Advice Sought : Dealing with Overseas Buyers

[NavalArchitect]

I am in the same situation. At present I live and work in South Korea (expat) but will be relocating to Singapore in a month or so.

I have a couple of nice minty timepieces I intend to sell (e.g. SDDS), in order to go one level up (PP territory). I have been in contact with a few 'trusted sellers' in another forum, all of them located in the U.S. and Canada. No sensible trusted seller/buyer (i.e. dealer) will want you to trade your valued timepiece via sending it on FedEx, as they will have to pay customs upon receipt of the watch.

Moreover, the same guys may hesitate if you tell them that you can let them send you what they may have managed to source for you. Some will send you any timepiece, however it will have to be shipped fully insured and total real value declared, which means you would in turn have to pay customs tax in your country upon receipt of the watch.

A week back I had a trusted seller who offered me to come to my place, i.e. South Korea, with the watch(es) I was looking for, as long as I would be prepared to fly him over in Economy and also cover any related accommodation expenses. Not bad, assuming you can order from him something of considerable value (was considering at the time a Nautilus Annual and a Sub ND two-liner in top shape). Otherwise flying him over makes no sense financially.

In general you gotta be careful, although with 'trusted sellers' you should have no issues. I repeat though that there is no better and safer option than flying over yourself (or conversely having him fly over for you).

[pegasi]

Hi everyone,

I've got an interested buyer from USA who wants to get a watch from me. How do I go about doing this? I'm a complete newbie and don't know what to do. He's asked about shipping costs and insurance, while I've heard about some online buying scams...

Help pls.

You don't sound like you have any experience in dealing with overseas buyer/seller, and you actually sound like you are under pressure to sell. And since you claim to be a newbie, I assume you don't have a lot of reference, if any, to prove your credential to the buyer. So, before you even take any advice on how to make a deal in such situation, ask yourself a few questions:

Why would a buyer in USA want to buy my watch - is my watch so special in anyway or so cheap that it is worth the trouble? (And if so, would I not be able to sell it easily locally here?) Would the buyer agree if I ask him to send me payment first before I ship out out the watch? Why would the buyer trust me?

And why don't you tell us what watch you are selling at what price, and how did the buyer get to know you/your sale?

[pegasi]

I repeat though that there is no better and safer option than flying over yourself (or conversely having him fly over for you).

Your suggestion really amazes me. Not to mention you didn't even ask what watch it is.

[alantannottam]

well.. finding out the shipping cost and insurance... you have the duty to get the info as you are the seller (sorry i haven sold any of my watch yet, cant help you much on these 2 aspects).

For the buyer to pay payment, do make sure he does not insist of going thru western union or moneygram. only DIRECT bank payment or Paypal where you have some sort of guarantee..

You may check wat*hnet for more info and/or reference to the buyer and how to transact smoothly.
If you really feel uncomfy, run!

[Motomarc]

Thanks everyone. It's only a relatively cheap watch that cost me less than 500 but seems to have been discontinued and is out of stock. I note the suggestion to get payment first and also to be responsible for the facts about shipping. I'll see if the buyer is still interested after getting the shipping options to him. Maybe he has a preferred mode of courier like Dhl vs FedEx?

[Ender]

Hi everyone,
I've got an interested buyer from USA who wants to get a watch from me. How do I go about doing this? I'm a complete newbie and don't know what to do. He's asked about shipping costs and insurance, while I've heard about some online buying scams...
Help pls.

Step #1 - check if buyer has good references/ can provides references; make sure you get the email address and names correct when checking. Email those references buyer puts up and/or post general reference query on the usual watch forums. If there is any doubt, walk away.
Step #2 - repeat #1
Step #3 - repeat #2
Step #4 - Resolve issue of payment. I will suggest direct bank transfer only with agreement that you need only ship 5 days after monies 'reach' your account; before you ship, call your bank officer to confirm that the monies are really in, and cannot be 'clawed-back'. If you are really desperate to do the deal, paypal. If buyer suggests Western Union, say thank you for your interest and bai bai...
Step #5 - resolve issue of insurance and shipping. If buyer wants insurance, I can only think of ParcelPro with FedEx, not sure if there are any other options.
Step #6 - resolve additional costs and fees eg if paypal is agreed, paypal fees, if bank transfer is agreed, bank charges, ,make clear you not responsible for custom duties (in fact, ask buyer how he wants you to declare the value of the item in the delivery package)
Step #7 - assuming you even reach this stage, send....

Have fun!

[wolfeyes1974]

First - check with your bank what's their SWIFT code (this is for them to send you the money to your bank account). Overseas buyer will borne the bank charges that they incur wiring the funds to you (owing to their bank and not yours)

Second - call FedEx at their hotline to check how much to ship to the overseas address (registered address). Get the address from buyer. Check also with FedEx what's the max insured value for your watch (you need to estimate how much your watch is worth - as in how much you're selling to buyer). They may have a cap so it may not be fully insured to the amount/value of this watch. Parcelpro insured the full value of the watch and they specialize in jewellery/watches shipping but they don't have operations in SG (nearest is HKG).

Communicate with buyer and see if he's ok.

Cheers

James

[Ender]

I am in the same situation. At present I live and work in South Korea (expat) but will be relocating to Singapore in a month or so.
WELCOME!

I have a couple of nice minty timepieces I intend to sell (e.g. SDDS), in order to go one level up (PP territory). I have been in contact with a few 'trusted sellers' in another forum, all of them located in the U.S. and Canada. No sensible trusted seller/buyer (i.e. dealer) will want you to trade your valued timepiece via sending it on FedEx, as they will have to pay customs upon receipt of the watch.
I prefer to see it this way - custom duties is usually tied in with the issue of insurance. If buyer wants to save custom duties and ask seller not to declare value of watch or under-declare value of watch to save on customs, fine PROVIDED that buyer bears risk of watch going missing.

Moreover, the same guys may hesitate if you tell them that you can let them send you what they may have managed to source for you. Some will send you any timepiece, however it will have to be shipped fully insured and total real value declared, which means you would in turn have to pay customs tax in your country upon receipt of the watch. Erm, as above.

A week back I had a trusted seller who offered me to come to my place, i.e. South Korea, with the watch(es) I was looking for, as long as I would be prepared to fly him over in Economy and also cover any related accommodation expenses. Not bad, assuming you can order from him something of considerable value (was considering at the time a Nautilus Annual and a Sub ND two-liner in top shape). Otherwise flying him over makes no sense financially. Agreed. I had a Thai buyer who flew into Singapore, transacted with me outside the immigration exit of Terminal 1, and hop on the next flight back to BKK, all within 2hours. This works only if the price of the watch justifies it.

In general you gotta be careful, although with 'trusted sellers' you should have no issues. I repeat though that there is no better and safer option than flying over yourself (or conversely having him fly over for you).[/QUOTE] Agree but only if seller/ buyer is able to provide impeccable references or better still, make a downpayment. There are ppl out there who will agree to everything, and when you travel 1/2 across the world to meet them, they just disappear...

[pegasi]

Step #1 - check if buyer has good references/ can provides references; make sure you get the email address and names correct when checking. Email those references buyer puts up and/or post general reference query on the usual watch forums. If there is any doubt, walk away.
Step #2 - repeat #1
Step #3 - repeat #2
Step #4 - Resolve issue of payment. I will suggest direct bank transfer only with agreement that you need only ship 5 days after monies 'reach' your account; before you ship, call your bank officer to confirm that the monies are really in, and cannot be 'clawed-back'. If you are really desperate to do the deal, paypal. If buyer suggests Western Union, say thank you for your interest and bai bai...
Step #5 - resolve issue of insurance and shipping. If buyer wants insurance, I can only think of ParcelPro with FedEx, not sure if there are any other options.
Step #6 - resolve additional costs and fees eg if paypal is agreed, paypal fees, if bank transfer is agreed, bank charges, ,make clear you not responsible for custom duties (in fact, ask buyer how he wants you to declare the value of the item in the delivery package)
Step #7 - assuming you even reach this stage, send....

Have fun!

If the shipper purchases an insurance for the freight, wouldn't the value declared on the invoice have to reflect the insured value (assuming shipper insures the full value)?

[pegasi]

Just to clarify - the reason I felt the option to fly over to deal is unthinkable is because we are talking about US, not Bangkok. Cost aside, it must be a damn exceptional piece of deal for either the buyer or seller to fly 40 hrs back-and-forth to make it.