Watchfinder advertising grey dealer watches

[SRG89]

Had a quick flick through Watchfinder today and noticed for the first time (at least to me) - there are numerous listings on WF being advertised as being sold by 'Certified Sellers'.
These are all grey dealers in the UK and whilst in their own right they may be legitimate businesses, I think it smacks of desperation of the part of Watchfinder.

To me it shows they have no confidence in buying and holding stock at the moment and are just whoring out there name to allow grey dealers to advertise their stock and take a small percentage on the sale.

I think this is a positive sign for the secondary market moving down - nobody wants to stock anything anymore - since WF have been owned by Richemont I've heard reports of them refusing to offer on Daytona's and GMT's etc.

This is in line with my thinking on the topic that nobody is buying at these stupid inflated prices, only watches going from dealer to dealer.

Aplogies if this has already been covered just thought it was interesting!

[Harry-57]

This is WF trying to corner more of the market.

WF prices are on the high side. These retailers will be paying WF some kind of commission. I don't see how this will drive prices down, although it could be an attempt to keep values pumped in the short term.

The market is going to do whatever it's going to do, and if it's going down, WF won't be able to hold it up no matter how much prop they try to put under it.

[HMHM]

The problem is that some grey dealers have found the smart idea of doing consignment - they get to wear the watch without paying a dime, then claim 10-20% when the watch is sold. When that risk free idea starts to get traction, grey dealers no longer have incentive to buy watches. So now even established dealers like WF will see no reason in buying stock, instead they just advertise other people’s stock and get a cut of the sales.

Grey dealers are just passing stock from one hand to another, each raising 10% until a consumer takes the bite.

[rmwill]

I would never consign a watch. Ask those people that lost their watches in the robbery in Germany a few months back.

[Steve Epps]

Originally Posted by SRG89

To me it shows they have no confidence in buying and holding stock at the moment and are just whoring out there name to allow grey dealers to advertise their stock and take a small percentage on the sale.

Trouble is even the authorized Rolex dealers who want to have and are able
buy plenty stock, they can’t get it. Rolex does not operate anymore as a
legitimate watch manufacturing company, with production, distribution and
deliveries in a timely manner.

[SamArj]

Originally Posted by SRG89

Had a quick flick through Watchfinder today and noticed for the first time (at least to me) - there are numerous listings on WF being advertised as being sold by 'Certified Sellers'.
These are all grey dealers in the UK and whilst in their own right they may be legitimate businesses, I think it smacks of desperation of the part of Watchfinder.

To me it shows they have no confidence in buying and holding stock at the moment and are just whoring out there name to allow grey dealers to advertise their stock and take a small percentage on the sale.

I think this is a positive sign for the secondary market moving down - nobody wants to stock anything anymore - since WF have been owned by Richemont I've heard reports of them refusing to offer on Daytona's and GMT's etc.

This is in line with my thinking on the topic that nobody is buying at these stupid inflated prices, only watches going from dealer to dealer.

Aplogies if this has already been covered just thought it was interesting!

Funnily enough WF have recently offered me very decent money on two not so hot Rolex watches. So they are still very much in the game of buying and holding physical stock.

[Mr Ben]

Interesting. I noticed that on WF a few days ago as well and wondered if they’d always done this but now acknowledge the third party or if it was new.

I tried them last year for a couple of watches and the discount they offered was minimal even when I asked about a package deal on two watches together. Thought they might have been a little more generous given their starting prices weren’t the cheapest.

[WatchEater666]

Sites turning into marketplaces instead of solely their own inventory is VERY common.

Most large scale eCommerce sites are like this.

The logic is that WatchFinder can graduate into becoming a c24-esque platform, not just another used watch seller.

The platform can scale much more cleanly without anywhere as much capital, and can become many times larger.