Question for EU people who bought Erebus watches

Oh and what watches could be alternatives for this watch?

When getting a delivery to Germany from abroad, we have always to pay VAT (19% of the value + shipping) and duties of 0,80€ for watches over 150€ (which is neglectable) plus typically a fee on top of shipping to the shipping company for doing the deceleration etc. that is totally individual (at least, I have not seen a pattern or standard price).

If I should guess, you probably need to add something like 20-25% in average to the value of the watch.

I only had one case where, for whatever reason, did not have to pay anything extra.

My experience has been the same as @HeikoM71 although a different country and 21% VAT, even gifts are taxed. The time that packages from abroad somehow slipped through customs are long gone, at least over here. Up your ordered value with the percentage for your country and €10,- handling fees for the courier so you know what to expect.

That's a hard question and very individual. I have opions about his watches but they won't help you and they don't matter because you like the watch. I would suggest to look at other microbrands. Search using #microbrands and look up the brands you like.

In México it's a 40% tax, overall

Here in Ireland, we pay 10% customs duty on the price, and then a further 23% on the original price + the duty + courier costs. So comes in about 33%. The only way around it is for the seller to under state the value. Basically rules out the deals from USA and Japan.

Holy cow... I just learned about VAT. I'm so sorry everyone 😔🙏🏼

I don't think there is a minimum amount for VAT anymore. Even when buying just straps abroad worth 60€ you still get hit by VAT. Plus the service fees from the delivery company that are greedy goblins and will charge an extra 20€, sometimes more than the VAT itself.

Hi Martins. Yes you have to pay taxes, which in this case I presume you are right it would be around 100 euros. Sometimes you have to pay the tax fee to the shipping company. You will get a payment request after the watch is arrived to the customs.

Unfortunately it is unavoidable.

Good luck!

In some cases when I ordered from China directly, usually Aliexpress brands, they somehow managed to ship their watches to Germany so that I didn't have to pay additional tax or other fees. Not sure how they're doing it.

However with any micro brand I ordered so far, I was hit by the approximate 30% on top off the item price.

And that's why that "sensational value proposition" of some microbrands doesn't necessarily apply to us customers in the EU 😂

Sometimes when the exchange rate is in favor of the Euro I find it a good alternative to buy from Japanese sellers on Ebay because Ebay now displays almost exactly what amount you have to pay for your country's VAT and it's paid directly in the Ebay payment process (doesn't work with every seller but with a lof it not most). You don't have to pay anything else on delivery and you get a number to prove the VAT was already paid.

By this way you can purchase some great JDM Orients, Citizens and Casios, for example the Oceanus line.

My understanding is that, because the item is coming from outside the Single Market the transaction is subject to the specific rules and taxes of the destination country itself, Latvia in this case. In other words, the transaction is considered to be between two specific countries. So best check your local rules.

In December 2023 I have bought a Casio Oceanus from Japan: 349 USD. VAT + fedex tax for cusoms service approximately 80 EURO=60EURO VAT +19EURO customs tax for fedex(in Romania, VAT is 19%) Sorry for mixing currencies, but i don't have the papers whith exact amounts in my hands now.

A fellow Latvian. Nice. I don’t know the answer but what I would do is find someone who is going to where they’re made and just ask them to bring back one for you. I’ve done that with electronics.

Another, simpler solution - message the store and ask them about this. They’ll know