Guide : Buying Panerai in Europe

[tianzui]

Was wondering anybody could advise. Am currently at greece right now & they offered 23% vat refund, however i saw that in italy is a max of 14%. So should i buy in greece & claim the vat in greece?

[tianzui]

Going Italy next mth, any recommendation for 2nd hand dealers over there?

[babyjan]

Yes. You can check out at Munich.

[Nam]

If possible check out Munich boutique

[leowgeorge]

Is it a bit exp nowadays?

[Spike123]

Its 1.78888 for credit card payment....sigh....

[wheeljoust8]

Quite true. Am in Milan now. Still contemplating if I should get a couple. But at 1.7, the model I'm looking at costs about the same as getting a overseas AD set from a dealer in SG. This is AFTER tax refund comparison.

[Otar]

actually the difference is getting smaller, once you take into consideration the exchange rate, close to 1.7 for euro now? worse if pay by credit card.

so is it still attractive to buy from overseas AD?

[roguehog]

If not willing to wait then the 514 is cheaper here. But if willing to wait, 514 will be cheaper if I get from my sg ad when they receive stock cow can get discount mah.

[Spike123]

still cheaper lah...last check with ION boutique that PAM 514 is retailing at SGD11K+...eyeing one now....

[roguehog]

Was at the Pam boutique at the duomo yesterday. Wife wanted to get one. So went in to see. Prices not that great after tax refund. Eg.pam 514 sgd10k+ after tax refund, Pam 219 sgd10k+ after tax refund. Pam 48 shd9k+ after tax refund. Checked with sg ad after I came back to hotel. He was able to offer better prices on a few models.

[behyx]

I got my Pam 388 in Barcelona, the shop gave me 21% tax refund. The max for tax refund in Spain I guess.

How much in EUR did you pay after tax refund?

[adelbin]

I got my Pam 388 in Barcelona, the shop gave me 21% tax refund. The max for tax refund in Spain I guess.

[Spike123]

Gathered from what I have read so far, while AD does offer discount, their selections are usually limited. Hence, if AD doesen't have your desired model, then getting from boutique and get back the VAT makes sense to me (still cheaper than local boutique). At least your Europe trip would not be wasted and come back empty handed....

[kokchoong]

Am in Italy now. For those interested, boutiques do not offer any discount at all.
As for free straps, only the boutique at Venice offers it. I asked the boutique in Milan (Monteneapoleone) and Florence (Duomo) and they politely told me no free straps.

ADs offer discount but selection is limited. The AD I went only have 6 models and offered a 10% discount on a 388. No free straps either. They can offer 5 to 10% depending on the model. VAT refund is 14.5% for purchases between 5 to 8k euros. Hopefully they will have the model I want (Pam 505) on Thurs when they replenish.