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I have a watch listed on C24 and have been in communication with a buyer. He’s really wanting to do the transaction off the c24 platform to avoid hundreds in sales tax and it would also reduce the fee I incur as the seller. Any risks or guidance anyone could provide would be helpful.

What level of service should I expect from a reputable dealer in terms of servicing a watch prior to putting it up for sale? Many watches have a few nicks, scratches, wear on straps etc. That's part of the deal. However, I'm wondering if it's fair to expect a full service and regulation prior to sale?

Most interested in Patek, VC, Breguet - in the >10k$ range.

Thoughts?

Many thanks!

This one's for you, sopanada! (Had to start a new discussion to include another picture)

Compliments of the FTW Marketplace:

The Jules came in near mint condition and doesn't look like an 11 year old watch. The strap was either swapped out, or the watch was barely ever worn. Pictures cannot adequately capture the depth of the sunburst on the white-gold dial--it's stunning to look at.

The Overseas was my grail, 'nuff said. I'm done for a while, guys. I'll be strictly window shopping while cheering on the watches that you score here and elsewhere. I've said it before and will say it again: the watches I have picked up here, I hadn't previously envisioned as being 'attainable' in the sense of getting back outstanding value for the dollar. It has been truly eye-opening to have access to the inventory listed here at their price levels.

Thank you, Fed, for doing this. I'm all in.

Stephen

I got audited a few years ago, maybe this will help somebody. I had bought a couple of watch from overseas, one person-to-person deal, another from a dealer's own website. Since they were international, I expected to pay import customs duties (this was before the additional Trump tariffs). And of course, no sales tax. They got held up on arrival at customs clearance, as usual. The P2P one took a week, waiting on paperwork from the seller to calculate customs before UPS invoiced me to release it. Dealer one was experienced and got released quicker, DHL paid the customs on my behalf and invoiced me after delivery for the reimbursement plus service fee. 2 years later, I get a notice from the STATE Treasury Department at the local level, not the IRS at the federal level, saying I owe a ton of back taxes on the watches.

Sales tax applies on everything you buy for your own use. Most of the time, the store collects it and pays the state government. And if it wasn't collected (out-of-state and international purchases), the buyer is still technically responsible for it on like an honor system, some states call it a Use or Consumption or Stamp Tax, that you're supposed to file per year of import (could be a line item in your regular taxes, or a separate form for later filing). Uncollected tax is kind of "don't ask, don't tell". Except these international purchases had a paper trail because of the customs import process, documenting the value of what I bought. Dunno if I just go unlucky with the spot-check lottery, or if the Feds are narcing on everyone to the states now. (though something similar happen a decade earlier to a friend importing handbags. some "pre-loved" ones got confiscated/destroyed for lack of CITES tags, others passed thru after paying customs, paper trail lead to sales tax scenario like mine. only difference was her packages were wrapped tight like bricks of powder and got pulled for inspection, initially made me think it only happened to her because she got busted at something, always assumed I'd be ok since mine are documented and not deliberately dodging anything)

So I owed the unpaid sales tax, the interest on all the unpaid days, and a penalty. The penalty is meant to be punitive to really discourage noncompliance, so the total owed was almost double the amount of simply the unpaid tax. I pled ignorance, first offence, etc and negotiated most of the penalty portion away. But the negotiated settlement also has a deadline, missing it means the interest continues to accumulate.

International deals will have different combinations of collected/uncollected State sales/use tax, Federal customs, Federal Trump tariffs. The big platforms like C24 and Ebay already collect tax (and I've seen some ebay listings that will add in customs and/or tariffs too, but not sure I trust their calculations of item origin vs seller origin). But, for example, the folks that won M.A.D. raffles might have exposed liability. Since I already used my Plea Ignorance card, I need to be more mindful in the future.

I wonder if buying something DDP ('Deliver Duties Paid' by seller already, instead of the usual DAP 'Deliver At Place' and buyer pays duties), which may skip the import delay, would mean less or different paper trail. Or just buy domestic, hellooo sweet marketplace!