Rolex purchase in St Martin or St Thomas
Jul 23rd, 2018 | 01:26 PM
#1
Original Poster
Joined: Jan 2007
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Rolex purchase in St Martin or St Thomas
Hi, wanting to buy a Rolex and have a few questions:
What island and what store(s) would you recommend purchasing a Rolex from?
Do they negotiate any? If so what can you expect in terms of price reduction?
What is the tax rate as you go through customs?
For instance, if I save $1K in taxes by buying the watch in the islands, but I have to pay $1K in customs, there really is no point in buying in the Caribbean.
Thank you in advance for your feedback.
What island and what store(s) would you recommend purchasing a Rolex from?
Do they negotiate any? If so what can you expect in terms of price reduction?
What is the tax rate as you go through customs?
For instance, if I save $1K in taxes by buying the watch in the islands, but I have to pay $1K in customs, there really is no point in buying in the Caribbean.
Thank you in advance for your feedback.
Jul 23rd, 2018 | 01:47 PM
#2
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 6,084
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First, if buying a Rolex in the Caribbean you’d be wise to purchase it from an authorized dealer. They are easily recognized by the large “Rolex” logo in their store signage.
You don’t say which country you are from but assuming you’d be bring the watch back to the US the first $1,600 in value will be duty free. I believe you’ll pay duty at a rate of 3% on the value over that amount.
Rolex dealers are prohibited from discounting the watches. That’s not to say you might find a dealer that will negotiate a price but it’s rare.
Lastly, I priced my first Rolex at a local jeweler back in the US and the same watch at two different dealers on St. Martin and found the price differential was insignificant so I decided to purchase mine from my local dealer knowing that if I had any problems in the future I’d be dealing with someone I knew instead of someone 1,000’s of miles away. He alsogave me a great discount on other jewelry.
i was so satisfied that I’ve since bought a second Rolex for myself, one for my spouse and 4 more for our two adult children and their respective spouses.
You don’t say which country you are from but assuming you’d be bring the watch back to the US the first $1,600 in value will be duty free. I believe you’ll pay duty at a rate of 3% on the value over that amount.
Rolex dealers are prohibited from discounting the watches. That’s not to say you might find a dealer that will negotiate a price but it’s rare.
Lastly, I priced my first Rolex at a local jeweler back in the US and the same watch at two different dealers on St. Martin and found the price differential was insignificant so I decided to purchase mine from my local dealer knowing that if I had any problems in the future I’d be dealing with someone I knew instead of someone 1,000’s of miles away. He alsogave me a great discount on other jewelry.
i was so satisfied that I’ve since bought a second Rolex for myself, one for my spouse and 4 more for our two adult children and their respective spouses.
Jul 30th, 2018 | 03:09 AM
#4
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 3,718
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In this day and age, the savings of decades ago do t really exist. You might save sales tax, but not duty tax. So difference might be $100 on a $10,000 watch. Then as roam says, if anything wrong you can’t go back to fix.
So either price it before trip then look, or only buy it because you love it not for the savings.
Negociating is happened less and less with name brands—most name brands don’t allow it at all. If they negociate it’s probably a knock off
So either price it before trip then look, or only buy it because you love it not for the savings.
Negociating is happened less and less with name brands—most name brands don’t allow it at all. If they negociate it’s probably a knock off
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