What's the deal with "unworn" watches

[FlyingTrotter]

What's the story with folk buying and then selling unworn watches ?

I have seen examples of watches like Daytona's that have been offered for sale many years after original purchase date at current RRP so I guess that's an investment play on a watch that has appreciated but what of the others offered within weeks of purchase and on sale from grey sellers below the RRP?

Is that a tax/duty scam with watch bought outside the UK or money laundering or insult someone securing a heavy discount somehow and seeking to turn that to a profit or I s there a more reasonable explanation for someone buying a Panerai or similar for £6k and it being offered for sale by a grey seller for a few hundred less presumably with the retailer selling with some margin ?

[hilly10]

I think the ones that you see in Blowers and other dealers are bought in Italy Dubai and such places. They can get them at reduced price and helps keep their stock levels.

[chris56]

Whilst manufacturers do try to keep prices consistent around the globe, inevitably currencies do sometimes move. So for example, the Euro has dropped against the £ recently so prices might be slightly cheaper in Europe. In addition, dealers in other countries are often much more used to discounts/bartering. For example, in Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai, Italy etc you can get discounts on everything.
People and dealers therefore buy watches in other countries to make a quick buck. Watchfinder does this a lot as you can see unworn watches come in in batches, recently this has been from Italy.
Watches which are a couple of years old and still unworn have been bought as perhaps they might appreciate.

[FlyingTrotter]

Ok but what about duty on the imported items ?

[PJ S]

Duty is only a concern for ex-Eurozone purchases, and if the amount is £9 or over. If the duty amount is less than that, it's not collected, so there's only VAT to pay.

[FlyingTrotter]

I appreciate that - the list that was posted above included Dubai, Singapore and HK which plainly are all outside the EU

Anyway thanks for the responses

[michael gould]

FlyingTrotter said:

What's the story with folk buying and then selling unworn watches ?

I have seen examples of watches like Daytona's that have been offered for sale many years after original purchase date at current RRP so I guess that's an investment play on a watch that has appreciated but what of the others offered within weeks of purchase and on sale from grey sellers below the RRP?

Is that a tax/duty scam with watch bought outside the UK or money laundering or insult someone securing a heavy discount somehow and seeking to turn that to a profit or I s there a more reasonable explanation for someone buying a Panerai or similar for £6k and it being offered for sale by a grey seller for a few hundred less presumably with the retailer selling with some margin ?

I suspect due to the very high margins that some watches are shifted from authorised dealers to the grey market at reduced prices ....no doubt like car sales there are bonuses for hitting sales targets.

[hilly10]

When I was in Hong Kong in Oct a Sub date could be had for a grand less then here that was a price to me a mere punter I suspect dealers would get more so even after paying some duty it would still be attractive

[jshell]

hilly10 said:

When I was in Hong Kong in Oct a Sub date could be had for a grand less then here that was a price to me a mere punter I suspect dealers would get more so even after paying some duty it would still be attractive

Same here in Norway. Sub date can be had with 10% off then 20% tax back - that's a cheap Sub! Same for most watches.