Cheaper than retail... I'm beginning to lose the plot!

Cheaper than retail... I'm beginning to lose the plot!

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CrippsCorner

Original Poster:

3,015 posts

188 months

Friday 31st May
quotequote all
So on the hunt for a new watch deal, I came across KC Watches. These guys do a great deal, have the watch I want and have been mentioned on here before. They seem pretty legit so I was planning to pull the trigger next week.

Then a friend put me on to Watch Philosophy which are even cheaper. Good reviews on Trust Pilot, and sell on Chrono24. I notice on their own website they're slightly cheaper (I guess not paying Chrono24 a cut) but you have to 'enquire' about watches... I guess this is because they source them rather than stock them? Is this grey market stuff? I don't really know about that side of it.

Next up, after checking out the above on Chrono24, I searched the watches I was interested in from other sellers (hadn't done this before as I didn't realise you could buy brand new from Chrono24) anyway, it came back with ridiculous looking prices. I started looking at ones that were above my budget, which can be had for £1,000-£1,500 cheaper!? I note most of these are abroad, and I was guessing there's import taxes etc. but I did do an estimator and it said £20!? I have previously imported a laptop from America and had to pay £100 taxes, which was still very reasonable.

Any experiences of any of the above? I obviously want a good a deal as possible, but it still makes me nervous spending thousands when I'm not totally sure about a place (despite good reviews)

Appreciate any comments!

sandman77

2,616 posts

145 months

Saturday 1st June
quotequote all
If you buy from abroad you will have 20% VAT to pay.

Wills2

24,380 posts

182 months

Saturday 1st June
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Baring the usual suspects you should be able to get a good discount on most swiss watches in the UK either direct from the retailer or via a grey source like Hackett watches.


Stedman

7,286 posts

199 months

Saturday 1st June
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Speak to Simon at Regal Time

CrippsCorner

Original Poster:

3,015 posts

188 months

Tuesday 4th June
quotequote all
Thank you, most of these options seem to specialise in second-hand however.

I am talking to Watch Philosophy at the moment to find out more about their operation...

Stedman

7,286 posts

199 months

Tuesday 4th June
quotequote all
CrippsCorner said:
Thank you, most of these options seem to specialise in second-hand however.

I am talking to Watch Philosophy at the moment to find out more about their operation...
My IWC was new from Simon.

Good luck