a protective plastic bag.
The duty free limit in the the US is $800. Over that, you should expect duty and a brokerage fee. Some people get lucky, but don’t count on it.
The fault was with UPS, not the seller, who has exactly no control over the matter once it hits US shores. UPS should have notified you promptly about customs and the worksheet, and not sat on it for days (and possibly charging you a storage fee during that time). They need it to file the paperwork with US customs, acting as you customs broker; they’re following US law.
With FedEx, it again had nothing to do with the seller. Either you got lucky, or they may slap you with a bill later (which I’ve heard is how FedEx handles it).
BTW, if you have a say in the matter, ie you have the opportunity to fill in the worksheet, it pays to put the bulk of the value of the watch in the movement, which is taxed at a low flat rate, rather than the case or strap.
Marc from Long Island Watch explains it as well as anybody:
https://youtu.be/YG5PX31mDUw
@Mr.Dee.Bater any idea what MIYARAN's import tax is on say a $5k watch (or any number significantly over $800). I had a watch over $1500 that came in with no fees, and then a $1000 watch that had fees, so it does seem to vary a lot!
@Mr.Dee.Bater any idea what MIYARAN's import tax is on say a $5k watch (or any number significantly over $800). I had a watch over $1500 that came in with no fees, and then a $1000 watch that had fees, so it does seem to vary a lot!
No idea! You should reach out to them and ask directly. Be careful of customs and any other random silliness. Since this post from a while ago, I’ve stopped buying international. While the exchange rate makes for incredible savings, I had an issue where I spent 3 weeks trying to get a watch out of customs, and then got hit with an additional $500 in “California Use Tax, for importing a watch into California!
Since then, I’ve decided that I’d rather pay more than deal with the headaches. Or government is pretty good at dissuading us from buying things from foreigners!