Itβs the sellers responsibility to get the package to you in one piece.
If he under declares and it gets lost in the post will you accept the insured value as your refund?
Technically speaking it is tax fraud, Pablo_Flox. Any goods going across the water either way are subject to VAT and import duties. The latter are near zero but if you are buying a GBP2000 (total cost including shipping and insurance) watch from the UK, you are due to pay β¬540 VAT here in Ireland. In general people in the UK are more compliant with rules and regulations than people in Ireland. I think that is hardly up for discussion π€£
Interested to get an infomed answer on this too, the last time I bought a watch from the UK I got him to declare it as a gift with a nominal value. Now I'm currently in negotiations with someone else in the UK about a purchase and he is absolutely refusing to consider it and seems offended that I asked!
As far as I can tell it's 23% of the watch + shipping cost, and a bit extra to the delivery company for collecting it, but hopefully I've misunderstood.
I agree with TF regarding an open forum rather than a private server. We all remember the lad who found the Rolex in car boot sale biscuit tin. Treasure.
I pretty much agree with Wibbs and I personally follow a similar forum level of activity. Apart from here I'm active on a mainly American P&R forum and that's it, no (un)social media.
Think activity on here, which was never very hectic, is starting to pick up again.
But I think we generally like helping people with their watch queries when users randomly pop into this sub-forum - though with this new format I'm not sure if users can "randomly pop in" - longstanding users are having issues finding these threads as it is.
Random passersby are effectively gone now TF.
Seems like some people have migrated to Reddit too (I'm not a fan of how they display their replies) -
Reddit is OK for many subjects, but judging by the watch and car and other subs I've been on they either die on the vine or have large memberships shouting at each other. π
something like Watchuseek's layout works and they did recently switch to a new platform too I understand.
Yep they did and the switch didn't bugger the site or reduce usability and happened pretty seamlessly.
Actually this watch forum, though certainly down on traffic, is funny enough a lot more active than many previously active forums on this site. I suspect those posters who went around a few forums a day made up the bulk of those now dead forums and can't be arsed digging through the labyrinth anymore, whereas if you're more like into browsing one or two forums you're more likely to stick around because once you found those forums you could bookmark them and have one tab open. Passing traffic is almost completely gone. Which is a major problem for a discussion site.
TBH the only forums I browse now are this one and the feedback forum to look at the carcrash in progress. I've only looked for the other forum I mod tGC a handful of times since the "upgrade". I suspect I'm not alone in doing similar.
The only problem with things like a private discussion server like Discord (which can be a positive too) is that the general public can't access the information and raise questions - some of the best elements of a public discussion forum in my opinion - people will be locked in to the membership (plus invites too of course).
Positive being that you know exactly who's looking at the information and it can lead to people being comfortable sharing more private details that they wouldn't want to on a publicly accessible server (just for example - model 3, 4, 5 and 6 designs for SΓ³lΓ‘s) - so pros and cons to both.
Seems like some people have migrated to Reddit too (I'm not a fan of how they display their replies) - something like Watchuseek's layout works and they did recently switch to a new platform too I understand.
Discord is very good for some subjects, online games would be one, or general "live" chitchat. You could say similar for whatsapp too I suppose. For speciality hobbies/subjects not nearly so much. I've been on two watch discords and after an intial flurry of here we are and here is a pic of my watch they both died a death within months. Other social discords I've been on seem to follow a pattern. Kinda like the old private forums here on Boards. If they're under a certain number of posters they usually die off pretty quick. The ones that are sustainable are larger groups and aren't reliant on one or two cornerstone members.
Thanks, sounds very strenuous.
^^What's PES?
About 3 years ago all the PES players stopped using boards because of the limits on functionality and use discord which is 100 times better. Now there's loads on it and it's far easier to organise things.
hi folks,
question on buying a watch from the uk (wales) privately. In terms of import duty - if you buy a watch worth say 1k and the seller marks down to the value on postage to 100 pounds. What do anpost charge? Will they just take the value marked on the package and apply import to that value or will they open the package and try and come up with a 'market' value for the watch and charge on that? I know when buying from ebay before via addresspal in the US ive been asked to produce the ebay invoice - but this would be for a private purchase with no invoice involved. I do realize there's a risk of marking down the value of the watch in the case it gets lost on the way the claim could only be for the marked value.
Cheers,
Mick
Pop me in a whatsapp if it starts. I'm on another here and it is very good.
CT answers the phone "Ahoyhoy"
I agree Wibbs a conventional forum is the best for information and as a respoitory. FB and whats app are more "News" platforms where previous posts disappear into the ether. However a Whatapp or a FB might be a good idea. I would be keen to contribute but not administer if anyone else wants to set one up.
Clearly you look like a drug dealer B. π€£
I partly guessed when you asked alright. You are still using the 'burner' Nokia? I got some funny looks the last time I used mine in Kildare villageπ²
But my phone isn't an iphone.
Whatsapp is OK, but like arsebook it's more a show and tell platform. I've seen that with a couple of car forums that went that route. They went from large archives of great information as well as show and tell, to here's a pic of my car/pics of what I'm selling. Plus arsebook or whatsapp aren't searchable. They're an instant hit type platform. For subjects like this IMHO anyway forums are still better. Plus as noted above most watch collectors are middle aged farts like myself and they tend to prefer the forum layout.
That green knob on an iphone that looks like this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WhatsApp Sorry forgot the second 'p'
What's a whatsap?
I don't have much to add to the above conversation, except that if we want boards to survive the users simply have to keep using it. Some of us on another forum have started a whatsap group. Is that an option here if this place goes titsup?
Unlike the admins Fitz π I'm not on a power trip, too light of touch too I've been told... Might be a plan though. The forum layout is still very popular among watch guys. Well as you've rightly pointed out yourself it's mostly middle aged guys in the hobby and they generally prefer both the familiar and the forum format itself. There's a growing younger demogrpahic too of course, but they're more found on the 'Gram and Reddit, even Arsebook.
Funny enough though I'm also a middle aged oulfella now, back in the early days of watch groups online in the 90's it was still mostly middle aged guys and I was one of the few enfant terribles π That's in the vintage realm mind you, though even on the Timezone forums it was again mostly older guys even in the current market stuff. Going even further back to the 80's and early 90's on trips to the UK and watch sellers there I was very much the odd one out being a youngfella. Though the guys I met(and later those online) who were older and knew their sh1t were very helpful to the newbie and gave great advice and steered me well, including a couple of dealers. One chap in London who must have been in his 60's put me off buying a more expensive watch he was selling and pointing me to a better and cheaper one he wasn't. I ended up buying my 1916 Longines Trench from him as he told me it was one of the lowest mileage ones that passed through his hands and 30 years later he wasn't wrong. The damn thing's one of the most accurate and reliable watch I've ever had.
Actually FItz your journey through the luxury current watch collecting area has been informative and you've been quick with your advice to people considering the same journey. EG avoiding buying the budget watch when you really want the more expensive one and stuff like that. Fair play. Learning from native guides like you was what saved me from bad purchases and you're paying it forward with the newbies in your area. Ditto for your 'Tube channel with the very novel "who should buy this". I've tried to do similar with the vintage stuff here where I try to give values and what is or isn't a good buy for someone reading. IMHO too many watch commentators don't do this, though so many are newbies themselves with deep pockets and shallow brains, or well dressed embryos reading brand adverts.
Experience counts, because it's usually earned from monumental fcukups as well as triumphs. Or maybe that's just me... It's not just age either. If I were looking to buy a 1960's Seiko I'd be wearing out my keyboard and his patience PMing our own Irishplayer and he's a youngfella. Well compared to us anyway... I steered him pretty well on his 1930's pilots watch so I'd be extracting my pound of flesh there. π
Cant delete the bit I dont want to address another crap feature of new boards on a quote. But the bit about wanting a unpatched platofrm certainly doesnt seem to be working out. Its hard to imagine that if boards was in financial distress to the point where a week long shutdown and new platform was a necessity, that with the current I would guess 75% decrease in traffic, that it will be around in 6 months.
Time maybe for you to consider a dedicated watchf forum wibbs?
I was banned for 3 months and my admin privileges removed due to a complaint from a fairly new user that I had publicly called him trouble maker after looking at his ban and infraction history. I had been on boards since 2004. That vocal user has since been lifetime site banned for racist abuse. Was it worth it for boards to plicate that fellow and make a pariah out of me?
I hear you, but DeVore would have banned you for that too even in the golden days. He was always of the privacy of users was sacrosanct angle, especially if that was seen to be abused by mods(or other members PMs) and a fair number got demodded and/or banned for that sorta thing. It's less about placation(even of knobends) and more about keeping a consistent standard. Things like PMs and mod stuff are no go areas not to be used beyond their private purpose. IMHO this goes triple for long term members who should know the score more than a newbie. The only DRP I ever had was someone being a bit of a dick and rules lawyering and an admin/cmod backing them. I didn't agree, but it is what it is and looking back it was his only recourse really.
I agree re VB running and hosting, but old Boards was so patched over the years it was barely VB any more. A very different animal and why it used to fart out 503 or whatever errors on the regular. It needed a full time hand on deck. A new platform that isn't patched to feck that doesn't require that will cost less. Never mind that VB itself is no longer supported as an entity. Since 2013 IIRC? XenForo again IIRC is the new version of that sorta thing.
I have run VBulliting forums in the past, the cost nothing to run, and VBullitin has no size limits, and old data puts no increasing burden on the database it just sits there on the databasee out of the cache.. All servers are virtual these days run from large data centres and again this costs very little. Renting rack time in a data centre is again not expensive and devolves all the uptime issues, DDos etc to the datacenters.. The traffic is down on what is was ten years ago buy their own admission but yet running costs are up and somehow a new platform will solve it?? It makes no sense what so ever.
Having meeting pods etc in Boards hq is likely the issue here. The admins I have had interactions with here were officious, disloyal and had totally incorrect understanding of the GDPR legislation. DeVore was sound I knew him, and those were the golden days, but the current crop of admins have run the site into the ground. They never quite appreciated that with user generated content you need to respect the users, epically the old timers and the uber contributors. Instead they have taken the path of least resistance of cancel culture, many a good contributor has been run out of town.
I was banned for 3 months and my admin privileges removed due to a complaint from a fairly new user that I had publicly called him trouble maker after looking at his ban and infraction history. I had been on boards since 2004. That vocal user has since been lifetime site banned for racist abuse. Was it worth it for boards to plicate that fellow and make a pariah out of me? I watch on with glee at this latest farce, its the kind of poor decision making and lack of leadership I have come to expect. Moderating and administrating take a wisdom and light touch that the young crew dont understand, and the CEO obviously thinks that boards.ie users are morons that can be bluffed by technobabble.
Rant over.
Actually one could argue the current CEO guy inherited the "business" bloated Boards.ie and this move was a way to downsize those costs by going to a newer cheaper platform.
When boards emplodes I can see the murder rate going up as the Admins will have no outlet for their their feelings of inadequacy and powerlessness IRL.
As for admins; I've met a load of them down the years, most of them I'd reckon. Some I liked, some I wouldn't have gotten on with and vice versa, but were otherwise grand and that's cool. Including one who after he found out about a bereavement I was going through dragged me out for drinks to get me out of my funk and I'd only met the chap once before in the real world. I can only think of two who I really didn't get on with and didn't respect because they were indeed fond of powertripping. Given the number of people who've held that role that's a pretty good split IMHO. Oh and most of them were doing pretty well(a couple very well) in life beyond Boards, so no inadequacies there that I could see.
I think there are two issues being conflated here wibbs, wheather boards.ie makes money or not really doesnt have much to do with the platform. Hosting a VB board is pretty cheap even one with terabyte's of data. THe most expensive thing is changing platform so I call total bullshit on that excuse.
Depends entirely on how it is run too Fitz. If it's a more homegrown, a few servers in someone's gaff type of affair it's pretty cheap alright. That's if the VB setup is standard and not patched to all hell as Boards was, because VB couldn't handle a site of the size it was with the number of active forums it had. The other expense is it went "Business", well business school business anyway. Adverts was a good example of that where they started tarting up their office like a cut price google with beanbags, coffee machines and the dregs of a closed pub sale with old bicycles on the wall, thinking this was good for the Optics(tm) on social media. Went Celtic Tiger when that particular feline species was already extinct and stuffed and mounted in the National Irish Museum of WTF Were We Thinking. Middle managers love that crap. It's like catnip to them. Ditto for long meetings, funky office space and paying chancers for projections on Powerpoint. You may as well fly in a witch doctor and get him to throw the bones. And when you bring in Talk To forums trying to inject more cash it's middle managers talking to other middle managers in their best Linkedin speak. There can be a lot of dead weight and wasted money spent on that sorta thing when business gets involved. It should have been open sourced as much as possible way back IMHO.
There are hidden expenses too. Legal being a big one as a publisher in Ireland. Ambulance chasers know publishers without very deep pockets are on the back foot under Irish law. Hell a few years back there was an Irish bloggist whose name escapes who was taken to court over some opinion piece they wrote on their blog and were fined tens of thousands of beer tokens. Boards.ie would be and was in the firing line for that stuff. Just dealing with the MCD thing would have cost a lot in legal fees. If they had gone to court/lost, game over. Then the aforementioned Talk To forums which were a good idea on paper. Again you've to hire someone to talk to those entities and be on the other end of a phone and to have an office space to meet with them. To look serious bizness and professional an' that. That costs money.
So yeah something like I dunno an Irish car forum with a few hundred members running on VB or whatever is cheap as chips to run, but a forum with tens of thousands of members with a wide range of subjects, with thousands of posts per day at its peak and a talk to business section, not nearly so cheap at all.
I think there are two issues being conflated here wibbs, wheather boards.ie makes money or not really doesnt have much to do with the platform. Hosting a VB board is pretty cheap even one with terabyte's of data. THe most expensive thing is changing platform so I call total bullshit on that excuse. It may be that the monetisation capacity of the Vbullitin was limited but thats another issues altogether.
Would a small annual subscription not have fixed their revenue issues? It might also have addressed the Karen and Ken issues. I suppose if they monetized the forum that way it might be hard to keep a small army of unpaid moderators.
