Best way to sell expensive Longines watch

[Clariman]

At a closing down sale of our local jeweller I made an impulse purchase of a Longines St.Imier gold watch which was half price. It is a lovely watch but I only wore it for about 2 weeks before reverting back to a cheap one. If I could get back what I paid for it, I'd rather have the money for other things.

Where would you sell such a watch? There are various websites but how do I know which one is reputable and/or pays well? Would a local jeweller be interested?

Thanks
C

[JMN2]

Watchcentre at 74 New Bond Street is reputable, but they may be dealing only in Rolexes. You will lose a lot though, the bid will be low.

[tea42]

Fleaybay..

[redsturgeon]

Yes, I am afraid eBay is the clearing house for this sort of thing and I would guess that the best price you will get there will turn out to be the going rate for this item. I'd think it likely that you would be extremely lucky to get near to what you paid unfortunately.

John

[newlyretired]

...and thre are certainly risks in selling expensive items using eBay/PayPal

newlyretired

[Clariman]

I'm nervous about using the likes of eBay for something like this. Not sure why really. Do criminals look out for expensive things being sold and then targeting folk for robberies?

C

[redsturgeon]

I'm nervous about using the likes of eBay for something like this. Not sure why really. Do criminals look out for expensive things being sold and then targeting folk for robberies?

C

They don't need to know your address.

Why not go on eBay and look to see what sort of prices similar watches are fetching?


John

[Mike88]

If you decide to sell ebay make sure you take plenty of pictures of the watch and record the serial number to protect you from a buyer who will claim the watch is fake and accordingly will get his/her money back. In fact put the serial number on the item description.

[BobbyD]

I'm nervous about using the likes of eBay for something like this. Not sure why really. Do criminals look out for expensive things being sold and then targeting folk for robberies?

C

Ebay's buyer protection guarantee means if the sale is disputed your likely to lose the money with little right to appeal. While it has proved very useful when dealing with a few duff traders, and I've flogged the odd bits and bobs on there I wouldn't sell anything of significant value on ebay unless the alternative meant taking a very significant hit.

https://pages.ebay.co.uk/safetycentre/eBaybp.html

If you decide to sell ebay make sure you take plenty of pictures of the watch and record the serial number to protect you from a buyer who will claim the watch is fake and accordingly will get his/her money back. In fact put the serial number on the item description.

Watch never arrived. Oh yes, the tracked box arrived but it was full of packing peanuts and a small rock. Yes, you have pictures of a genuine watch but I have pictures of a fake watch, and or a small rock. Would you like to pay postage for the return of the small rock once I have my refund, or shyall I hold on to it?

[redsturgeon]

If I sell anything expensive on eBay I generally ask for a holding deposit paid via Paypal. I then expect the buyer to view the item to check it is all as described and then I take cash or an bacs payment.

John

[Breelander]

I'm nervous about using the likes of eBay for something like this....

While watching the F1, I just saw an advert for https://www.watchfinder.co.uk/ who have bricks and mortar shops.

No idea what price you'd get, but it's probably safer than eBay

[tea42]

Fleabay search on sold prices will give you a bead on likely sale prices. Gumtree is free and you can insist on cash. But… as people mention you have to take precautions to guard against crims. I would go for sold prices and see if any genuine watch dealers will match it. Then of course there is this or similar…. https://www.googleadservices.com/pagead ... Qx6BAgKEAE with a reserve price determined by Fleabay?

Makes me even more determined to avoid buying ' designer goods'.

[IanSmithISA]

Good afternoon,

When I first started looking at watches the recommended sites I looked at were

https://www.chrono24.co.uk/
https://www.chronext.co.uk/
https://www.watchfinder.co.uk/

They all had good reputations and are still going.

WatchFinder will buy your watch off you and the other two will facilitate you selling it yourself on their website.

Watchfinder will give you a price for the watch as you describe it, then you send it to and them they will pay if they agree the watch is as described.

Selling yourself may be problamatic as

1) It may take a long time to sell as you are offering the same item as other people.
2) There may be a genuine differences of opinion between yourself and the buyer as what you may see as perfect condition may be regarded by the buyer as showing wear.
3) As you would be selling the watch as a new seller, prospective buyers will be very concerned about you and are you selling a fake so the more documentation you have the better. However if you are looking to sell the watch at your purchase price you may want to black the price out on the receipt which would worry purchasers!
4) You may be tempted to ask a price that others are asking for but not selling at.
5) Web site fees.

As it is a second hand watch you not only need to discount the watch from the new price, if there is no longer a new price as it is a discontinued watch you will probably need to discount further and then take into account how near it is to a service.

Unless you know the jeweler, there is little reason for him to want the watch, Longiness are a respectable brand generally regarded as the range below Omega in the Swatch hierarchy, it is not a brand that will be easily sell on.

It may be that you are better off keeping the watch as the amount that you will be losing is just to much, this would depended on whether or not the discount that you mentioned was a genuine discount or the normal selling, rather than asking price.

Bye

Ian

[Clariman]

Thanks everyone for your advice and help. I've sent details of the watch to a couple of the sites that you suggested and will see what comes back.

As tea42 says

Makes me even more determined to avoid buying ' designer goods'.

Indeed. It is very unusual for me to buy anything with a 'label' on it, but I sometimes makes exceptions if I really like an item. This was purchased in a moment of madness. Our local jeweller was closing down and had a (genuinely) half-price sale. We had gone to buy a special gift for a significant birthday of Mrs C. Carried away with getting such a bargain on something she had always wanted, I saw this watch at half price looking very, very smart .... and bought it on impulse. I NEVER spend that much money on impulse. I very rarely spend that much money without significant thought!!

It is a really nice watch but I'd rather spend the money on musical instrument(s). It is mad really. I would get 20 years of pleasure from a certain musical instrument, but the watch would only give momentary pleasure if and when I wear it.

Cheers

[Julian]

Another option is the auction house Dreweatts who do specialist watch auctions (https://www.dreweatts.com/department/pe ... es-luxury/). Having said that I've bought there and got a crazy bargain(*) which I suppose might mean they don't get blockbuster prices for sellers but maybe, once those other places get back to you with offers, it might be worth at least going through some old Dreweatts auction results (I assume those are accessible from the web) and/or asking them for an estimate to get one more different datapoint.

- Julian

(*) I bought a limited edition Ebel for pretty much exactly £1,000 (bidding in person at one of their auctions) only to get it home and discover that tucked under the felt inlay inside the box was the original receipt for about £5,600! This was in 2009 so I always wondered whether it was someone in the City or some other casualty of the financial crisis who had fallen on hard times. I suspect Ebel might be a bit of an "also ran" brand so perhaps nowhere near as collectable and hence resellable as something more iconic such as Longine, Cartier, Rolex, IWC, J-lC etc. Luckily for me I am not a collector, I just really liked the watch, so what turned out to be what I perceive as a bargain price was simply a bonus on top.

[Clariman]

Thanks everyone. So I've learned that what I think of as a posh expensive watch is not posh and expensive in the watch world. One watch dealer has offered around 40 to 42% of the retail price which I'm wavering on. I was hoping for something above 45%. I bought it in a closing down sale for about 50% of the retail value so I would be making an approx 20% loss on what I paid.

Perhaps, that is an indicator that I could get more selling it via something like Ebay?

The daft thing is that I can afford to keep this nice watch AND buy the musical instrument(s) that I'd like to buy, but I find it hard to spend the money on things just for me. The watch was an exception - it was an impulse buy when we were buying a birthday present for her - and the prices were so good in the closing down sale that we made 2 impulse purchases.

I'm pleased that we are both cautious about spending money because it meant we paid off our mortgage by our mid-40s and retired in our mid-50s. It also means that we do not take things for granted and never will which I think is a good personality trait to have. However, I also don't want to kick the bucket with loads of money in the bank!

Sorry this musing isn't really relevant to DAK so I'll stop.

[supremetwo]

Thanks everyone. So I've learned that what I think of as a posh expensive watch is not posh and expensive in the watch world. One watch dealer has offered around 40 to 42% of the retail price which I'm wavering on. I was hoping for something above 45%. I bought it in a closing down sale for about 50% of the retail value so I would be making an approx 20% loss on what I paid.

Seems there is overproduction with recalls and scrapping to keep the retail prices up.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-44885983

Richemont, which owns the Cartier and Montblanc brands, has had to buy back €480m (£430m) worth of watches over the last two years.

[Watis]

Thanks everyone. So I've learned that what I think of as a posh expensive watch is not posh and expensive in the watch world. One watch dealer has offered around 40 to 42% of the retail price which I'm wavering on. I was hoping for something above 45%. I bought it in a closing down sale for about 50% of the retail value so I would be making an approx 20% loss on what I paid.

Seems there is overproduction with recalls and scrapping to keep the retail prices up.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-44885983

Richemont, which owns the Cartier and Montblanc brands, has had to buy back €480m (£430m) worth of watches over the last two years.

The destruction of designer clothes, as detailed in the link above, was mentioned on the radio yesterday.

What a strange world we live in these days.

Watis

[torata]

Thanks everyone.
...I bought it in a closing down sale for about 50% of the retail value so I would be making an approx 20% loss on what I paid.
... but I find it hard to spend the money on things just for me. The watch was an exception...

Hi Clariman

Less a DAK response, but more comfort cafe, but anyway...

1) Don't sell it if you think you are making a loss. But, sell it if you don't want the watch.
2) I understand about finding it hard to spend money on oneself.
I recently got given a ticket to a major athletic shoe company secret store (yes they have them). I mistakenly thought that it was a free ticket to any product. Actually it was just a ticket to gain entrance to the store. So I chose a pair of shoes without any regard whatsoever to price - choosing what I wanted because I could choose anything. Of course it was a shock when I got to the checkout, being more than I would naturally pay for 'trainers', but it was a liberating experience. ... So treat yourself again, and then the watch has less (sunk cost) importance.

toratama

[Lanark]

Thanks everyone. So I've learned that what I think of as a posh expensive watch is not posh and expensive in the watch world. One watch dealer has offered around 40 to 42% of the retail price which I'm wavering on. I was hoping for something above 45%. I bought it in a closing down sale for about 50% of the retail value so I would be making an approx 20% loss on what I paid.

I would take the 20% loss and chalk it up to experience, you might get more on Ebay but you also might get ripped off, Ebay offer no protection to sellers.

Longines watches from the 1960's are very collectable, but anything Longines newer than about 1980 is hard to sell.

The most expensive luxury watch is not the one with the largest price tag, it's the one with the heaviest depreciation.