Customs, Excise Duty and Import tax

If you've found the perfect winder, chances are it's not manufactured in your home country.  It could also be that it's not even available in your local watch store or if it is, you have found the same product at a more attractive price online.  Shipping, handling and insurance are the obvious additions you'll need to make, but also consider customs, excise, VAT and other import charges.  These are the additional items that sellers are referring to when they say "international orders may incur extra charges upon delivery".
Watch Winders Int. is building this page to help you answer the important question - what is the total cost?

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UK - watch winders have an import duty rate of 4.6% and VAT rate of 20%

Japan - consumption tax of 5% on all imports.  Batteries (in our experience) are extremely hard to import; especially lithium ones.  There is more information on the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry website, but we found it better to import the winder without batteries and source them separately.

Australia - duty free under $1,000.  If the item is over that amount then there is the 10% VAT charge and some modest processing fees depending on the delivery (ie, if using AusPost).

Hong Kong - free of duty and exempt from taxes

Canada - watch for 'Goods and Services Tax' (GST) of 5%.  For New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario or British Columbia there is no GST, but there is a 'Harmonized Sales Tax' (HST) and for Manitoba, Quebec or Saskatchewan it is known as the 'Provincial Sales Tax' (PST).  Plus there is an $8.50 handling charge from Canada Post.

All the information contained here is meant as a guide.  Watch Winders Int. will try to update the data and links to keep it as accurate as possible, but please check with your local customs office for official rates and duties.
If you find any errors, broken links or missing information please feel free to contact us at mail@watchwindersinternational.com.