How do you sell your watches?

Discuss Christopher Ward watches
Berty
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How do you sell your watches?

Post by Berty »

Before anyone points out the site rules regarding sales posts I am aware of the rules and this is not some underhand attempt to circumvent them! I'm thinking of down sizing my collection to free up funds to upgrade my daily wearer (Currently a Breitling Super Ocean professional that will be kept for sentimental reasons, but I fancy a Super Ocean Heritage) as a few of my watches rarely see the light of day apart from weddings and at job interviews......

I'm thinking I could possibly part exchange a few watches toward a pre owned watch - shouldn't be an issue with my Tag Monaco and a few other big brand pieces, but was wondering if its a viable option to part exchange a CW? Does anyone have experience dealing with Watch Finder, or similar resellers and would they be interested in accepting a CW in part ex?

Is there a strong secondary market for CW watches outside of the forum? Ebay usually throws up a few, but I've not seen any for sale elsewhere.

Thanks for the input
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smegwina
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Re: How do you sell your watches?

Post by smegwina »

For the most money it is fleabay.
For the most reliable and carefree sale it is here.

I would imagine you would get two thirds of sod all as a trade in, due to the fact that CW will not be known to most jewellers. I actually would be amazed if they even took them.

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Tyke
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Re: How do you sell your watches?

Post by Tyke »

Usually give on here the first bite at discount and then move to eBay if no takers. Just done that with one, no takers here so gone to eBay .
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FloridaPhil
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Re: How do you sell your watches?

Post by FloridaPhil »

Sell? A watch? Of mine? Whatever do you mean? ;-)
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Re: How do you sell your watches?

Post by Dancematt »

Petrol stations...like this:

Image

You'll get peanuts for part ex-ing a CW but they'll probably turn you away all together.
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Re: How do you sell your watches?

Post by CBMVic20 »

Dancematt wrote:Petrol stations...like this:

Image

.
:lol: :clap:

eBay for the widest exposure but the 10% fee (including postage) is a kicker. I've found that advertising with international signed delivery can help shift quicker for rare/obscure watches.
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Re: How do you sell your watches?

Post by scooter »

smegwina wrote:I would imagine you would get two thirds of sod all as a trade in, due to the fact that CW will not be known to most jewellers. I actually would be amazed if they even took them.
Michael Matthews, my jeweller in Bournemouth has sold 2 here:

1. A C70 DBR1/2 for £1295

2. C60 Blue/Blue for £395

http://www.michaelmatthewsjewellery.com ... ed-brands/

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Re: How do you sell your watches?

Post by Berty »

Thanks for the replies - I've had my fill with eBay messers over the years (although ironically every deal I've struck outside of eBay via PM has always gone through smoothly, but I have heard some horror stories.....) so eBay will probably be a last resort.

I've dealt with a couple of the large pre owned specialists before so might test the water and drop a few speculative emails to them and see what level of interest (if any) they have for the CW brand. My general understanding is they tend to offer around the 60% of resale value when buying - slightly more for part ex. I'll post up the gist of any responses I might get.

Bert
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smegwina
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Re: How do you sell your watches?

Post by smegwina »

scooter wrote:
smegwina wrote:I would imagine you would get two thirds of sod all as a trade in, due to the fact that CW will not be known to most jewellers. I actually would be amazed if they even took them.
Michael Matthews, my jeweller in Bournemouth has sold 2 here:

1. A C70 DBR1/2 for £1295

2. C60 Blue/Blue for £395

http://www.michaelmatthewsjewellery.com ... ed-brands/

scooter
Always happy to be proved wrong!

Glad that they are out there and that Michael Matthews has the knowledge and confidence to take them.

I have spoken to a few jewellers about this when looking for other purchases and have found that if the watch is not one of the big few and therefore likely to catch the eye, many will not take a chance on a watch from an "unknown" manufacturer at that sort of value. (Not just CW, Steinhart etc have the same problem.)

As for the High Street guys or the large second hand sellers, if they do take them, they offer peanuts as they are not confident on a return.

An example of this is an offer of 70 quid for a c60gmt at a large London second hand seller !!!

I do think that Michael Matthews are unusual in this, but glad that they are!

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Thegreyman
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Re: How do you sell your watches?

Post by Thegreyman »

CBMVic20 wrote:
eBay for the widest exposure but the 10% fee (including postage) is a kicker. I've found that advertising with international signed delivery can help shift quicker for rare/obscure watches.
Not to mention paypal fees of 3.4% (+20p) on top of the 10% :shock: :thumbdown:

Clearly preferable to sell on the forum if poss at a slightly lower price and not line their pockets :thumbup:
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Re: How do you sell your watches?

Post by PaulWB »

Ferg (Minimpi) and I do the eBay listings on the forum and I would say that generally there are about 5 or so listings on the For Sale forum and around 30 on the eBay forum per week.

I would agree with other posters that the forum is a better place to buy and sell (I have bought about 10 watches here and sold almost the same).

I would suggest being an active member of the forum and when you get to 30 posts, you will get access to the sales forum.
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Re: How do you sell your watches?

Post by jtc »

When buying, you buy the seller as much as the watch. By that I mean on a forum it's very easy to see what sort of person you're dealing with.

The same is true on the flipside - by being actively engaged in a community such as this one/other watch forums, you get a much better idea of the people who'll be buying from you.

You'll get fewer pennies but it's a much more pleasant experience dealing with fellow enthusiasts. Ebay is just a minefield unless you deal in person, giving you the opportunity to look before you hand over cash.
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Tyke
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Re: How do you sell your watches?

Post by Tyke »

Selling on the forum is preferable, it's a much smaller but better targeted audience so a good chance of selling for zero fees, but not always possible if it's a less popular model. eBay gives you more footfall but costs which you have to take into account.
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Re: How do you sell your watches?

Post by CBMVic20 »

Forgot to mention that on eBay, PayPal may hold your money for a few weeks in case the buyer is not happy and to also deter scammers. There doesn't seem to be a hard and fast rule for this, I've sold watches for £400 overseas and got the money straightaway and I've sold them for £800 domestically and the money was held for a week which is really annoying. It seems that if you sell something that goes over your usual receiving limit, alarm bells start ringing. Can understand this from a buyer perspective but it sure sucks as a seller.
CW C9 SH21 | C60 Apex SH21 | C65 SH21
Ernst Benz Chronoscope DLC
Oris WilliamsF1 Day Date 2004
Phoibos Leviathan DLC
Seiko 5 Sports Orange "Baby" Monster
Tag Aquaracer | F1 Panda

Too many watches, not enough time :(
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jack
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Re: How do you sell your watches?

Post by jack »

I tend to mainly trade mine. I find it hard to bother with the selling process, I have a Timefactors Speedbird that I've been meaning to sell for a year and still haven't gotten around to it.
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