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Stoll & Co runs eBay's Authenticity Guarantee programme in the UK under the eagle-eye of head watchmaker Graham Foster.

SPECIAL REPORT: Deep dive into eBay’s Authentication Guarantee

eBay has been a leader in the trade of pre-owned luxury watches for over a decade. The marketplace, used by around 140 million people worldwide to buy and sell goods, has spent the past few years rolling out services in the luxury sector with the express intention of building trust within its community so that buyers and sellers are protected and confidence grows between the two.

eBay has been a leader in the trade of pre-owned luxury watches for over a decade. The marketplace, used by around 140 million people worldwide to buy and sell goods, has spent the past few years rolling out services in the luxury sector with the express intention of building trust within its community so that buyers and sellers are protected and confidence grows between the two.

However, its approach is not simply to impose its strategy on the community, but to listen, learn and lead in the luxury watch space.

Tirath Kamdar, general manager of luxury for eBay US, describes the challenge and opportunity as “analysing and understanding today’s brand and consumer trends, aligning our marketplace with the ever-evolving ways that people buy and sell luxury online, and ensuring that eBay is a trusted and valued community for watch enthusiasts”.

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eBay general manager of luxury Tirath Kamdar.

Ten years ago, the online market for prestige timepieces was a Wild West. Collectors were certainly searching for and buying great watches, but it took a considerable level of expertise to feel confident that purchases would arrive as advertised.

Things have moved along at a pace over the past decade as sophisticated businesses like Watchfinder (now owned by the mighty Richemont) and Watchbox raised standards and issued warranties for the watches they bought and sold.

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This created the conditions for a boom in online trading of luxury timepieces, and to such an extent that expert analysts now predict that the secondary watch market will become bigger than the primary sector.

That will not be possible without rising confidence, which is why eBay developed a detailed service that physically checks watches sold on their platform for £1,500 and over.

eBay calls the service its Authenticity Guarantee, and it does what it says on the tin. After first launching in America, luxury watch sales rose to a record high in the first half of 2021, including brands like Rolex, Omega, Breitling, Patek Philippe and Cartier.

With more sellers lured to the marketplace because of the protection they are given, and more consumers prepared to spend more freely on luxury watches, sales have continued to soar in the luxury watch category in the United States and now Britain.

How ebay authenticity guarantee works

Authenticity Guarantee launched in the UK last year, the second market in the world to offer the service.

WATCHPRO visited eBay’s authentication facility in the UK shortly after its launch. The process blends advanced technology and human expertise checking every timepiece on route from a seller to a buyer.

Authentication in the UK is handled by Stoll & Co, a leading giant service business in the United States that opened a UK subsidiary last year.

Stoll & Co’s experts carry out a multi-point physical authentication inspection of the watches including the crown, bezel, dial, case, clasp/buckle, hands, end links, and reference number to guarantee the watch is genuine and that the seller has described it correctly in their listing.

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Stoll & Co. head watchmaker Graham Foster with Kirsty Keoghan, director of luxury goods at eBay UK at the UK authentication centre.

Cleverly, the process protects both the buyer and the seller. Once authenticated by the experts, the watch is dispatched to the buyer. If the buyer decides to return it for any reason, the watch is checked again to ensure it continues to be the same item, in the same condition, as it was when heading in the other direction.

“Giving our customers the confidence to purchase luxury goods, in this case a watch, knowing it is authentic, is pivotal. We launched Authenticity Guarantee for watches, as part of our wider goal to build more trust on the eBay marketplace for the whole community and allow them to buy with complete confidence.” says Kirsty Keoghan, director of luxury goods at eBay UK.

Stoll & Co head watchmaker, Graham Foster, adds: “Buying an expensive watch online can be a nerve-wracking experience, that’s why this process is of utmost importance to the second hand luxury watch market, giving customers the security of knowing that their purchase is authentic. It’s the details within high end watches that make us tick, so we’re excited to bring our skills and expertise to the UK to help power eBay’s Authenticity Guarantee for watches.”

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A recent update from eBay UK reveals that more prestige timepieces are being traded on the marketplace since launch and average selling prices are also rising, with a £94,000 2019 Patek Philippe Aquanaut processed through the centre earlier this year. In June, alone, sales of luxury watches were up by over 40% compared to the same month last year.

Speaking to WATCHPRO, eBay also revealed that, at one point in June, Rolex was the sixth most searched for item on eBay.co.uk. In the same month, a 2020 Rolex ‘Paul Newman’ Cosmograph Daytona in yellow gold sold for over £50,000 through the Authenticity Guarantee service.

With confidence and trust growing, as a result of the Authenticity Guarantee, more buyers and sellers are attracted to the platform. eBay says that today there are now around 10,000 watches available to buy on eBay.co.uk with Authenticity Guarantee included for free.

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Rolex dominates the market for pre-owned watches trading online, but eBay is seeing a number of other luxury watch brands increase in popularity on its platform. The UK is following a similar trajectory to the United States, which registered sales of over 25,000 watches in the first half of 2021.

“Additionally, following the US launch of eBay’s Authenticity Guarantee service for watches in September 2020, many luxury watch brands saw upticks in searches, such as IWC, whose searches increased +12% in October compared to September. We saw more than 22 million site searches for Cartier and more than 15 million for Tag Heuer in the past year as well,” Mr Kamdar describes.

One reason demand is rising for a wider range of brands is that supply is tight for the most popular models from the likes of Rolex and Audemars Piguet, even on the secondary market. If the current Daytona or Royal Oak is tough to find at anything other than an eye-watering price, why not consider something just as well-made from Omega, TAG Heuer or Breitling?

eBay’s ongoing mission is  to offer the largest choice of prestige watches, and it works with sellers of all sizes from large operations across the world including Watchbox, Chronext, Beckertime, Shopworn, Hess Fine Auctions, ChronoStore, and authorised dealers like America’s Burdeen’s Jewellers and Shreve Crump and Low.

The Authenticity Guarantee coupled with eBay’s sheer scale and reach is a perfect combination for both buyers and sellers who, before the creation of online marketplaces, would have found it almost impossible to find each other.

Globally, eBay has over 100,000 watches covered by the Authenticity Guarantee spanning across new, pre-owned and vintage watches that come with the stamp of approval from independent experts.

“What sets eBay apart from its competitors is our unique selection of inventory from top luxury brands to new, pre-owned and vintage items. Our customer base knows they can discover  exactly what they’re looking for on our platform and again, we’re seeing quarter over quarter growth in the luxury category, and this will only continue to grow,” Mr Kamdar suggests. “As one of the largest luxury marketplaces in the world, eBay has one of the best pre-owned inventory of top brands including Rolex, which are not actually easily found on other marketplaces,” he adds.

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