Seiko Purchase From Japan

[robinh73]

I have been deciding on a new watch and after much thinking and stuff, I have decided to opt for a Seiko SBDC029 as shown here:


They appear to be in very short supply in the UK (if available at all) as it seems to be a Japanese market watch. So, has anyone bought from Japan and if so, I have found several people with the watch for sale, but are there any to avoid or any to head to as a matter of course?

[RicksAlfas]

Good looking watch.


Creation have it:
https://www.creationwatches.com/products/seiko-men...

This also came up in a search. Not sure what the difference is:
https://www.francisandgaye.co.uk/seiko-prospex-men...

[robinh73]

Cheers, it is a good looking watch and reckon it will be a cracker in the flesh. I had seen it in Creation watches but there is this lot in Japan who are about £200 cheaper:
https://www.shoppinginjapan.net/sbdc029?setCurrenc...

The other watch is a similar model, same movement but just different design. Still nice but I think I prefer the more traditional diver's style.

[sad61t]

Please also consider https://www.seiyajapan.com/collections/seiko
It is a small business run by a watch enthusiast.

[robinh73]

sad61t said:

Please also consider https://www.seiyajapan.com/collections/seiko
It is a small business run by a watch enthusiast.

Ah yes, I had seen them too and they were good on price too. Thanks for that.

[xyz123]

Any idea how much import duty will be payable if ordered from Japan?

[Ratski83]

EU - Japan free trade agreement came in to force on 1st Feb which apparently removes the duties on 99% of products from Japan. But you have 50 odd days to make the most of it

I order quite a lot of clothes from Japan as I like their denim and sweatshirts and my last order that arrived end of last week came DHL and there was no duty to pay it also arrived next day which I thought was pretty incredible.

But might be worth double checking with your retailer as my guy usually marks down the price to avoid custom fees. The last DHL parcel just had barcodes on so hard to tell.

Edited by Ratski83 on Monday 4th February 20:36

[robinh73]

I had better get something ordered then, as I really don't want to hand over my hard earned in customs charges. Problem is, the Japanese Seiko range is even more tasty than the UK stuff.

[Fallingup]

Can't comment on customs charges as it doesn't really bother me. Just thought I would add that I have purchased from Seiya in the past and he has been excellent. I have also purchased from Creation and they have been fine with no problems. It used to be the case with Creation that if you purchased the watch without the box then you wouldn't have to pay import duty. If you bought the box as well then you did. No idea how that worked. However there is some dispute as to whether that is still the case. Would recommend both though.

Edited by Fallingup on Monday 4th February 21:09

Edited by Fallingup on Monday 4th February 21:09

[robinh73]

Fallingup said:

Can't comment on customs charges as it doesn't really bother me. Just thought I would add that I have purchased from Seiya in the past and he has been excellent. I have also purchased from Creation and they have been fine with no problems. It used to be the case with Creation that if you purchased the watch without the box then you wouldn't have to pay import duty. If you bought the box as well then you did. No idea how that worked. However there is some dispute as to whether that is still the case. Would recommend both though.

Edited by Fallingup on Monday 4th February 21:09

Edited by Fallingup on Monday 4th February 21:09

Always good to get first hand experience and recommendations. Am going to spend as much of the day as possible trying to decide on which to get as there are more models tempting me now!

[frye]

robinh73 said:

Cheers, it is a good looking watch and reckon it will be a cracker in the flesh. I had seen it in Creation watches but there is this lot in Japan who are about £200 cheaper:
https://www.shoppinginjapan.net/sbdc029?setCurrenc...

The other watch is a similar model, same movement but just different design. Still nice but I think I prefer the more traditional diver's style.

Nice watch that.

I've used shoppinginjapan before a few years ago. Was fine, the product was brand new. The only issue was royal mail held onto it for an eternity it felt like when I was tracking it and I remember paying about an extra £45 in customs charges.

Ive also used creation watches, this time it came via DHL and I paid no charges, it was listed as a "timing device" less than $20 which i still laugh about to this day.

[robinh73]

Thanks again, another good recommendation. I am still looking at what to plump for. I just wish I could try one on, as it is a fair bit bigger than my current watch and I have annoying slim wrists. I expect it will be ok, as it is similar to a friend's Seiko which is of similar size and his wrists are very similar to mine.

[dai1983]

Ratski83 said:

EU - Japan free trade agreement came in to force on 1st Feb which apparently removes the duties on 99% of products from Japan. But you have 50 odd days to make the most of it

I order quite a lot of clothes from Japan as I like their denim and sweatshirts and my last order that arrived end of last week came DHL and there was no duty to pay it also arrived next day which I thought was pretty incredible.

But might be worth double checking with your retailer as my guy usually marks down the price to avoid custom fees. The last DHL parcel just had barcodes on so hard to tell.

Edited by Ratski83 on Monday 4th February 20:36

You still have to pay VAT when ot arrives in the U.K. though?

I’m Looking at another seiko and as usual there’s a JDM model and a ROW model. Both are advertised for the same price but if it’s +20% (nearly £200) then I’d get the cheaper one.

[eccles]

sad61t said:

Please also consider https://www.seiyajapan.com/collections/seiko
It is a small business run by a watch enthusiast.

I've used seiya a few times, and they come highly recommended on the Seiko forums as well.

[Mr Pointy]

There is no duty payable on importing a watch (well, technically it's below the level at which it's actually collected) but you do have to pay 20% VAT & the courier's admin charge which can be £12-£20.