Shipping to the UK from M2M vs TD

[Hman12]

Hi

So I recently was made to chew on a conundrum in regards to shipping to the UK from an M2M sale.

The kind seller raised the issue that selling the watch from his location (Germany) to mine (UK) would not be safe and would raise customs charges.

I have personally not had this issue when buying through a TD before.

Is there a reason as to why an M2M sale could be considerably more difficult then a TD in regards to postage?

- please forgive my ignorance on the fine details that are most likely very obvious to many of yourselves.

 

[p0pperini]

I'd suggest that you get the sender to mark the customs declaration as a low value (say, 15 euros) and describe it as "broken watch for parts" or "watch parts". Send it via DHL (tracked) rather than any fancy courier, and it'll be delivered in the UK by Royal Mail.

I recently sent a rep Daytona in the other direction from the UK to a buyer in Germany, sent via Royal Mail tracked, and in order to minimise the risk I wrapped the watch head and the clasp in masking tape (you can use art masking tape or decorator's tape, neither or which will leave any glue residue) to cover the Rolex logos. And I added a note in the box "As discussed via email, here is the broken watch for the parts you require". I have no idea whether this really makes any difference, but it can't do any harm.

Edit: My tactic is a slight variation on this advice from KS Watches (UK TD) on how he's shipping watches into Europe, post Brexit:

https://forum.replica-watch.info/fo...-shipping-brexit-update?p=9638756#post9638756

Although I'm not a fan of shipping watches in padded envelopes - I'll continue to use a sturdy box.

 

[Hman12]

p0pperini- your advice has been so detailed and clear. You have completely alleviated any fear od not being sble to send or receive within the EU
thank you so much - this will be my solution to the post brexit issue we find ourselves in (unless the same customs problem used to happen before)

I am genuinely so grateful and i shall use this advice again when i need to refer someone else to this.

 

[Markangel]

Hi

So I recently was made to chew on a conundrum in regards to shipping to the UK from an M2M sale.

The kind seller raised the issue that selling the watch from his location (Germany) to mine (UK) would not be safe and would raise customs charges.

I have personally not had this issue when buying through a TD before.

Is there a reason as to why an M2M sale could be considerably more difficult then a TD in regards to postage?

- please forgive my ignorance on the fine details that are most likely very obvious to many of yourselves.

That's a really good point about couriers. €15 value and a €50 courier service? Thanks!

 

[JayBee0815]

Since Brexit I had three M2M-shipments from UK to Germany und two from Germany to UK. All of them arrived safely. All packages where declared as "watch parts" with a value of around 25 Euro/GBP. I would not use masking tape or something like this. In Germany we say "dont wake sleeping dogs" ;-) Afaik most (if not all) packages in Germany are scanned with x-rays and if the machine finds something suspicious like a masked content this might draw the attention of the customs officers. But this is of course just speculation ;-)
The only new thing since 1st July is, that you have to pay the VAT in Germany for a UK-Import. But that has imo no influence on the customs risk, as long you fill the customs declaration.
And a little tip: Please write the numbers on the declaration clean! My M2M-Partner from wrote some unreadable hieroglyphs and the customs read 150 GPB instead of 15 GBP and so I had to pay over 30 Euro VAT on arrival ;-)

 

[p0pperini]

I would not use masking tape or something like this. In Germany we say "dont wake sleeping dogs" ;-) Afaik most (if not all) packages in Germany are scanned with x-rays and if the machine finds something suspicious like a masked content this might draw the attention of the customs officers. But this is of course just speculation ;-)

Fair enough point - although I'm not sure how well an x-ray machine would differentiate the bit of tape wrapped round a watch head from the rest of the packaging (bubble wrap etc) that the head is encased in. But as you say, all our efforts in the obfuscation department are speculative as no one really knows what's most effective. When all's said and done, if a customs official happens by chance to take any real interest in your package, then all is probably lost.

Generally what saves our reps from being intercepted is the sheer volume of parcels being posted around the world... Which means it's our duty to keep trading reps and adding as much extra parcel traffic to the total as possible.

 

[Rupert Fripp]

I just had a M2M euro watch sent to my in-laws in Spain as we’re going there for Xmas.

After reading this I’m now wondering whether I take the risk to have it sent here so it can adorn my wrist earlier than the end of the year!