Sending watches to the good 'ol' US of A?

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ItsAliveJim
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Sending watches to the good 'ol' US of A?

Post by ItsAliveJim »

Does anyone have any idea what the best way to send a watch to the US is?

Looking online it seems Parcel Force and DHL offer tracked and insured but for about £45 :shock:

Plus, I went on a comparison site and there are restrictions on watches, with no compensation offered :shock: :shock:

I'm off to the PO later anyway so I'll ask there but just wondered if anyone on here had experience.

Cheers :thumbup:
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Dancematt
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Re: Sending watches to the good 'ol' US of A?

Post by Dancematt »

Always used RMSD. Maybe sent 3 or 4 over there including one to Mexico. Never had any issues.
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Re: Sending watches to the good 'ol' US of A?

Post by gwells »

your buyer will appreciate RMSD. if you send it DHL or other private shipper, the buyer will likely be dinged for customs duty. RMSD will then become USPS which will be far less likely (unlikely?) to trigger customs. but send it registered/signature required.
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ItsAliveJim
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Re: Sending watches to the good 'ol' US of A?

Post by ItsAliveJim »

Cheers fellas. I would never send anything other than signed-for, tracked and insured.

However, just got back from the PO and to send a watch to the US, assuming the box is about 500g, is a sniff under £60 for the full insurance value (£500). This is with Parcel Force.

To send the same package with Royal Mail, with the same tracking and signed-for option is about £16. But the maximum insurance value is £250.

Both take about 3-4 days, which is pretty good.

I've been in touch with the buyers to say I can do it for the lesser amount but can't be held liable for the difference if something goes wrong. Otherwise it's £60, which seems a bit steep considering it's only double the value, but triple the cost? Should the price not then be about £32 :?

What do we reckon? Is the lack of full insurance value going to be a problem do you think? Royal Mail have never let me down delivering to the EU.
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gwells
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Re: Sending watches to the good 'ol' US of A?

Post by gwells »

interesting. do you think CWL self-insures when they ship Royal Mail? i know mine came that way and very few CWLs fall under that £250 limit.

and yeah, the buyer may risk the £250 in RM insurance, but the flip side is risking paying customs duties on the £500. not completely sure what the duty is on watches from the UK (haven't been bitten yet, personally).
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Re: Sending watches to the good 'ol' US of A?

Post by ItsAliveJim »

Well the buyers have agreed to the two different options.

One went with the half insurance value ("I ship several international parcels daily at my job and can count on one hand the number that have been lost over the years.").

While the other buyer decided safety first and paid the full price :shock:

This is opening a new door for me because I'd previously only shipped to the EU. Let's hope it doesn't shut with a bang and come off its hinges :lol:
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Re: Sending watches to the good 'ol' US of A?

Post by jar »

Signature required is good but USPS Registered is a pain and slow. USPS Priority is faster and still full tracking.
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Re: Sending watches to the good 'ol' US of A?

Post by gwells »

i've never had a "speed" issue w/registered. other than the fact that i either had to be home at first delivery attempt or had to go to the actual PO to sign for it in person.

priority doesn't have a signature release. and the one you can add on is "anyone can sign for it." this may or may not matter to you.
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