: I think he means this one from yesterday in
: Chronotrader

: I can't read German, but I think the French
: seems to say CHF 15 for shipping.

Actually, Bruce, it's German and translates to: Delivery costs and conditions CH:CHF 15.00 Paket A-Post

or 15 Swiss Francs for postage in Switzerland.

Now the seller wishes to charge 25 times the amount quoted simply to ship it to the UK? Frankly, that's ridiculous.

I can't advise Andy what to do... But I can tell you what I would do...

I'd email the seller and CC the auction site and state the following:

Charging 25 times the quoted shipping amount to simply pack the item [when he quoted a charge of 15 Swiss Francs for Swiss shipping] is simply not going to happen. I'd then offer to pay up to £xx for insured shipping to the UK [I'm assuming you're in the UK, Andy because you're using Pounds]. And the seller can accept that or decide not to sell the watch to you, at which point he can re-list it and/or you two can exchange feedback [if that Swiss site has feedback] and you can decide to be cordial with feedback or lay into him.

Now for the amount to offer to pay for shipping... I have paid between $75 and $90 US for priority [EMS, FedEX, UPS] Insured shipping from Europe and Asia to the US. I would suggest a like amount, that's reasonable, what the seller's asking is unreasonable.

That's what I would do. You should wait though and see if Jeff can give you an opinion, as he may have other ideas or contacts in Switzerland whom you could have the watch shipped to, and then that person could ship it the rest of the way. In fact, if the watch was in Germany, I'd recommend you get in touch with Steve Waddington as he and I have done similar shipping favors multiple times in the past.

Sorry I can't help you more directly. Please keep us informed as to the progress on this situation.

-- Chuck