Buying online from USA

ADM

Hiya
I looking to buy a watch for my wife’s birthday next month and I’ve seen the Longines watch she wants on an American website.

•Does anyone know what the import costs are when buying in the USA?
•Does the warranty/guarantee still stand in the UK if purchased in the USA?

Any advice would be appreciated.

woohoo_postingid

Afraid I can't help with the question but some advice for you:

As the USA is in a different time zone, the watch will be at least 6 hours slow all the time

flowerofthewest

If the item is £18 or over then you will probably need to pay VAT, although sometimes the package gets through customs without being spotted! It also depends which delivery service is used as some international carriers will ALSO charge a handeling fee.
HTH

dc

Most of the stuff I have ordered has come through without any duty or Vat, however you should be prepared for up to 50% for both.

The best way is to get someone over there to buy it for you, then ship it as a gift, or bring it back if they are visiting.

The main problem is that most US businesses are reluctant to risk sending goods overseas, being somewhat insular, busy enough, wary of fraud and charge hefty postage.

Hologram_2

If the item is marked "unsolicited gift of no commercial value" then C&E won't levvy a fee for it's import. If not then they'll charge you customs duty. I bought a watch of the internet from the US recently and paid with my credit card and was amazed at the exchange rate I got. My credit card for overseas purchases is the Post Office one, their Mastercard rate was much better than the tourist rate and I ended up spending about £40 less than I budgeted for (Martin would be proud of me!). Whichever card you use to pay make sure it's internet protected as C&E have a nasty habit of confiscating things, at least if it's a protected card you stand a good chance of getting your money back for non-receipt of items purchased.

katiekittykat

In my experience after you have paid tax, customes etc, the watch would be cheaper if you bought it here.

I had to pay £57 in taxes etc when i bought stuff from an american website. I'd never do it again.