Buying a watch from the US - Customs and fees?

run_Forrest_run

Seeing as the prices on Amazon are fairly steep I am thinking of buying a g shock on ebay from a seller in the US. Seller has 100% rating and seems to sell many g shocks.

How does the customs work, will customs hold the watch and send me the bill (I have no problem with this) or will the courier who is handling the item pay the customs and present me with a bill on arrival along with a 'handling' fee on top of customs, I hate this, I would happily pay the customs without a courier paying it and me paying them for the pleasure.

Has anyone here experienced this? I might pop a question off to the seller but they may not know or care about the fees imposed by the courier on the buyer would they?

m4r10

I didn't buy anything lately from US, but from what I've seen, on most items the import duties are already calculated and you'd have to pay them at the same time when you pay for the item.

You can check sellers from Singapore, they have loads of g-shocks and their prices are among the most reasonable on ebay.

run_Forrest_run

Thanks bedlam, good god that calculator said the total owed would be €165, jesus add that to the cost of the watch and I'd buy it in Ireland for that. Oh well, if it that is accurate I will continue to check out other options.

run_Forrest_run

bedlam wrote: »

That seems excessive for a gshock, I paid in or around that for something in low 4 figures.

oh really? I thought it was high too. Ebay quoted a figure of about $54 are customs and fees due. The cost of the watch is $209 and shipping is $24.
I entered the info into that duty calculator. Not to worry, I'm in no rush sure.

bogmanfan

I've got a watch coming in from the US at the moment. I looked up the tracking number this morning and it's got the dreaded 'Item sent to customs' message. Will let ye know how I get on.

Deep Thought

bogmanfan wrote: »

I've got a watch coming in from the US at the moment. I looked up the tracking number this morning and it's got the dreaded 'Item sent to customs' message. Will let ye know how I get on.

Wonders what this is....

bogmanfan

It's a very nice Meccaniche Veloci. I've had a few of them before, and they are really great watches for the money. Plus, their designs are nicely original.
Anyway, it's reading as having cleared customs now, so should be on its way.

Deep Thought wrote: »

Wonders what this is....

bogmanfan

Picked it up this morning on the way to work. €72.91 was the charge, of which €6 was the An Post handling fee :rolleyes:
Anyway, luckily for me the seller had declared it at $500, presumably to qualify for international shipping, so the charges weren't too bad.