Buying a watch from a Private Seller from Overseas

[IamJacky]

This will be my first time buying from overseas and I'm about to make a huge gamble today, let's see how it will eventually turn out. Thought I'd share it here.

So I basically saw this offer from a private seller on The Rolex Forum for a BLRO. The seller joined 2019, about 40 total posts only, but his selling post is sincere - said that he understands he's new there but he's got a few references in Europe classifieds and wanted to start somewhere, hence the lower price of BLRO. He is the original owner of the watch; I emailed him, provided as much detail information and contact about myself as I could, including my Passport (with Pastport No. blurred out), my Facebook account, my Company website, etc, to let him know that I am a sincere and serious buyer.

So he Whatsapp'ed me pretty much immediately and we proceeded to chat for on and off about 2 hours. He's in the banking industry and is doing watch dealing as a side passion project. Sent me Whatsapp screenshots of his previous deals - one is PP 5711 another one is a AP RO offshore; I told him that I am running a risk and if he could accept me doing two installment payment, he accepted. He also showed his passport (with numbers blurred) with the purchase receipt of the watch, as well as many photos of the full set.

I googled his name and his Facebook page popped up, which makes me feel safer, even though his last available post on FB was 2018... from his FB pictures I can see that he is really into high end fashions and watches.

So today I will basically wire him half the money, he's supposed to ship the full set using DHL fully insured to me upon confirm receiving the first half of the payment. And I am to wire the balance to him upon receiving the watch.

I of course run a huge risk of sending half the money but never hear from him again, but my guts is telling me that he is trust worthy and I'm just gonna take a leap of faith here.

I wonder if any of you had experience buying from overseas with DHL? If the seller really does ship the watch here, will the watch be stuck in the customs and that I need to go pick it up and pay the tax, or will DHL straight up charge me and deliver to me as quickly as possible? I'm hoping for the latter.

The last time I bought from The Rolex Forum also from another private seller was in 2017 in USA. I was in USA at the time and managed to purchase a 116500LN Daytona, it was definitely also super nerve wrecking, but the seller was very professional and made sure to boost my confidence by constantly updating me with his shipment status and various photos of him shipping the watch out. I received the watch the very next day and was so happy.

I hope this time it will turn out good also. Any comment/advice/critique is welcomed. Fingers crossed!

[Kesharoo]

I wouldn't take the risk, there are just too many things that could go wrong. But good luck to you and hopefully you will get what you paid for.

[ck77]

You seller is so kind?
Ship the watch to you with half payment?

[IamJacky]

You seller is so kind?
Ship the watch to you with half payment?

This is the part that gets me thinking. If I were the private seller I would never do that. But he only agreed to it after a good amount of communication via Whatsapp. Also I pretty much gave him all the personal information he'll need - my passport, my FB, Bank Account screenshot, company website, my forum handle, etc. I may be naive but I believe that he simply just trusts me as a sincere and serious buyer.

Of course I know, there still is a risk that all this is a farce and he'll just disappear after I wire the first half.

I'm waiting for his final wire information right now, it's too early in Europe. On his selling post he did mark the item "Reserved".

[ck77]

You seller is so kind?
Ship the watch to you with half payment?

This is the part that gets me thinking. If I were the private seller I would never do that. But he only agreed to it after a good amount of communication via Whatsapp. Also I pretty much gave him all the personal information he'll need - my passport, my FB, Bank Account screenshot, company website, my forum handle, etc. I may be naive but I believe that he simply just trusts me as a sincere and serious buyer.

Of course I know, there still is a risk that all this is a farce and he'll just disappear after I wire the first half.

I'm waiting for his final wire information right now, it's too early in Europe. On his selling post he did mark the item "Reserved".

As much as am skeptical myself, this is too good to be true, with old Cantonese saying, there are not many female frog jumping around.
But well, since you have done your due diligence and get to know each other, go ahead if you feel comfortable.
All the best to you bro
 

[tllee4567]

You seller is so kind?
Ship the watch to you with half payment?

This is the part that gets me thinking. If I were the private seller I would never do that. But he only agreed to it after a good amount of communication via Whatsapp. Also I pretty much gave him all the personal information he'll need - my passport, my FB, Bank Account screenshot, company website, my forum handle, etc. I may be naive but I believe that he simply just trusts me as a sincere and serious buyer.

Of course I know, there still is a risk that all this is a farce and he'll just disappear after I wire the first half.

I'm waiting for his final wire information right now, it's too early in Europe. On his selling post he did mark the item "Reserved".

The risk is just too high to do this deal imho. I have not seen a seller who is willing to ship the watch to you after paying 1/2 of the amount. The only reason I can think of is that you are a very well known and active trader in that sales forum and you have many completed many reputable deals and favorable feedbacks/references. Otherwise I don’t think any seller will do that. Main question is are you a very active and popular trader in that sales forum? And has he even requested any references from you? And vice versa?

Sometimes if it’s too good to be true it is too good to be true.

Just one more thing, did you request him to send you a pic of that watch showing at a certain weird time and date; for eg 2:53 or 8:23 with date showing 24? At least to ascertain if he really has the watch in the first place.

It’s always better to be safe than sorry. Just my 2 cents. Good luck.


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[IamJacky]

Thanks guys, you guys definitely make sense and make good points - I have just made the payment and notified him, he acknowledged it and now we wait on his end to clear the fund; whether I get the watch or not eventually, I'll post here to share - if I do, I'll be super happy, if I don't, well, that's a very expensive lesson learned .

To answer some of your questions, no I am not a prominent member on any forum. Nor is he, that is why this deal just seems super fishy I know.

All I can say is that I've given him a lot of my personal identity and information. And that we've been communicating on Whatsapp and so far on surface we just trust each other.

Oh and another thing is that he said he'll draft up a Contract that both of us will sign - which includes our terms of payment - 50% down payment to ship the watch, 50% balance upon receipt, he'll give me the contract by tomorrow.

He also did send me a whole bunch of photos of the watch, the papers, his passport right next to the receipt of the watch and warranty card. I just simply took the chance. Thanks again guys, I will update whatever happens next. It's Friday now so I don't think the fund will clear that fast, we'll see.

[G.MAC]

If you are proceeding with this deal, you are a true risk-taker. I wish you all the best in this deal as I dislike hearing about deals gone bad.

[tllee4567]

Thanks guys, you guys definitely make sense and make good points - I have just made the payment and notified him, he acknowledged it and now we wait on his end to clear the fund; whether I get the watch or not eventually, I'll post here to share - if I do, I'll be super happy, if I don't, well, that's a very expensive lesson learned .

To answer some of your questions, no I am not a prominent member on any forum. Nor is he, that is why this deal just seems super fishy I know.

All I can say is that I've given him a lot of my personal identity and information. And that we've been communicating on Whatsapp and so far on surface we just trust each other.

Oh and another thing is that he said he'll draft up a Contract that both of us will sign - which includes our terms of payment - 50% down payment to ship the watch, 50% balance upon receipt, he'll give me the contract by tomorrow.

He also did send me a whole bunch of photos of the watch, the papers, his passport right next to the receipt of the watch and warranty card. I just simply took the chance. Thanks again guys, I will update whatever happens next. It's Friday now so I don't think the fund will clear that fast, we'll see.

I sincerely hope this is not a bad deal and everything will go through fine. In addition, I don’t think that contract will be of any use as it should have been signed prior to you transferring funds to him.

Good luck.


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[Cocas]

You have my total salute @IamJacky bro.

[ck77]

All the best!
It will be great to see a happy ending.


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[pleasuresaurus]

That takes some serious balls man... Honestly hope it turns out well for ur purchase.

[dpkong]

All I can do is wish you the very best and sincerely hope you get what you paid for. You've already wired the money so there's no turning back now so no need to add more comments.

Personally, I have bought once from TRF and that was from an established seller. Seller shipped by FEDEX and they clear customs and pay everything on your behalf. You pay them all the charges + service fee when they deliver the item to you.

Please update us how this turns out.

[cvl003]

Hi all Sifu(s), I’m also bought a watch from private seller overseas (chrono24)  and waiting for the watch to arrive Sabah. But it’s now the parcel under status ‘held by pos laju custom kk’ . Does that mean I will be kena tax or just wait for a few days for the parcel to deliver to my hometown?(hopefully no tax kena )The parcel just arrived pos laju kk custom today. Fyi, it’s almost take 20days the parcel courier out from seller using ems to arrive Sabah . I regret not asking seller to use dhl/ups(although it will cost more) but using the standard postal service alone oredi cost me rm300++(fully insured).   :shocked1:And it’s my first time buying from Chrono/overseas 

[ck77]

Hi all Sifu(s), I’m also bought a watch from private seller overseas (chrono24)  and waiting for the watch to arrive Sabah. But it’s now the parcel under status ‘held by pos laju custom kk’ . Does that mean I will be kena tax or just wait for a few days for the parcel to deliver to my hometown?(hopefully no tax kena )The parcel just arrived pos laju kk custom today. Fyi, it’s almost take 20days the parcel courier out from seller using ems to arrive Sabah . I regret not asking seller to use dhl/ups(although it will cost more) but using the standard postal service alone oredi cost me rm300++(fully insured).   :shocked1:And it’s my first time buying from Chrono/overseas 

Be prepare 6% tax and some clearance fees

[cvl003]

Do I need to direct contact poslaju(fill in the request form in their website ) or wait for poslaju  to contact/notify me?

[tllee4567]

Do I need to direct contact poslaju(fill in the request form in their website ) or wait for poslaju  to contact/notify me?

From my own experience, poslaju will contact you if tax is required. Then you will just fill in the form either to nominate them as clearing agent or diy. Some charges will be imposed and additional delivery charges if you need them to send to you. Otherwise you will need to collect from poslaju hq in brickfield.


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[cvl003]

Noted, thanks all bro for ur advice/suggestion

[ck77]

Thanks guys, you guys definitely make sense and make good points - I have just made the payment and notified him, he acknowledged it and now we wait on his end to clear the fund; whether I get the watch or not eventually, I'll post here to share - if I do, I'll be super happy, if I don't, well, that's a very expensive lesson learned .

To answer some of your questions, no I am not a prominent member on any forum. Nor is he, that is why this deal just seems super fishy I know.

All I can say is that I've given him a lot of my personal identity and information. And that we've been communicating on Whatsapp and so far on surface we just trust each other.

Oh and another thing is that he said he'll draft up a Contract that both of us will sign - which includes our terms of payment - 50% down payment to ship the watch, 50% balance upon receipt, he'll give me the contract by tomorrow.

He also did send me a whole bunch of photos of the watch, the papers, his passport right next to the receipt of the watch and warranty card. I just simply took the chance. Thanks again guys, I will update whatever happens next. It's Friday now so I don't think the fund will clear that fast, we'll see.

How? Has the watch shipped?


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[dpkong]

I’m sure everyone is curious to know

[IamJacky]

Hi all, this whole deal is becoming a bit torturing for me. I will not do this again.

As of now, for some reason, the fund still has not yet cleared on the seller's side.

The seller is French, and in France, banks are closed on Mondays. So today being Tuesday the fund should have cleared as I performed the wire transfer last Friday. But this afternoon at 5 pm Maybank called me and said that the Swift number is wrong and the fund can't clear in the France side...

The "bank" the seller is using isn't a real bank, it's called TREEZOR, some kind of financial service instead of an actual bank.

I double checked with the seller, he said that everything was correct, account number, SWIFT, Bank Name, Address, IBAN, everything. Maybank then replied an email saying that the SWIFT number provided cannot be connected, needs a EU Correspondent Bank. So I basically relayed the message to the seller and asked him to inquire with his bank.

This is getting really frustrating. But as of now, even the fund isn't going through. I'm hoping this is just a normal International bank wire issue and can be resolved soon. Will keep you guys updated whatever happens eventually.

[dpkong]

Let me be the first to put my foot in the door.

My gut tells me that this is the heavens aligning to assist you.. to back out now

It's a sign...

[IamJacky]

Let me be the first to put my foot in the door.

My gut tells me that this is the heavens aligning to assist you.. to back out now

It's a sign...

Yes I'm having a similar feeling too. I have already relayed the bank's message to him, so it's up to him to be able to receive this payment. If by tomorrow this issue still cannot be resolved, I will consider cancel this deal. It's going to be bitter on both of our sides I think, because we've already signed the contracts and all. Also on TRF his sale post also said "SOLD" to my name. But I really don't like this feeling of waiting days and days and the watch hasn't even shipped.

[dpkong]

Very sure the TRF community will understand if the deal doesn't come through for both of you seeing how difficult it is to remit money. The last time I sent money online, the seller emailed me receipt notification even before I reached home from the bank.

With the amount you are dealing with. pretty sure seller could set up a proper bank account to receive the funds. Not sure how this TREEZOR platform works but it probably works like our local BOOST! and other payment systems and probably only set up for EU transactions and not for accepting payments worldwide.

The validity of the contracts you signed is questionable as well. Which courts would it stand up in?

[IamJacky]

Alright guys, just got off Whatsapp with seller.

It turns out, the TREEZOR is a sort of neo-bank, which is an on-line only bank that is supposed to be popular in Europe? The seller got the answer from his bank, the bank said they take SEPA wire while Maybank does SWIFT, bottom line is that this wire cannot go through.

So he told me to go to my bank and cancel this TT and get my money back. He said that he understands if I do not want to proceed with this deal, which I told him I appreciated his understanding.
He does however, suggest that he provided an established, physical bank account for the wire if I want to reconsider getting this watch. I told him that I want to see the funds back first then make a final decision.

So that's it, I already wrote email to the banker at Maybank to cancel this TT, hopefully I'll see my money back soon.

Thanks guys for all your inputs and wish-me-good-lucks, really appreciate all your insights!