Buying Vintage in UK

[statsman]

If I were to buy a vintage (or newish secondhand) watch from a store in the UK, is there a VAT rolled in, and would I be able to apply for the refund?

[Haywood_Milton]

There is VAT incurred by such a sale in the UK, but it is not "standard rated" VAT at 1/6 of the selling price such as you would expect on most goods here. VAT on secondhand goods, speaking generally, is calculated on the difference only between the seller's cost and selling price.

You will variously see sellers' paperwork referring to the "global" or "margin" accounting schemes for VAT on secondhand goods, but the effect of these is only a timing difference when off-setting the cost, determined by whether cost was above £500 or not.

I do not believe that you will be able to recover any such VAT as derives from the sale of a secondhand watch. Incidentally, if it did, you could determine the seller's profit on the item (excluding any costs of servicing etc prior to sale).

You may be interested to know that if a pawnbroker here sells unredeemed pledges by private treaty there is NO VAT payable whatsoever. This will not mean you can buy such items any cheaper, as the pawnbroker has a legal onus to obtain the full market value for his customer, who retains title to the property until it is sold.

Haywood Milton, UK

[statsman]

Thanks. So the exchange rate is th major savings advantage now? And you don't have to be in the UK to take advantage of that (unless you have to see the piece)?

[Haywood_Milton]

You might wish to hear from others whether there are liabilities for shipping and importation into your own country / state from the UK.

There are some Brits (your current correspondent, for example) who won't entertain mail order or internet business even within the UK, let alone shipping to the USA.

Going a bit OT, so that's all from me on this one.

H

[statsman]

I have a trip scheduled to the UK in a few weeks and was trying to game plan. My guess is that even if the exchange rate stays low, the new watches will be pretty well picked over by opportunists in London right now. Secondhand and vintage might offer opportunities.

[colpol]

plenty of good vintage dealers in US - should be able to get in states whatever you could get in uk unless you've your eye on a specific piece

[scooba]

My experience,

I help a US dealer with collecting items in the UK, Mainly high end Auction pieces, There is no VAT on the secondhand /auction pieces , but the Auction fees carry VAT , You can't reclaim the VAT on the auction according to HMRC as its a service that is provided in the UK and that service can't be exported, That is how we had it explained by HMRC. If anyone knows different please correct me.

You can ship items across the world with Fedex/UPS etc if you choose to carefully identify the parcel as "precision weighing machine" or the likes and declare it as $300 to avoid fees at point of entry, by far the easiest and safest is to fly to the UK and pay in person and wear the item back.