How to sell second hand watches
How to Sell a Watch Online: Selling One of My Watches Online Step by Step
after close to pretty much a year
without making any changes to my wash
collection or making any substantial
purchases think it's time for some
changes and I decided to part ways with
a few of the watches that I have my
collection one of them being this iw CC
right here and I was gonna sell it and I
was thinking about the process of
actually going to sell a watch and with
this in mind I thought it was a good
idea to go ahead and document selling
this watch I have a pretty good
experience now probably selling close to
like a dozen watches online and I wanted
to go through the process for me and how
I usually go about it so guys let's jump
into this
so before we get too far into this I
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okay so Before we jump into my main way
of selling watches and I have went this
route before I've had a YouTube channel
and have sold many watches that way as
well as now currently selling them with
the YouTube channel so I've done it many
times now probably close to a dozen
times I want to go that route in that
route is eBay but just to talk about
other ways because you know for some
people there's pros and cons for every
single way in which you sell watch one
way is through the forums and Facebook
groups there are Facebook groups that
are completely dedicated to selling
watches and depending on the group I've
hear good things about it as well as
going to forum places places like the
Rolex forums watch time as well as other
forums that you may have heard of like
what you seek I've heard mixed things
about all these places kind of the pros
and cons for all of them sometimes you
can demand a higher dollar these are
gonna of course usually be more educated
buyers and usually there's only gonna be
a market for maybe more sought-after
pieces and there is the anonymous factor
for a lot of the forums you don't have a
name associated with somebody you don't
have the reviews and background so it
might be a little bit difficult but in
addition you have to always also
consider how you're gonna get payment
and go about that there's a lot of
different ways about this I prefer to
have the security some of these places
do have that lined up where you can
transfer funds and you can have ways of
going about it
overall I think you can get a good
return going this route so the next
place you can go is through a dealer and
dealers I think are great place to buy
watches selling watches as well if
you're somebody that just wants to get
rid of something quickly different
dealers of course they're going to of
course have to make money there they're
in the business of buying low and
selling high that's just the name of the
game that's business in general so I am
no fault in that and I will say about
this you might not get the same return
that you would get if you're going to go
independently but anybody that has sold
a watch or has tried to sell many
watches know that it is something that
takes a lot of time so that route might
be a good route if you're just somebody
that does not want to deal with the
back-and-forth posting of a watch and
having to answer questions of people
that might be interested you're gonna
get people that may just ask questions
that don't you have the money to spend
on you get a lot of people that will
just
ask questions for the sake of asking
questions and not really interested
buyers so there's a lot of pros and cons
to it one thing I will say this was
probably only a suitable solution for
people that have a watch that is going
to be very sought-after so say like an
example like omega watches rolex sports
and steal watches where there is a true
market for them you're not gonna be able
to sell your usually affordable watches
to a dealer they're not going to be able
to move it make the profit margins
needed and especially if they have a
bigger team and have overhead so and of
course I'm gonna show a shout out to Baz
watches and you if you want quick money
for your watch their partner the channel
they will always do that it's really
secure and a great way to go about it
now the final round that you can go is
through marketplaces like chrono 24 and
ebay and where I have the most
experience selling watches is through
eBay and the one thing I'll say about
eBay of course there are negatives to it
with their fee structure but I will go
in a little more detail about that I'll
have a link as well as to adjust in the
description to an article that talks a
little bit more about their tier
percentage that they take in terms of
fees as well as factoring in PayPal so
something to consider but also the one
thing I will say when you even when you
factor those in when you're looking at
comparing it to maybe going to do the
rap or Thor the forum route I think it
does check out to be pretty similar at
the end of the day if you're going for
the route and trying to make the most
money possible and selling a watch it
you know it's it's not going to be
something that you're gonna be able to
do independently unless it's a very
sought-after model so just getting the
money having the ability and ease to put
something up on the market and have
people direct traffic's through
different searches and find that watch
for sale that's the perk of eBay and
that's probably the greatest thing
around it as well as setting up a system
for you to usually safely receive funds
as well but the one thing I would say
about eBay I think is probably the
better route to go for the majority of
watch sales just the fact that for
cheaper watches more affordable watches
where there might not be the opportunity
to get as much traction on a place like
the forums where maybe people aren't
seeking out that particular model or
through a dealer who just won't simply
be able to take that model because there
is not enough money to be had for them
to take and buy it and keep it as
inventory and sell it that's the perks
of eBay I've been able to sell watches
you know under $100 and still make some
money I'm talking like fashion watches
that I just wanted to sell off many
years
oh that was kind of my gateway of
getting into the hobby of course so you
have that in your back pocket for eBay
so I would say for the majority
purchases it's the way to go and just to
kind of go through this today I have my
mintage IWC that I'm going to be selling
so let's go through this process step by
step on how you can sell a watch so the
first step in selling your watches you
need to know as much information as you
possibly can about your watch both the
particular watch that you have as well
as different models that are out on the
marketplace today and that is especially
true when you're selling a vintage model
you want to know everything that you
possibly can more details the better if
you're someone like myself it does a lot
of that legwork upfront when you're
buying a watch that's fantastic I can
tell you a lot about this watch and
that's all due to good research upfront
so that goes for both ends but make sure
you factor that in and get ready when
selling step 2 what you need to do if
you need to look at the marketplace and
I think this is something that a lot of
people gloss over I think many people
either get too ambitious with the price
that they're asking for or they just
simply will look at the listing prices
what is currently on the market which
doesn't really tell the true story about
what you're actually going to get for
your watch so if you want to actually
see how much you could probably get for
your watch what you should do especially
on eBay eBay is a fantastic tool even if
you go those other routes and how much
you should be asking for if you decided
to sell in a different way eBay is a
great tool to figure out how much you
probably should be asking for what is a
good indication of what it is on the
open market so to do this search for
your watches reference or model then
scroll down to the bottom left of the
screen and there will be the ability to
click a little bubble it says completed
once you do this you can see what people
are actually paying and see actual
listings that people have put up and the
frequency in which they're doing it I
think this is huge because it tells the
true story about what is the actual
value for the wash you're going to be
selling so you can take that in your
back pocket and have a better
expectation of what you should have that
list price Act I always try to give as
much as you can but that's what leads to
keep you a little bit grounded here ok
so now once you have a sense of what
your watch is going to be able to go for
on the market in terms of a price keep
that in your back pocket for now but now
what you want to do is take as many
pictures as possible so eBay allows you
to take quite a few pictures about up to
a dozen pictures that you
include one of the most annoying things
as a buyer of a watch is not getting
either good quality pictures or just not
simply getting enough do you know how
many times I see a good price watch but
I only see like one or two pictures for
me isn't I'm never going to take that
risk and especially if you were
something that's just selling a watch
for the first time on eBay and you don't
have a reputation to go with it this is
something that where you just want to
overextend here and provide as many
different angles many different shots as
you possibly can if you have the ability
to showcase the movement do that if you
can do it without damaging the watch at
the very least give a sense of what the
service history will be but take as many
pictures as possible and I put this
quick little rundown together and how
you can take better pictures just using
your phone so if you want a little bit
more insight on how to take better
pictures for listings let's do this
couple quick tips don't take pictures in
the actual eBay app take them on your
phone first and then upload when you're
doing your listing second step unless
you have very good camera equipment
don't even bother trying to shoot inside
go outside hope for overcast skies if
you don't have those try to get in the
shade because harsh lights never really
a big fan bringing out the best of your
watch but let's just go through this
really quickly alright so I'm outside
this really is an ideal place to be
shooting so I'm gonna go over to the
shade and then let's take a few pictures
all right so I'm here in the shade and
as you can tell the watch is gonna look
way better here without the harsh light
it's gonna allow the light to diffuse a
little bit more properly and look a
little bit cleaner and really bring out
those nice details in the wash so take
as many shots as you possibly can get
some close-ups also get some close-ups
of it off the wrist get some side
profile shots as well as the case back
take as many as you possibly can eBay
usually allows they're on ten to twelve
I'll be able to confirm that in a moment
but just take a surplus so you have
everything that you need when you go for
your listing okay now once we have our
pictures taken we can then go ahead and
start our listing so going through this
process what you want to do is you want
to pick a good title the title that's
going to get people's attention but also
isn't misleading so just be honest but
also really speak to the condition of
the watch if it is like new or is in
really good condition go ahead and
mention that but don't be misleading
being honest is always going to be the
best route especially in the long run
and you also want to make it easy for
people to be able to find a particular
model that you're selling also make sure
to pick the right category as this will
help in different types of
searches on eBay in the marketplace the
best aspect of eBay in my opinion is the
ability for there to be directed traffic
towards your listing if you're selling
this independently it's gonna be hard to
get that traffic the fact that millions
of people use eBay on a day to day basis
is going to help with this but you have
to set the right actual structure around
your listing to make sure that people
can find it next talk about the
condition and again just be honest about
this if it is banged up in certain areas
talk about that and then just say it's
pre-owned and then you can add more
information in the description now
moving to that description you want to
include as much information as possible
for one get your measurements get the
case size look to lug actual height
thickness lug with info and the crystal
is the original any blemishes on the
crystal is it all original I would go
into as much details as possible
especially when you're going to vintage
route people want to see all that
information you want to allow people to
be able to trust you and given
information in addition you can make an
unlisted video to YouTube and just put
the link in the actual description of
the video maybe you don't put your face
in it but you just talk about it you get
some video footage of the actual model
and you can put that in the actual
description it's just another way to get
people to feel comfortable in making a
purchase especially if you're going to
vintage route another important thing
that you're gonna want to include is
service history if you have that service
history you want to include it be honest
about it tell how the watch is actually
running and don't try to deceive
somebody that's never going to turn out
well what you send them the watch now
for setting the price you want to refer
to what I mentioned earlier about
finding models that were recently sold
once you figure out what the current
market is for that sort of watch offer
it up for a reasonable price if you want
to get ambitious you can however if you
want to sell always try to do it for a
fair price in addition you will have a
couple different options here for the
listing itself one being do you want to
put it up for auction or do you want to
have it by now there are positives and
negatives for both but for auction you
will gather a lot of attention
especially if you start your first bid
very low however sometimes you might end
up not getting what you want for your
watch you can also set reserve prices
for auctions but there are fees that are
associated with it so personally for me
what I like to do is just put a Buy Now
price and what you can also do is allow
people to give offers as well that maybe
are a little bit less
then the particular Buy It Now price and
that gives you the ability for one put
it out there give people that maybe want
to buy it the chance to just buy it when
they're ready if they're ready to pull
the trigger great if not and you're
seeing it you're not getting a lot of
good feedback and a lot of people are
showing interest or not getting a lot of
traffic to it you then can see if people
are going to provide offers maybe at a
less surprising and then once you get
those actual offers what you can do is
either approve them decline them and
also set a minimum offer amount that you
will automatically be able to decline so
just a few things to consider there I
personally like going to buy it now
route now for the duration I personally
like to go for usually a week that feels
like a very good amount of time for me
when you make it extra long sometimes
it's hard to get people really excited
about the listing and I feel like seven
days is the perfect amount of time to
garner up attention while allowing
people to not lose interest in the
actual listing itself if you have it set
to buy now in seven days I also find
that some of these longer listings it
allows people to maybe want to buy the
watch more spontaneously than they would
if it was an auction because they might
not want to wait the full duration of
the listing and we'll just end up buying
it because they don't want to have to
wait for something that they really want
so that's usually what I do seven days
that's the duration buy it now and for
shipping usually what I like to do is
either have a flat rate or include free
shipping probably depends on the price
of the watch itself if it's a cheaper
watch a more affordable watch say under
maybe $300 might be a good idea to have
a flat rate and it might be also be a
good idea to just keep it to domestic
shipping so you want to maybe turn off
international shipping because that
would really eat into the margin
especially when you factor in those fees
from eBay but if you're selling a more
expensive watch it might make a lot of
sense to do free shipping because that
will allow you to separate from maybe
other listings in the market especially
if it's a competitive watch there's a
lot of different listings and maybe
you're charging a little more of a
premium for the watch itself when you're
selling it so just couple things to
consider one thing that I usually do is
either do free shipping or that flat
rate and then I'll set it to domestic
especially for in the place like the
United States a lot of buyers
they'll be navigating looking for maybe
the potential watch that you're selling
and then will often happen if somebody
is internationally based what you can
usually do is they might
hey can you make this available
internationally and then what you can do
is off through those messages on eBay go
ahead and agree to a specific amount
that you want to go for and then go
ahead and read list it now once you are
ready to go ahead and list go ahead and
list the item and then just give it time
and always be sure to answer any
questions that people have even if it
seems like they might not be a potential
buyer you want to have a good reputation
if you maybe want to sell more watches
in the future independently which I have
in a managed to sell a lot of different
products on eBay probably hundreds of
products on eBay at this point now and I
have a pretty good rating there so it
helps with that regard but especially if
you're starting out and say somebody
does buy your watch make sure that you
receive that payment PayPal is going to
withhold the funds before that you can
transfer it over and you have to ship
out the product first however make sure
that you can see that that has been paid
for before sending out the product get
confirmation you usually you can go into
your PayPal account and see that there's
going to be withhold funds waiting and
you'll usually get a notification for
that so once you get that you can feel
pretty confident about sending it but
always look for that just in case to
make sure that you don't send out a
product that hasn't been paid for this
is usually always covered but I always
like to be extra certain before sending
something out and finally to wrap this
up I will link to a helpful article down
below that explains the fee structure
for eBay and PayPal if you want some
more information about that I hear a lot
of misinformation eBay has a kind of a
tiered structure when it comes to
percentages that they're gonna take from
the actual listing depending on the
amount that it is in the actual category
that it's in so you want more
information about that I'd recommend
giving the article down below or read so
you can be really educated when going
about this but for me I think it's
always worth it because eBay for one it
allows an a secure way to exchange the
funds and then also you have the ability
to be seen by people all around the
world and you have that traffic being
sourced to your page so there's always
shortcomings with every single one to
sell a watch it can be a very hard to
sell watch depending on what you're
trying to sell but for me this has been
the way which I have had the most
success and have done and of course not
a watch dealer but it's just what I feel
the most comfortable with and I think
for the majority the audience out there
it makes the most sense and in addition
guys if you want to go ahead and check
out the watch that I just put up for
sale my IWC vintage item
see I can link to it down in the
description to the specific listing and
thought this would be a good way to kind
of kill two birds here put up the watch
which is always you know take some time
as well as making a cool video about
this because I feel like this is a
subject that a lot of people talk about
but haven't actually went through the
steps on how to do it so that's how I do
it
love to see ways in which you prefer to
sell watches your experiences of selling
watches in different areas and what you
recommend and again I want to thank our
sponsor Squarespace so you want to build
a blog talk about some watches website
great way to do it as well as maybe
building up a store to start selling
maybe your own watches so you don't have
to use the ways that I recommend it
today you can start doing it
independently and maybe one ago
Squarespace a shot like myself and other
people they have amazing customer
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great website and you can feel very good
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retailers for watches in the world and a
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you all very soon
