iwc in the usa

[pano amo]

All,
I'm over to NY for Christmas to visit my sis who lives there. I want to get an IWC and was thinking of buying it online from a usa website and then having it delivered to her. It would seem I can save quite a bit of money this way.

Is there any site in the usa you can recommend? I found this site (and indeed this is the watch im looking at) http://www.finestwatches.com/iwc-11567.html
It seems cheap. The cheapest I can find this watch over here (online) is £3200.

thanks

Edited by pano amo on Thursday 6th December 12:41

[Don1]

Is that defintely the price? Don't the US add taxes on at the end, dependent on state?

[filaborg]

They say "All of our watches are original and come with a 1 year warranty", so if they are new why don't they come with the 2 year manufactures warranty.

[pano amo]

I dont think there are taxes to pay. Im not sure chaps, just thought some of you have been down this road before

[vincenz]

filaborg said:

They say "All of our watches are original and come with a 1 year warranty", so if they are new why don't they come with the 2 year manufactures warranty.

Sites like these buy the watches in bulk to make savings from dealers, sometimes in other countries, then sell them gradually, when you buy them they are 'new' as in unworn, still in packaging etc but as they are not a dealer the manufactures warranty isn't valid. You get all the paper work, bar the manufactures warranty card. If the watch does fail then you send it back to the retailer and they sort it out, either at their own cost or (I imagine) claiming on the warranty as the original owner.

At the end of the day though it a Swiss watch, its not gonna go bang like a Renault, or something.

[tertius]

filaborg said:

They say "All of our watches are original and come with a 1 year warranty", so if they are new why don't they come with the 2 year manufactures warranty.

They aren't an AD so they can't issue the manufacturer's warranty.

[pano amo]

Ok, I rang the company behind this website and all sounds proper and professional. There is no sales tax. You only pay sales tax if you reside in the same state as where the goods are sold. As this company is located in california and Im looking to get it delivered to NY, theres no tax to pay.

Just waiting for them to get back to me on availability.

[RLK500]

If you are going via Heathrow why not call Mappin and Webb. They have shops on the air side and the discounts less the VAT are significant. I Would have saved at least £500 on my IWC. They will order in stuff you want to try. That way you guarantee having a proper warranty/peace of mind.

[pano amo]

thanks! I will do that as I am going from Heathrow. Will let you know what prices I get.

[TonySim]

Great thing with Heathrow is there is a duty free shop after the arrivals hall so you can buy your watch on your way out and have them give it to you on your return so you do not have to worry about taking a valuable watch to Mexico City for example!!

[pano amo]

so do you think I can also get a discount as well as the vat off?

[RLK500]

Yes. We looked at an Ebel for my wife, it was already less VAT, but they were keen to do the deal so they offered a discount as well.

[lowdrag]

When you consider that the retail for this watch in the UK is £3,200 and here it is being offered at about £2,300 there is a significant saving to be made. However, UK dealers who have stock (this is a popular model) are still keen to do deals and as also said above, I reckon Mappin & Webb will do you a deal at the airport which, adding in the saved VAT, will probably come close to that price with a fully stamped dealers card to boot. If you can squeeze 15% out of them you are at £2,300 - the same price as in the USA.

[pano amo]

All,
Just to say I bought my IWC at M&W in Term 4 at heathrow so thanks RLK500 for the tip! I got it vat free so picked it up for £2047 which was just a little more than buying it abroad (that I could find). M&W would not budge one inch on giving me a discount on top of that even though I argued hard. Their argument is that I'm getting 17.5% off anyway so even though I retorted that they still make full retail profit on it, they weren't interested. Didnt help I was buying it just before Christmas! Anyway, I paid a price I was happy with it and got the watch I wanted. I went for the chrono with black leather strap and not the steel bracelet and really love it.



Thanks everyone for their input.

Edited by pano amo on Monday 31st December 23:41

[BigAlinEmbra]

Anyone used that finest watches crowd?
Very tempted by the idea of a Monaco for £1100 plus taxes.

Reckon it'll come out at about £1300ish?