Payment by bank transfer (Überweisung) is very common in Germany - it's quick and cheap for them. eBay now basically insists the sellers add PayPal as a payment method, but it gained next to no traction before that and I expect the majority of transactions are still done by transfer. I've had plenty of watches from Germany and I've paid by bank transfer on every single one, both inside and outside of eBay, with no problems.

Bit more of a manual process from the UK. I need to visit the bank and provide quite extensive bank information (more than the seller expects usually) and the bank then charge a hefty fee for the privilege. You'll probably need to take all the fees on, or the final figure at the seller will be rather less than expected.

So a bit of a work-up but a well established method. If you like, I can mail you the pro forma I use that I print out and take to the bank?