# Stowa order and import to Canada



## yvrclimber (Aug 10, 2017)

Does anyone have any experience with ordering and importing a Stowa Flieger into Canada?
Alternatively, are there any Canadian AD or secondhand shop that carry Stowa at all?

I've done my research and am interested in getting a Stowa Flieger Klassic. I could be happy with a pre-owned one if I could find one. But I also like the idea of the custom order that Stowa offers.

Any thoughts on Customs issues? If read a very old post (2008?) about having to have a Customs Broker, which seems ridiculous. 

Anyone ordered straight from Stowa before? Recently?


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## jsbx1 (Jun 27, 2014)

yvrclimber,

I have not ordered from Stowa but, as a fellow Canuck, I feel the pain of receiving a watch from outside our borders.... I found this thread in the Steinhart forum concerning receiving watches from Germany and the best shipping options for us.

Good luck with your order,
Tony

Ps. No Stowa AD, as they only sell from their webstore.


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## Iandk (Mar 26, 2016)

Customs will be unavoidable, since Stowa ships via FedEx, who will be collecting customs at delivery.

Received a watch from Stowa a bit earlier this year.

(With almost every watch in the collection having come from outside Canada, I've pretty much resigned myself to customs being part of the cost of the watch, save for the odd time where it gets shipped regular mail, leaving it to postal dice roll whether I get dinged or not...)


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## B.... (Feb 23, 2017)

Recently went through the order process & shipping. No need for concern. Payment for the watch by Paypal is the easiest. Stowa sends you a PayPal invoice if you use that payment option. After sign-in you enter the euros required & it will auto convert for you & charge you in our dollars. The PayPal fees are respectable relative to bank charges anyway. I have a PayPal / Bank account sync so I don't even have to have any funds in my PP. ( no waiting for added PP funds to clear)
If you chose FedEx delivery you will receive tracking data & will be charged tax & customs duty at the door. (13% + 5% approx.) It will take about 2 days.
You can also choose the option of German equivalent to Canada Post & it will be handed over to our Post at Canada Customs. This way you MIGHT get lucky & avoid extra charges depending on "a coin flip" as it were. Some do some don't. It will take about a week. It's cheaper & may be worth your while. If you order a higher priced Stowa it may be wise to use Fedex for insurance reasons.

Good luck & let us know of your process.
B.

EDIT: You are not likely to find second hand Stowa Fliegers in a shop. The WUS classifieds may help but if you have something specific you want, you'll probably need to order direct from Stowa.


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## smille76 (May 3, 2013)

Hi,

I have ordered a Stowa Seatime Prodiver last fall 2016 from them. Previous poster is correct. They send you an invoice and you pay.

It took about 10 days before shipping (at least in my situation). I think the watch I ordered was not in-stock and they built one for me.

Like you expect, FedEx is the carrier so expect full taxes and fees on top of the hefty amount you will pay. In my situation, it was about 200$ CAD in extra taxes and fees I needed to pay. The watch was about 1000 EUR.

I'm a notorious serial flipper and this one is still in my collection one year later, they are really great.

Cheers,

Seb

Envoyé de mon Nexus 5X en utilisant Tapatalk


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## Joachim88 (Jun 9, 2017)

I purchased a white-dial Marine Original in April and a Partitio handwind for my wife in June. In both cases, the watches were sent via FedEx and the usual duties/taxes were collected by them. For a brand as unique (and German of course) as Stowa, the customs fees are simply part of the deal. Remember also that since the watch is being shipped outside the EU, the 19% German VAT is removed at checkout.


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## Max Rebo (May 28, 2012)

110% get them to ship via DHL - I have had 5 or 6 Stowas(who's counting anyway) shipped to Canada and the last couple that I requested DHL I paid zero taxes or duties.

FedEx cost me about $150 per watch. I also recently had a watch shipped from the US via DHL and I paid sales tax but nothing more no duty no brokerage etc.


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## ho_moon_ar (Nov 26, 2014)

Nice tip! I have recently ordered a Stowa as well and was hoping I could avoid taxes and duty. I'll fire an email to them and see if I can get it shipped in DHL. Thanks!



Max Rebo said:


> 110% get them to ship via DHL - I have had 5 or 6 Stowas(who's counting anyway) shipped to Canada and the last couple that I requested DHL I paid zero taxes or duties.
> 
> FedEx cost me about $150 per watch. I also recently had a watch shipped from the US via DHL and I paid sales tax but nothing more no duty no brokerage etc.


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## eviola1 (Jan 11, 2017)

Just received my Stowa Flieger 36 today. Shipped on the 13th Sept 2017 via DHL. Paid zero import charges






!


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## whaiyun (Jul 20, 2017)

Avoid UPS/FedEx and pray for good luck


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## B.... (Feb 23, 2017)

eviola1 said:


> Just received my Stowa Flieger 36 today. Shipped on the 13th Sept 2017 via DHL. Paid zero import charges
> View attachment 12603895
> !


Did you have to sign for it as in registered mail? 
B.


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## eviola1 (Jan 11, 2017)

Yes. Signature was required by Canada Post.


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## B.... (Feb 23, 2017)

eviola1 said:


> Yes. Signature was required by Canada Post.


In that case I would not hesitate to use DHL / Canada Post. They're not gonna screw up registered mail - period. That's a no brainer.
B.


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## Alex_M (Oct 26, 2017)

whaiyun said:


> Avoid UPS/FedEx and pray for good luck


Would you recommend the same, using DHL instead of Fedex for those shipping their Stowa to the USA?


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## whaiyun (Jul 20, 2017)

Alex_M said:


> Would you recommend the same, using DHL instead of Fedex for those shipping their Stowa to the USA?


Yeah. Anything but Fedex and UPS.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## bbossin (Sep 27, 2018)

eviola1 said:


> Just received my Stowa Flieger 36 today. Shipped on the 13th Sept 2017 via DHL. Paid zero import charges
> View attachment 12603895
> !


How did you ensure it would ship through DHL? Is there an option at checkout or did you message Stowa customer support?

Watch looks great! I am hoping to get one in white soon and would need shipping to Toronto.


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## flyguyelmo (Jul 16, 2017)

Yea I'm in the same boat. I'm in Toronto and I want to purchase from stowa soon, but I'm just unsure about the total added costs.... Its 13% + 5% for duty and tax, and if I go with FedEx there are brokerage costs as well? Can someone confirm this? So I'm looking at over 18% on top of the cost plus shipping? Does DHL not have a brokerage charge?


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## bbossin (Sep 27, 2018)

Figured I would update this thread with my Stowa order/delivery/customs experience.

I ordered a white dial Partitio during the advent calendar sale in December. I asked to have the watch shipped via DHL (based on info in this thread) but this was initially missed and I received a notification that my watch would be coming via FedEx. A quick call to Stowa cleared this up (their customer service is as good as everyone says it is!).

The watch was shipped on December 19th and arrived yesterday afternoon via Canada Post. Unfortunately I did end up getting dinged with duty/tax/brokerage on the watch, totaling around $180 (5% duty, 13% HST, $10 Canada Post brokerage). This of course is standard practice and is supposed to be the case with all international shipments, but based on previous comments in this thread I was hoping to get lucky.

In any event, I couldn't be happier with the watch. It really looks quite sharp (literally and figuratively) in person. The syringe style hands, the dial detailing, the old logo, I could go on and on. Pictures really don't do it justice.

Thanks Stowa for the great promotion and customer service!


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## mi6_ (Jan 7, 2015)

Has anyone had to send their watch from Canada to Stowa for servicing? Would I be paying customs/duties both when I import it (upon purchasing new), and every time thereafter it’s sent for service back to Stowa in Germany?

I assume one could dispute any customs charges with CBSA if the item came back from a service in Germany and you had already paid Canadian customs and duties when it was first purchased new? You’d have to send them the original custom form showing duties had been paid and documents on showing the watch was only serviced in Germany.

I suppose you could avoid any CBSA hassles by getting the watch serviced locally in Canada once you import it, however, it would be nice to have Stowa service it. This is the one concern buying Stowa holding me back from buying from Stowa. I don’t want the hassle of fighting with CBSA to get customs fees back if I’m dinged twice on the same watch.


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## StufflerMike (Mar 23, 2010)

From a former post



> You can look up the duty on anything from the CBSA (Canadian Border Services Agency) website. I looked once for watches and watch parts. I think complete watches are less than 7.5% and parts are duty free. The parcel should have a slip from CBSA on it that clearly states the duty charged that you could take back to them and dispute it once you find the appropriate line in the duty schedule. If it is a "brokerage" fee from UPS or FedEx, you are screwed because they can basically charge as much as they want on top of duty and tax.
> 
> For repair and return item, it always seems tricky but it has to be declared in both directions especially by the other end on the return or CBSA will charge you like you bought it.


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## mi6_ (Jan 7, 2015)

I reached to to STOWA yesterday via email and got this reply. Thought I'd share in case any other Canadians are looking to get a STOWA watch at the moment.

_"Thank you for contacting us and your interest in our STOWA - watches.

Kindly be informed that the shipping cost include shipping, packaging and insurance. 
Duties, taxes, customs and other fees variate in each country. They have to be paid by each recipient and will be charged directly by FedEx.

With a surcharge of 18,- EUR, we can send out your parcel with DHL instead.

But due to the Corona virus, DHL does not make any shipping to the US or Canada at the moment.
Of course, we can wait until DHL ships again.

In case of service repairs, we would like to ask you to get in touch with your customs directly.
The customs tariff numbers for our watches are
9102 2100 (watches with automatic movements)
9102 2900 (watches with hand winding movements)

Until today, we have experienced no negative feedback from our customers in Canada.

For any further questions or information please do not hesitate to contact us again.

With best regards from the Black Forest,

Martin"_

I researched FedEx and for a $1500 CAD item being imported, they charge $70 brokerage fees on top of the GST/HST and Excise tax you will already be paying (5% GST and 5% Excise tax would be about $150 for me in Alberta). If Stowa ships it via DHL, Canada Post would deliver it and they would charge only $10-$20 as a handling fee.


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## fallingtitan (Mar 19, 2018)

Guys how are you saying DHL has no duties they always hammer me the hardest here in Toronto! strange! Im guessing a Stowa at 1500 CAD will be + 150-200 at the door with DHL.

I just got a watch case from Tiawan for skx 90bucks. DHL charged me 22 cad for it on top in duties.


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## mi6_ (Jan 7, 2015)

fallingtitan said:


> Guys how are you saying DHL has no duties they always hammer me the hardest here in Toronto! strange! Im guessing a Stowa at 1500 CAD will be + 150-200 at the door with DHL.
> 
> I just got a watch case from Tiawan for skx 90bucks. DHL charged me 22 cad for it on top in duties.


DHL is the German Post and I believe separate from the DHL courier. When the watch comes into Canada it's handed over to Canada Post for delivery. DHL isn't involved in Canada. Someone please correct me if I'm mistaken.


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## StufflerMike (Mar 23, 2010)

It's all Deutsche Post DHL Group, all under one cap

Post und Paket Deutschland
Express
Global forwarding, Freight
Supply Chain
DHL e-commerce solutions








Pic©Deutsche Post DHL Group

Parcels of private customers are handed over to Canada Post Corporation for delivery. Parcels of business partners are completely in hands of DHL, DHL Paket International (DPI). That's my understanding from what I read.


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## olever12 (May 20, 2020)

Yea I'm in the same boat. I'm in Toronto and I want to purchase from stowa soon, but I'm just unsure about the total added costs.... Its 13% + 5% for duty and tax, and if I go with FedEx there are brokerage costs as well? Can someone confirm this? So I'm looking at over 18% on top of the cost plus shipping? Does DHL not have a brokerage charge?


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## StufflerMike (Mar 23, 2010)

olever12 said:


> Yea I'm in the same boat. I'm in Toronto and I want to purchase from stowa soon, but I'm just unsure about the total added costs.... Its 13% + 5% for duty and tax, and if I go with FedEx there are brokerage costs as well? Can someone confirm this? So I'm looking at over 18% on top of the cost plus shipping? Does DHL not have a brokerage charge?


I do not get your question, you posted this two hours ago ?



> My MO arrived today (Friday the 24th) at my unit in Toronto. It was sent on Friday the 17th using DHL. No additional payment required.
> When ordering I requested that the watch be sent using DHL, which was no proble


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## CMSgt Bo (Feb 12, 2006)

stuffler said:


> I do not get your question, you posted this two hours ago ?


Don't wast your time Mike, he's a bot...


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