Soaring sales and fierce competition between traders has dramatically increased the professionalism of secondary market dealers and the digital marketplaces where they sell.
Trust has been increasing among typical watch-buying members of the public, but there is still a cautiousness about buying online when there is no opportunity to see the piece up close.
The best advice for anybody unsure of whether to pull the trigger on a purchase is to research the reputation of the retailer or marketplace they are buying from.
There are also simple tips that will greatly improve the chances of shopping safely, as Watchfinder & Co.‘s watch experts explain.
5 Ways to Shop Watches Safely
Buying a pre-owned watch is a great way to get access to a wide selection of incredible timepieces, but it does mean taking a chance. Here are five ways to make sure you shop safely.
Stock imagery
If the watch you’re buying is online and all you have to go by is the imagery, it’s going to be hard to judge the purchase if the imagery isn’t of the actual watch. Products listed with stock images aren’t necessarily suspicious, but it makes it a lot harder to make a call without seeing the real thing. In that case, you need to able to either acquire high-quality imagery or to see the watch in person.
Low Quality Imagery
Likewise, very poor-quality imagery is a problem. Perhaps even more so, because at best it suggests the seller doesn’t care enough about the watch to take good photos, and at worst it might mean there’s something to be hidden.
The photos don’t have to be award-winning, just clear and well-lit enough to discern the details. And plenty of them, too. A single, poor-quality photo just simply isn’t good enough.
Too Good To Be True
Often times in partnership with a single, bad image you’ll find a price that’s incredibly appealing. Too good to be true, as they say, and chances are that’s the case.
Yes, you may have luckily stumbled across the one person in the world that doesn’t know a Rolex is worth anything, but the odds of that are very slim. More than likely the seller knows exactly what they’re doing, and what they’re doing is trying to scam some poor soul just looking for a bargain.
Condition Doesn’t Match Age
Before you get too confident looking at a watch with a whole selection of lovely, crystal-clear images, just stop for a moment and check that they make sense for the age of the watch. It’s not unusual for an older watch, even one just five years old, to exhibit a little bit of wear and tear.
Unless the seller has the proper facilities to recondition a watch or it’s been recently serviced, you would expect to see an age-appropriate condition. The same is true of box and papers. They won’t stay looking freshly made forever, so if they do, something might not be quite right.
Go To The Expert
Unless you have a good amount of experience and a healthy appetite for risk, shopping pre-owned can be a tricky topic to negotiate. By far the easiest and most effective way to ensure a safe purchase is to buy the seller.
That is, to make the purchase from a known, reputable retailer that you can liaise with before and after the sale. That way, should you have any questions or concerns, you’ll know an expert is just a phone call away. So, if you’re not sure, come and ask us at Watchfinder. We’ll be happy to help!
