Afraid of the German customs ;) Please read on :D

[Neuuubeh]

Hello guys,
I've been reading on this forum for some time, seems to be a fine place for the obsessed ones . I've been eyeing the dealers on the forum, but I am a bit afraid with ordering any replicas, heck, even genuine watches - I currently reside in Germany and I think everyone knows how tight the customs here are..
So what I wanted to ask is, are there any fellow souls located in Germany who have any experience with ordering from the dealers here? If so, please share your experience [smilie=angel10.gif]

Thanks a have a great day (night for me )

Regards,
Nick

 

[rooster133]

Nick, welcome! Guru is one of the mods here and a member from Germany. He always tells me how happy he is doing business with Precious Time, who is based in the UK (hence no customs risks). So you may want to check him out. Contact details etc for PT (as well as all the other dealers) are in the link in my signature. Have fun!

 

[rougefridge]

Hi Nick,

I'm exactly in the same situation as you (I live in Munich, I'm a noob and I'm afraid of the customs). I did exactly what rooster said: contact Guru, ask info about Precious Time, be reassured by Guru, order your watch ;-)
I ordered mine on 02.06.2009. PT received it last Friday and sent it to me (from the UK) after QC. I should now have it in a few days.... I'm quite impatient.
I'll post pics as soon as I get it!

Cheers,
Rouge

 

[Neuuubeh]

Hi Nick,
I'm exactly in the same situation as you (I live in Munich, I'm a noob and I'm afraid of the customs). I did exactly what rooster said: contact Guru, ask info about Precious Time, be reassured by Guru, order your watch ;-)
I ordered mine on 02.06.2009. PT received it last Friday and sent it to me (from the UK) after QC. I should now have it in a few days.... I'm quite impatient.
I'll post pics as soon as I get it!
Cheers,
Rouge

Please do post once you get it - what did you order?

Nick, welcome! Guru is one of the mods here and a member from Germany. He always tells me how happy he is doing business with Precious Time, who is based in the UK (hence no customs risks). So you may want to check him out. Contact details etc for PT (as well as all the other dealers) are in the link in my signature. Have fun!

Thanks, thats a nice solution . I did check Precious Time out, but he doesn't carry some of the models I'm considering (couldnt find a Hublot for example)."WBK" from the forums seems to be offering a "triangulated" shipping for Germany, I'll take a look there as well.
Anyone else have any ideas/tips for me?

Thanks!
Nick

 

[rougefridge]

Please do post once you get it - what did you order?

I ordered an IWC Spitfire Chrono. I'll post pics when I get it.

 

[guru]

Rooster already told you what to do. Precious Time from UK and don't worry about customs. I got now over 45 watches from him without any problems. It will take about 3 weeks from the moment you order until you have it.

 

[Neil66]

...... Anyone else have any ideas/tips for me?

Not sure if it's a tip or a trick but more venting of my experience - so far...
I live in Norway and have done for many years and thought the customs here were the worst as we're not in the EU... However, I've managed to get two in so far, from China, with no issues and a third on the way.
The seller of the first two marked the package with a low value circa $25 and declared the contents as novelty items / costume jewellery, sent by CMS, both watches sailed right through.
The third, I bought from a different Chinese seller, who used fedex, this time the watch is undergoing a clearance delay - hopefully just because it's been sitting here over the weekend... I will report back in a day or two & let you know!!
Cheers & good luck & enjoy this new hobby - I know I am!!

 

[rooster133]

will be curious to hear how that fedex shipment goes...

 

[Neil66]

Rooster already told you what to do. Precious Time from UK and don't worry about customs. I got now over 45 watches from him without any problems. It will take about 3 weeks from the moment you order until you have it.

Man that's a cool line up of wrist candy!!!

I'm so getting into this I can see me getting 45 too in a year or two at this rate - can I ask how you keep them all?
Did you go for a winder or do you have them on display somehow?

 

[Neil66]

will be curious to hear how that fedex shipment goes...

I'll post back here when I find out - fingers crossed!!

 

[guru]

10 are always on a winder, the rest on display.

 

[Neil66]

10 are always on a winder, the rest on display.

Sweet!

 

[Neil66]

10 are always on a winder, the rest on display.

Buuuuuut........ how am I gonna explain 45 watches to the "one who must be obeyed" - she's already cracking up at just three - hehe !!!

 

[rooster133]

how am I gonna explain 45 watches to the "one who must be obeyed" - she's already cracking up at just three - hehe !!!

If she's yelling at you, running around and waving her arms madly in the air like my girlfriend does when I piss her off, make sure she's wearing your reps. That way you won't need a winder after all.

 

[Neil66]

hahah!!! LMAO!!!
:lol:

 

[horologie_unitas]

i am also from germany....

but living in the US.

you need to stay under the radar of customs..... in my opinion, sending a package that is declared as low value ( $20 ) with expensive FEDEX shipping -
propably even EXPRESS......and several hundred $ insurance......will SURELY raise red flags with the customs.....makes sense, right ?

chose slowest, cheapest shipping.....and no insurance - just how you would do it in real life for a low value item.....and you should be safe.

 

[Neil66]

chose slowest, cheapest shipping.....and no insurance - just how you would do it in real life for a low value item.....and you should be safe.

Totally agree with you but I cocked up on that order - I initially requested standard airmail at circa 15 bucks S&H but when I got the email invoice I mistakenly paid the line item charge for the watch alone, doh!
The seller contacted me telling me I forgot to pay for the shipping & he recommended fedex - I must say I was a little disconcerted but it was only 30 bucks so thought, let's try it..
I haven't tried this seller before and no idea what he's stated on the customs declaration, we'll see.
I must say I'm a little miffed though - I requested a photo before sending, seller promised, but sent the watch immediately on payment & I'm still waiting on the pic..
Good luck to me!

 

[diggah]

Hi guyz,

yes I also live in Germany and have made my experience with some of the recommended dihlas. I also have some experience with private trades of used gens, so I feel somehow competent. In my personal experience, the factors in order of importance are

0. customs declaration on this parcel. Ok this is soo obvious it shouldn't need any mention. If you put "fake watch" on the parcel, it will be seized. If you put anything else, it may be opened by customs or not.

1. What the customs guy finds in the package upon first visual inspection. This is the key to successfully bypassing german customs. Put the watches inside some toys or trashy electronic equipment box like a speaker or power converter and it'll pass customs in no time.

2. The shipping agent. Some shippers hand all parcels over to customs, while others take care of business themselves if - and only if - package contents are (declared as) not suspicious.

Now to the shippers i have experience with. The "hidden watch inside some toy or equipment box" is employed at least by watcheden, davidsen and time4direct. It works like a charm every time. Angus from puretime tries the insuspicious labelling and shipper method but 1 out of 3 times a watch got seized... :x He did re-ship however once i emailed him the customs seizure forms....

HTH and enjoy your time,

diggah

 

[Neuuubeh]

1. What the customs guy finds in the package upon first visual inspection. This is the key to successfully bypassing german customs. Put the watches inside some toys or trashy electronic equipment box like a speaker or power converter and it'll pass customs in no time.
...
Now to the shippers i have experience with. The "hidden watch inside some toy or equipment box" is employed at least by watcheden, davidsen and time4direct. It works like a charm every time. Angus from puretime tries the insuspicious labelling and shipper method but 1 out of 3 times a watch got seized... :x He did re-ship however once i emailed him the customs seizure forms....

HTH and enjoy your time,

diggah

Haha, thats another way I guess .
Shipping from the UK still seems like the safest option, but it's nice to know one has options . So you havent had any problems with those 3 dealers till now?

 

[rooster133]

The only time I have had a dealer hide a rep inside a toy etc it was an unapproved dodgy dealer, in the old days. I have tried pretty much every dealer on this forum and none of them has ever done it. I would really not like that. If someone opens a package and finds a rep, you may still get away with it. If someone opens it and finds a concealment, that's a different story... :|