Customs duties when ordering from the US

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Customs duties when ordering from the US

Post by Hedzlone »

Hi,

I am still unsure about potential duties when ordering in the US even after reading a lot of threads concerning this topic. I am interested in the 36mm Sealander for 765 USD. With tax (Massachusetts) this comes to 813 USD. I know that the customs duties limit is 800 USD. Do I need to worry about that or not in this case, i.e., is the 800 USD the pre-tax limit? I assume so, but it would be great if somebody could confirm that for me.

Thanks a lot!
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Re: Customs duties when ordering from the US

Post by Bahnstormer_vRS »

Hedzlone wrote: Sun Jan 08, 2023 5:02 am Hi,

I am still unsure about potential duties when ordering in the US even after reading a lot of threads concerning this topic. I am interested in the 36mm Sealander for 765 USD. With tax (Massachusetts) this comes to 813 USD. I know that the customs duties limit is 800 USD. Do I need to worry about that or not in this case, i.e., is the 800 USD the pre-tax limit? I assume so, but it would be great if somebody could confirm that for me.

Thanks a lot!
Welcome to the Forum. :wave: :wave:

Do not fret. The 800 USD threshold is the pre-tax value; ex-UK without VAT (UK's 20% Sales Tax).

A further point of benefit.

For 765 USD you appear to be getting the 36mm Sealander on one of the Vintage Oak straps from CW's website with pricing in USD.

If however, you look at the website with pricing in GBP (selection drop box at the base of the web page) the same watch is £635 including VAT; deduct 20% = £529.17. Converting this to USD (using xe.com) as would be done by your Credit Card or PayPal, at today's rate, gives 639.96 USD. A saving of over 100 USD.

At that rate, you could probably afford to buy on the bracelet and still be under the 800 USD threshold. I'll let you work that one out. :) :)


Good luck and we look forward to seeing some photos in due course. :wink: :wink:

Guy

PS> No doubt one of our USA Members, who is still asleep in bed at the moment, will confirm the above in due course.
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Re: Customs duties when ordering from the US

Post by ajax87 »

^^^ Yep! Switch the currency to GBP before you add it to the cart. It’ll save you a good bit as Guy outlined and keep it well under the import fee threshold. Your bank might or might not charge a currency conversion fee, so look into that and make sure you’re not surprised.
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Re: Customs duties when ordering from the US

Post by jkbarnes »

I can confirm this also! I bought my C63 in pounds and saved significantly off the advertised price in dollars. I used a MasterCard. They maintain a conversion tool that will show you the converted price at the going rate they’re using. The tool also allows you to factor in the fee your issuing bank might charge. In my case that was 0.00!

Between the exchange rate and a CW voucher, I picked up my C63 for around $535+ relevant US sakes tax!
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Re: Customs duties when ordering from the US

Post by Hedzlone »

Thank you very much for this information. That's very helpful. I will definitely try the GBP route.

I am very excited about this watch and can't wait to try it on! Pictures will definitely follow.

Thanks again for your help.
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Re: Customs duties when ordering from the US

Post by jkbarnes »

You won’t be disappointed. The 36mm Sealander is a fantastic watch. What color are you thinking? I went with the white.
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Re: Customs duties when ordering from the US

Post by rkovars »

Hedzlone wrote: Mon Jan 09, 2023 4:07 am Thank you very much for this information. That's very helpful. I will definitely try the GBP route.

I am very excited about this watch and can't wait to try it on! Pictures will definitely follow.

Thanks again for your help.
One word of caution - be sure to use a payment method that has a low or no foreign transaction fee. Also note that there will probably be a 2-3% fee for conversion. You still come out ahead but you need to be a little careful on how you go about it. :thumbup:
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Re: Customs duties when ordering from the US

Post by Hedzlone »

jkbarnes wrote: Mon Jan 09, 2023 12:07 pm You won’t be disappointed. The 36mm Sealander is a fantastic watch. What color are you thinking? I went with the white.
Yes, I saw your posts. The white version looks really good too, but I think I'll go with the black version. I will probably also buy one of these tide straps additionally. I think they look really good in a more casual setting (see example below with the 39mm version).
c63.png
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Re: Customs duties when ordering from the US

Post by Hedzlone »

rkovars wrote: Mon Jan 09, 2023 4:39 pm
Hedzlone wrote: Mon Jan 09, 2023 4:07 am Thank you very much for this information. That's very helpful. I will definitely try the GBP route.

I am very excited about this watch and can't wait to try it on! Pictures will definitely follow.

Thanks again for your help.
One word of caution - be sure to use a payment method that has a low or no foreign transaction fee. Also note that there will probably be a 2-3% fee for conversion. You still come out ahead but you need to be a little careful on how you go about it. :thumbup:
Uh... that's a very good point. I planned on using Paypal, but they have a 4.5% foreign transaction fee (which seems high). A credit card might be the better choice here (but need to look into it). Thanks!
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Re: Customs duties when ordering from the US

Post by ItsLunchBOX »

jkbarnes wrote: Sun Jan 08, 2023 2:45 pm I can confirm this also! I bought my C63 in pounds and saved significantly off the advertised price in dollars. I used a MasterCard. They maintain a conversion tool that will show you the converted price at the going rate they’re using. The tool also allows you to factor in the fee your issuing bank might charge. In my case that was 0.00!

Between the exchange rate and a CW voucher, I picked up my C63 for around $535+ relevant US sakes tax!
I need to remember this trick for the next watch I order. :thumbup:
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Re: Customs duties when ordering from the US

Post by audio.bill »

Hedzlone wrote: Mon Jan 09, 2023 6:03 pm
rkovars wrote: Mon Jan 09, 2023 4:39 pm
Hedzlone wrote: Mon Jan 09, 2023 4:07 am Thank you very much for this information. That's very helpful. I will definitely try the GBP route.

I am very excited about this watch and can't wait to try it on! Pictures will definitely follow.

Thanks again for your help.
One word of caution - be sure to use a payment method that has a low or no foreign transaction fee. Also note that there will probably be a 2-3% fee for conversion. You still come out ahead but you need to be a little careful on how you go about it. :thumbup:
Uh... that's a very good point. I planned on using Paypal, but they have a 4.5% foreign transaction fee (which seems high). A credit card might be the better choice here (but need to look into it). Thanks!
If you have a credit card registered with your PayPal account during checkout you can choose to have the CC do the conversion rather than PP. Then any fee for conversion or a foreign transaction fee are only those from the CC avoiding the high PP fees. You need to know what the related fees are from your CC in advance since it doesn't detail them on the PP site. Capital One credit or debit cards for example have no additional fees on foreign transactions.
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Re: Customs duties when ordering from the US

Post by ItsLunchBOX »

Bahnstormer_vRS wrote: Sun Jan 08, 2023 9:15 am
Hedzlone wrote: Sun Jan 08, 2023 5:02 am Hi,

I am still unsure about potential duties when ordering in the US even after reading a lot of threads concerning this topic. I am interested in the 36mm Sealander for 765 USD. With tax (Massachusetts) this comes to 813 USD. I know that the customs duties limit is 800 USD. Do I need to worry about that or not in this case, i.e., is the 800 USD the pre-tax limit? I assume so, but it would be great if somebody could confirm that for me.

Thanks a lot!
Welcome to the Forum. :wave: :wave:

Do not fret. The 800 USD threshold is the pre-tax value; ex-UK without VAT (UK's 20% Sales Tax).

A further point of benefit.

For 765 USD you appear to be getting the 36mm Sealander on one of the Vintage Oak straps from CW's website with pricing in USD.

If however, you look at the website with pricing in GBP (selection drop box at the base of the web page) the same watch is £635 including VAT; deduct 20% = £529.17. Converting this to USD (using xe.com) as would be done by your Credit Card or PayPal, at today's rate, gives 639.96 USD. A saving of over 100 USD.

At that rate, you could probably afford to buy on the bracelet and still be under the 800 USD threshold. I'll let you work that one out. :) :)


Good luck and we look forward to seeing some photos in due course. :wink: :wink:

Guy

PS> No doubt one of our USA Members, who is still asleep in bed at the moment, will confirm the above in due course.
Let me make sure I am following this. So, if in US, select GBP and automatically subtract 20% from the GBP price because this is for VAT which I do not have to pay if shipping to the US?

One dumb question, how do I switch the pricing to GBP? Mine defaults to USD.
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Re: Customs duties when ordering from the US

Post by rkovars »

ItsLunchBOX wrote: Tue Jan 10, 2023 6:26 pm
Bahnstormer_vRS wrote: Sun Jan 08, 2023 9:15 am
Hedzlone wrote: Sun Jan 08, 2023 5:02 am Hi,

I am still unsure about potential duties when ordering in the US even after reading a lot of threads concerning this topic. I am interested in the 36mm Sealander for 765 USD. With tax (Massachusetts) this comes to 813 USD. I know that the customs duties limit is 800 USD. Do I need to worry about that or not in this case, i.e., is the 800 USD the pre-tax limit? I assume so, but it would be great if somebody could confirm that for me.

Thanks a lot!
Welcome to the Forum. :wave: :wave:

Do not fret. The 800 USD threshold is the pre-tax value; ex-UK without VAT (UK's 20% Sales Tax).

A further point of benefit.

For 765 USD you appear to be getting the 36mm Sealander on one of the Vintage Oak straps from CW's website with pricing in USD.

If however, you look at the website with pricing in GBP (selection drop box at the base of the web page) the same watch is £635 including VAT; deduct 20% = £529.17. Converting this to USD (using xe.com) as would be done by your Credit Card or PayPal, at today's rate, gives 639.96 USD. A saving of over 100 USD.

At that rate, you could probably afford to buy on the bracelet and still be under the 800 USD threshold. I'll let you work that one out. :) :)


Good luck and we look forward to seeing some photos in due course. :wink: :wink:

Guy

PS> No doubt one of our USA Members, who is still asleep in bed at the moment, will confirm the above in due course.
Let me make sure I am following this. So, if in US, select GBP and automatically subtract 20% from the GBP price because this is for VAT which I do not have to pay if shipping to the US?

One dumb question, how do I switch the pricing to GBP? Mine defaults to USD.
The switch is at the very bottom left of the website page.

The price will adjust (subtract VAT) after you start checkout and add your shipping address.
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Re: Customs duties when ordering from the US

Post by ItsLunchBOX »

ItsLunchBOX wrote: Tue Jan 10, 2023 6:26 pm
Bahnstormer_vRS wrote: Sun Jan 08, 2023 9:15 am
Hedzlone wrote: Sun Jan 08, 2023 5:02 am Hi,

I am still unsure about potential duties when ordering in the US even after reading a lot of threads concerning this topic. I am interested in the 36mm Sealander for 765 USD. With tax (Massachusetts) this comes to 813 USD. I know that the customs duties limit is 800 USD. Do I need to worry about that or not in this case, i.e., is the 800 USD the pre-tax limit? I assume so, but it would be great if somebody could confirm that for me.

Thanks a lot!
Welcome to the Forum. :wave: :wave:

Do not fret. The 800 USD threshold is the pre-tax value; ex-UK without VAT (UK's 20% Sales Tax).

A further point of benefit.

For 765 USD you appear to be getting the 36mm Sealander on one of the Vintage Oak straps from CW's website with pricing in USD.

If however, you look at the website with pricing in GBP (selection drop box at the base of the web page) the same watch is £635 including VAT; deduct 20% = £529.17. Converting this to USD (using xe.com) as would be done by your Credit Card or PayPal, at today's rate, gives 639.96 USD. A saving of over 100 USD.

At that rate, you could probably afford to buy on the bracelet and still be under the 800 USD threshold. I'll let you work that one out. :) :)


Good luck and we look forward to seeing some photos in due course. :wink: :wink:

Guy

PS> No doubt one of our USA Members, who is still asleep in bed at the moment, will confirm the above in due course.
Let me make sure I am following this. So, if in US, select GBP and automatically subtract 20% from the GBP price because this is for VAT which I do not have to pay if shipping to the US?

One dumb question, how do I switch the pricing to GBP? Mine defaults to USD.
ok I cleared cookies on my computer and now I get GBP. So just to make sure I am following this. I just paid $875 for the c65 Aquitaine (Nearly New) which I will have to pay duty on because it's over the $800 threshold. If I would have followed your process it would have been

£728 - 20% (VAT) = £582.40 (Since US doesn't pay VAT)
£582.40 converted to USD is $708.37, which would save me ~$167 (minus credit card currency conversion fees) off the top and I wouldn't have to pay duty fees?

Is this right?
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Re: Customs duties when ordering from the US

Post by Bahnstormer_vRS »

^^^^ Sounds about right. My :thumbup: :thumbup:

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In small proportions, we just beautie see:
And in short measures, life may perfect bee. - Ben Jonson (1572 – 1637)

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