The only good thing I have to say is that these tariffs have cured my watch buying addiction (so far). I'm waiting for the dust to settle and am surprised Buyee hasnt sent me a personal invitation to come back.

 

I gotta say last night I peeked and it seems the US buyers pulling out has led to crazy low final auction prices.

Final auction prices last night before shipping and now tariffs kick in:

 

I gotta say last night I peeked and it seems the US buyers pulling out has led to crazy low final auction prices.

Final auction prices last night before shipping and now tariffs kick in:
View attachment 563807

WOW! Maybe its worth going back and paying the tariff (especially the black dial Crown Monopusher). Ive been watching some Japanese auctions and didn't see anything end that low

 

That is really interesting, maybe the lower final bid win price plus the tariff makes it about what it would have been normally.

 

Right now it looks like the lack of shipping options are impacting things more than the tarrifs - nearly every Japanese seller on eBay is now charging $80+ for shipping.

 

Also correct me if I’m wrong but Buyee is currently suspending package storage/consolidation for item to US right?

 

Correct. Buyee giving extra time for free storage...BUT currently (Monday morning Sept 8 in Japan) only to Sept 15, one week from now

 

FWIW, last week I bought a Seiko SRPH41 (a JDM watch) from Japan on Chrono24, and paid $753 with tax. The tariff charged by DHL was $117. So I’m in for a total of $870.

 

I was eyeing that 45899. Kicking myself. Worth it for the Olympic caseback alone.

 

C24 charging a little over 15%. Buyee charging 20%

 

Interesting thread on Omega Forums. Member bought an Omega Planet Ocean off C24, from a seller in Sweden. DHL banged him for 39% because the duty is based on country of manufacture (C24 mistakenly informed him otherwise):

Hit with an insanely high duty tax on used PO 2201.50

I purchased a used 2201.50 from Sweden via Chrono24. Today I get an email from DHL saying I owe a duty, which I was expecting. But $1800? I called DHL and they’re going to have a Duty specialist call me with more details. Apparently just today a new duty was imposed which is causing this...

omegaforums.net

Think about just how crazy this could get. Buy a used part — a Speedmaster bezel, for example — from a seller in the UK. Get hit by DHL or FedEx for an extra 39%, plus fees, because the part was made in Switzerland 50 years ago. It’s nuts. And it will happen, because the shippers can assess their own processing fees. For them, it’s a source of added revenue.

 

Yeah I have heard the shipping is the hardest part right now because it's so up in the air a lot of foreign shippers are just foregoing it at the moment

 

In the past, my Buyee shipments included bracelets made in China. On the manifest, Buyee listed county of origin as Japan, not China.

 

Has anyone recently purchased anything out of US through eBay?
I am curious how it works, in theory this is something where eBay global shipping program could be an advantage since they handles international shipping, customs, and import charges and you see everything in one shipping charge upfront.

 

I have parts coming to US from Spain [EDIT: and from Thailand]. Will let you konw once it gets here, but could be another week or two

 

Currently where I'm sitting in the world there's no inexpensive way to post low value items to the US, as the postal service has been suspended. Because the tarrifs are expected to be collected and paid by foreign shippers ( the cost just gets added to the P+P) the shippers are just clipping tickets and rorting the system .
Before Aug 29 I could send a small parcel to the US for about $25 , it's now $110. This is before any Tarrif on the value of the item. I got caught out and had to do a refund just as the gates closed .

22nd August I sold a $100 (+ $25p+p so total cost to buyer $125 ), vintage swiss watch to a buyer in Tennessee. They paid , I went to ship and couldn't 'while waiting for Tarrif clarity's so had to return the funds .

To send the package now
$100 watch , $39 Tarrif on swiss , $110 Tarrif collection and shipping (to the pocket of a local company )
So the new total cost to buyer is $249 of which the US government would make $39 , except they won't because no one's going to buy a $100 watch for $250

 

Currently where I'm sitting in the world there's no inexpensive way to post low value items to the US, as the postal service has been suspended. Because the tarrifs are expected to be collected and paid by foreign shippers ( the cost just gets added to the P+P) the shippers are just clipping tickets and rorting the system .
Before Aug 29 I could send a small parcel to the US for about $25 , it's now $110. This is before any Tarrif on the value of the item. I got caught out and had to do a refund just as the gates closed .

22nd August I sold a $100 (+ $25p+p so total cost to buyer $125 ), vintage swiss watch to a buyer in Tennessee. They paid , I went to ship and couldn't 'while waiting for Tarrif clarity's so had to return the funds .

To send the package now
$100 watch , $39 Tarrif on swiss , $110 Tarrif collection and shipping (to the pocket of a local company )
So the new total cost to buyer is $249 of which the US government would make $39 , except they won't because no one's going to buy a $100 watch for $250

I feel your pain , I also see that some EU sellers that i bought parts before now just outright refuse to ship to US.

For example Cousins seems to be willing to send to US but only has TNT and UPS as option now.

Not sure how they calculate the duty but all of these for couple gaskets, o-rings and Sternkreuz crystal.

 

Buyee just extended ffree sstorage from its previously announced Sept 15 to September 25

 

Buyee just lowered 20% DDP rate to 15.5%. So BuyeeAir and ECMS now Duty Prepaid (DDP) at 15.5% effective Sept 17 at 4AM eastern time

"Due to the suspension of the de minimis exemption for imports valued at $800 or less to the United States, we have transitioned Buyee Air Delivery, DHL, FedEx, UPS, and ECMS services to a Duty Prepaid (DDP) basis for shipments to the United States and its overseas territories (Puerto Rico, Saipan, Guam) starting at 08:00 JST on August 28, 2025 ( 19:00 ET on August 27, 2025)

In order to ensure that our customers can use our service with peace of mind, and to minimize the impact of additional customs duties or procedures at the time of clearance, we have uniformly applied a prepaid duty rate of 20% of the invoice amount.

However, in the most recent tariff negotiations between Japan and the United States, it was agreed to change the method from “existing tariff + 15%” to “the higher of the existing tariff or 15%,” and we have confirmed that this method is now in practice. In light of this, starting from the date and time below, we will uniformly change the prepaid duty rate to 15.5% of the invoice amount .

Effective date: September 17, 2025, 17:00 JST ( September 17, 2025, 04:00 ET)

Buyee Air Delivery, DHL, FedEx, UPS, ECMS

1. Prepaid import tariff charges: 15.5% of invoice amount

2. Prepaid customs clearance charges: added to international shipping fee

3. No additional tariff payment required upon delivery

I dont know if the "invoice amount" is before or after coupons or includes or excludes local and overseas shipping

 

I dont know if the "invoice amount" is before or after coupons or includes or excludes local and overseas shipping

You're kidding yourself if you're trying to game it. Even without tariffs, the landed cost can easily be 50%. If Royal mail is dropping US service and we see shipping from Cousins go from 7gbp to 40gpb, I can imagine the same with EMS. DHL will be expensive as usual, plus they will bill for their service on top of whatever Buyee is stating. There is no way for bayee to front run DHL or FedEx service fees for doing customs paperwork and storing your package for as long as customs needs. In another thread I posed a buyer in the states who picked up a vintage Omega from japan and the DHL was 60% the cost of the watch, on top of all the standard proxy fees. His winning bid was 500$ and DHL sent him a bill for $300something.

Honestly, that's almost half the price of a ticket to Japan in fees. I'm going to go in May for a month, hopefully load up on watches(parts and crystal will still be a huge issue). This **** is so senseless.

 

Awesome update @barryk thank you.

Going to Buyee now to troll for treasures 😀