Advice sought re selling watches

Discuss Christopher Ward watches
watchlover1
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Advice sought re selling watches

Post by watchlover1 »

Hi All

I have 3 watches which I am thinking of selling (one CW, two non-CW's) but I have never sold a watch before and would like to know whats the most efficient and reliable way to post watches to buyers etc

To those who have sold watches on this forum previously, whom did you use to send items and would extra packaging be required in addition to the standard watch boxes?
Some of the answers to these qu's seem obvious but if I do sell then would like to ensure I do it properly!
thanks
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Re: Advice sought re selling watches

Post by watchlover1 »

Thanks Jag , much appreciated :)
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ianblyth
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Re: Advice sought re selling watches

Post by ianblyth »

If you are in the UK sending to someone in the UK then Royal Mail Special Delivery (RMSD) is the method I use. It is tracked, insured up to £2,500 and gets there the next day.
http://www.royalmail.com/delivery/busin ... y-next-day

For a CWL with the full box the weight is just over 1 Kg so the price would be £9.05. I have just used the box that CWL sent and retaped that. For other watches it depends on how they are boxed when sent.

Photos really help as it means that a person can decide whether or not they like the watch and if there are defects to show those.
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Re: Advice sought re selling watches

Post by castle »

Royal Mail Special Delivery (RMSD) is widely used as the buyer gets the package quickly and it is insured. It generally costs £7-8. I have sent a couple of CW watches using original packaging without problems although I do tend to pack inside the box with bubble wrap so that the watch can't bang around.
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Re: Advice sought re selling watches

Post by watchlover1 »

thanks for all the tips and info guys, just what I needed im still trying to work out how to post pics properly but sure will get there...eventually :D
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Re: Advice sought re selling watches

Post by Loddonite »

Most means of sending parcels specifically exclude watches from the insurance that's excluded in the price.
Royal Mail wrote:When you use Special Delivery™ Next Day you can claim compensation up to £500 or the value of the item, whichever is the lower. If the item is more valuable you can buy additional compensation cover up to £2,500.
RMSD is about the only way to send a watch insured without buying specific separate insurance but it only covers items up to £2500. An item valued at £2501 will not be covered.
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Re: Advice sought re selling watches

Post by julywest »

Loddonite wrote:Most means of sending parcels specifically exclude watches from the insurance that's excluded in the price.
Royal Mail wrote:When you use Special Delivery™ Next Day you can claim compensation up to £500 or the value of the item, whichever is the lower. If the item is more valuable you can buy additional compensation cover up to £2,500.
RMSD is about the only way to send a watch insured without buying specific separate insurance but it only covers items up to £2500. An item valued at £2501 will not be covered.
but would be covered up to 2500 ?
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Re: Advice sought re selling watches

Post by village »

As one who may have sold,and bought, the odd watch 8) .....

(1) The best advert for your watch is half decent pictures. They don't have to be 'professional',just good enough for a potential buyer to have an honest appraisel
(2) Make the sales pitch honest & detailed,but don't ramble on as people get bored
(3) Research your price.It's worth what people are paying now,not 1 year ago. Make your price a good one and it will help it sell enormously. That said,be prepared to both reduce your price and haggle,but don't sell for less than you are comfortable with. Sometimes you might need to give up,wait a couple of months and try again.
(4) Don't penny-pinch when wrapping for delivery. Make sure the watch is well cushioned. In the UK you can't beat RMSD. If you sell abroad then consider Airsure (or if its a country that you can't use Airsure to then International Signed For),but be aware of the levels to which you can insure your package and the general conditions of carriage. They are all clearly described on the Royal Mail website. Another option is a courier ...Parcelforce,DHL etc ...i use http://www.parcel2go.com
(5) How do you want to be paid? Different options have different pros & cons.
(i) Paypal - depending who you sell to there is always the risk of a chargeback.I would try to use this only for lower priced items and people you can trust.Also there is the issue of the paypal charge - consider asking for payment through paypal gift. The buyer is responsible for the charge then,not you. Or,state that if the buyer wants to use paypal then they must add 4% to cover fees. Or split the fees. Or you decide to eat the fees. Not complicated at all! :lol:
(ii) bank transfer - much preferd in my view. Money goes into your bank,you send the watch. Make sure any funds have cleared before despatch. Obviously not so easy with Overseas buyers.
(iii) buyer collects/you meet buyer for a face-to-face and you get cash in hand. Works well if you both live near each other and you are happy to do it that way. Course,you might not want a stranger round your house.
(iv) trade/part trade..you might not initially lean towards this option but it's one to consider. Sometimes (and especially during the present economic climate) people won't have the case but will have watches they are willing to trade/part trade.One thought here is if you are having difficulty selling a watch for whateve reason eg it will only appeal to a niche market,then trading it for a watch you might not neccessarily want but which will be much easier to sell ,is a softly-softly-catchee-monkey way to go to get your cash.
(6) Choose your sales platform. Although this forum is the best one (generally) to sell a CW watch,it might not neccessarily be the best place to sell another brand/type of watch.
(7) A repeat of a previous point - be as honest as you can in the description..warts & all...otherwise things are just as likely to come back and bite you on the arse.

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Re: Advice sought re selling watches

Post by Loddonite »

julywest wrote:
Loddonite wrote:Most means of sending parcels specifically exclude watches from the insurance that's excluded in the price.
Royal Mail wrote:When you use Special Delivery™ Next Day you can claim compensation up to £500 or the value of the item, whichever is the lower. If the item is more valuable you can buy additional compensation cover up to £2,500.
RMSD is about the only way to send a watch insured without buying specific separate insurance but it only covers items up to £2500. An item valued at £2501 will not be covered.
but would be covered up to 2500 ?
They do not insure items valued at more than £2500.
Royal Mail specific terms for Special Delivery™ Services wrote: 4.4 You must not give us any single item whose contents have a total value of more than £2,500.
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Re: Advice sought re selling watches

Post by xtriple »

That is a lovely, concise write up on how to, but... how do you price stuff? Say for example you wanted to rid yourself of a watch that cost £850 4 months ago and you've worn it four times? The thing is still as new with all its box and papers (equally mint). How would you price that? Is there a formula? Do you just knock off a bit for the fact it's "pre-owned" or knock off a load because it's "Pre-owned"?
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Re: Advice sought re selling watches

Post by ianblyth »

julywest wrote:
Loddonite wrote:Most means of sending parcels specifically exclude watches from the insurance that's excluded in the price.
Royal Mail wrote:When you use Special Delivery™ Next Day you can claim compensation up to £500 or the value of the item, whichever is the lower. If the item is more valuable you can buy additional compensation cover up to £2,500.
RMSD is about the only way to send a watch insured without buying specific separate insurance but it only covers items up to £2500. An item valued at £2501 will not be covered.
but would be covered up to 2500 ?
According to someone on another forum who has researched this if the item is over £2500 then the insurance is null and void. That is you get nothing. You don't get the first £2,500 of the value.
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Re: Advice sought re selling watches

Post by watchlover1 »

xtriple wrote:That is a lovely, concise write up on how to, but... how do you price stuff? Say for example you wanted to rid yourself of a watch that cost £850 4 months ago and you've worn it four times? The thing is still as new with all its box and papers (equally mint). How would you price that? Is there a formula? Do you just knock off a bit for the fact it's "pre-owned" or knock off a load because it's "Pre-owned"?
Good point, im in that position exactly!I have a CW watch in as-new condition, worn a few times but very difficult to gauge what is both a reasonable and realistic price point
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Re: Advice sought re selling watches

Post by village »

watchlover1 wrote:
xtriple wrote:That is a lovely, concise write up on how to, but... how do you price stuff? Say for example you wanted to rid yourself of a watch that cost £850 4 months ago and you've worn it four times? The thing is still as new with all its box and papers (equally mint). How would you price that? Is there a formula? Do you just knock off a bit for the fact it's "pre-owned" or knock off a load because it's "Pre-owned"?
Good point, im in that position exactly!I have a CW watch in as-new condition, worn a few times but very difficult to gauge what is both a reasonable and realistic price point etc suuply and demand for the particular model also comes into it,exclusivity and the list goes on!

Research.Research.Research.
Search sales corners on other watch forums eg TZ-UK,Watchuseek,The Watch Forum,PMWF etc etc etc
Look at Ebay
Look at dealers on the t'internet eg Blowers

If you still can't find a price then you'll have to do what everyone else does and estimate it. Be sensible about it. If it's too high you'll soon find out and then you can drop the price accordingly.
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Re: Advice sought re selling watches

Post by Kip »

A bit off topic, but for what it is worth....

I have been building a database over this past year of the sales the resale prices of CWL watches. I have gone to 2005 and scour forums and auction sites to gather as many as I can find. I have numbers so far on over 500 transactons. It is enough to provide a guidline on the more popular models.

I am not taking into consideration CWLs sale prices, NN or clearance. I am stricly tracking the resale prices on the open market/auctions.

That being said, I would like to ask again that anyone who has a private sale to please pm me with the model and price of what you sold and whether it included box, papers etc. and if it included a strap or bracelet. Your name will never be used..it is only the data I am interested in.
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Visit the CWArchives for everything CW. Historical, specs, manuals and resale. It is all there.
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Philip
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Re: Advice sought re selling watches

Post by Philip »

ianblyth wrote:According to someone on another forum who has researched this if the item is over £2500 then the insurance is null and void. That is you get nothing. You don't get the first £2,500 of the value.
Don't suppose that you'd have a link to that post? A definitive answer to the "is the first £2,500 covered?" question would be really helpful - I've seen people give both answers.

(I'm active on another forum where people regularly sell watches at over £2,500, and offer RMSD with insurance up to £2,500, so would really like to know whether they have got it wrong or not.)
--
Philip
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