Looking to buy a Rolex…why do sellers on here feel like scammers?

[Amplifiednation]

I have been in the market for a Batgirl reference 126710. Found two sellers that wanted to play…

First transaction seemed legit, but seller was kind of weird on the phone, talking very low and hard to understand. Then he was emailing at 3:45 am then again at 6:15am which I found to be odd. He was pushing hard for payment. I could not find him on google and I felt like the price was too good to be true. He gave me two references that I email and they both said almost the exact same thing...both calling him a "gentleman". He then deleted the listing before the deal was done!

Seemed like a lot of red flags, so I backed out. The seller flipped and started swearing which made me feel glad we did not do business. His user name is CapeCodeRolex.

During that transaction I had been talking to another seller who also offered an aggressive price, but said he sold the watch to someone else before we got to the point of making a deal. User is watchandbullion

Two days later watchandbullion emails back to check in, and has good news; his friend in TX has a brand new one for sale. He said the TX seller did not have an online forum account but I should email him. We email sporadically for a day or two.

TX seller says he is worried about sharing info online, but will do the deal; sends me pictures and bank info. I can not find this gentleman online via google. No linked in page or any of the normal stuff (people search, facebook etc). I requested a phone call, but the TX seller refuses.

I go back to check the watchandbullion account last night on TRF and he’s “banned” which is obviously a huge red flag. Account was opened in August.

What is going on at TRF??? Is this really how you guys do business?? Or am I being overly skeptical?

[travisb]

Buy the seller.
Why not look at some of the Trusted Sellers here on TRF? You might pay slightly more than these other two offers you had but you'll have piece of mind and full open communication with countless references.

[Amplifiednation]

I think that’s what’s gonna have to happen!

[rmlovett1]

Originally Posted by travisb

Buy the seller.
Why not look at some of the Trusted Sellers here on TRF? You might pay slightly more than these other two offers you had but you'll have piece of mind and full open communication with countless references.

⬆️⬆️⬆️ Exactly what Travis said. Pay a bit more…No worries, and they’ll stand behind their sale/reputation.

[TBC123]

“The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot - it can't be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run. And if you do that, you will have enough to pay for something better." John Ruskin 1856

[SLWoodster]

You might be trying to aim too low on pricing. There’s plenty of stock from reputable dealers ready to “play ball”. Somehow you seem to just attract the shady ones. 2 out of 2, it’s you.

[Star Ferry]

TRF sales is like a classified listing, so it’s not TRF that you are doing business with. Look for sellers with a long history of transactions and positive reviews in the “Who’s Who” forum

[mailman]

Originally Posted by travisb

Buy the seller.
Why not look at some of the Trusted Sellers here on TRF? You might pay slightly more than these other two offers you had but you'll have piece of mind and full open communication with countless references.

Originally Posted by Richris1

⬆️⬆️⬆️ Exactly what Travis said. Pay a bit more…No worries, and they’ll stand behind their sale/reputation.

Speaking from experience I can’t stress this enough. Buy the seller. That’s if you decide to go this route.

[brandrea]

Originally Posted by travisb

Buy the seller.
Why not look at some of the Trusted Sellers here on TRF? You might pay slightly more than these other two offers you had but you'll have piece of mind and full open communication with countless references.

and another

[brandrea]

Originally Posted by Star Ferry

TRF sales is like a classified listing, so it’s not TRF that you are doing business with. Look for sellers with a long history of transactions and positive reviews in the “Who’s Who” forum

And this ^^^

It’s important not to conflate the two.

[Chiboy]

Sounds like you for sure dodged two scammers. If you can't find established sellers on here (as suggested above), best to go with the big name grays and negotiate.

[drrd]

Originally Posted by Amplifiednation

I have been in the market for a Batgirl reference 126710. Found two sellers that wanted to play…

First transaction seemed legit, but seller was kind of weird on the phone, talking very low and hard to understand. Then he was emailing at 3:45 am then again at 6:15am which I found to be odd. He was pushing hard for payment. I could not find him on google and I felt like the price was too good to be true. He gave me two references that I email and they both said almost the exact same thing...both calling him a "gentleman". He then deleted the listing before the deal was done!

Seemed like a lot of red flags, so I backed out. The seller flipped and started swearing which made me feel glad we did not do business. His user name is CapeCodeRolex.

During that transaction I had been talking to another seller who also offered an aggressive price, but said he sold the watch to someone else before we got to the point of making a deal. User is watchandbullion

Two days later watchandbullion emails back to check in, and has good news; his friend in TX has a brand new one for sale. He said the TX seller did not have an online forum account but I should email him. We email sporadically for a day or two.

TX seller says he is worried about sharing info online, but will do the deal; sends me pictures and bank info. I can not find this gentleman online via google. No linked in page or any of the normal stuff (people search, facebook etc). I requested a phone call, but the TX seller refuses.

I go back to check the watchandbullion account last night on TRF and he’s “banned” which is obviously a huge red flag. Account was opened in August.

What is going on at TRF??? Is this really how you guys do business?? Or am I being overly skeptical?

If someone can be nice, put together a convincing social media profile and converse in English on the telephone then you might wire them money?

I don’t think TRF does do business.

[MrMercedes]

Black sheep can cavort in every forum. No forum is immune to this. So there is no need to generalize. If you really want your watch, go to a local grey dealer and buy it directly. Where is the problem?

[HogwldFLTR]

Speaking from experience, there are great sellers on this site. Look at the feedback section and search by the seller you're interested in prior to sending money and you should do fine. In this market the old adage seems true, "speed, price, quality; pick any two."

[Hollie_Rollie]

Pay 2x msrp and buy the seller


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[garyk]

You get what you pay for imo…

[amh]

This thread will soon be moved into the "watch out!" section.

OP be thankful you were not able to close the deal with either of those sellers.

Unfortunately it's still a sellers market when it comes to the BLNR. 15k will get you a used 11 or 12 series but BNIB/NOS units are anywhere from 16-20k depending on seller.

[denmanproject]

Check out Takuya (Than Do) he will hook you up

[Calatrava r]

Why are you dealing with unknown individual sellers? You should only deal with reputable sellers who have a track record of great reviews. An aggressive price or one that seems to be below market is a red flag. The market price is what it is on the used market, and you should buy with confidence from a reputable seller at the market price.

[watchwatcher]

I've never heard of either of those two guys.

As the song goes, I think you're looking for love in all the wrong places.

[Armis]

Originally Posted by mailman

Speaking from experience I can’t stress this enough. Buy the seller. That’s if you decide to go this route.

What about those cases of honest, legitimate individuals who are not in the ‘business’ of selling regularly but instead have their own piece(s) that they want to sell? Such individuals aren’t necessarily going to sell at the same premium and also don’t want to get lowballed by the grey dealers, and they may not have reviews. As such, they do offer a better deal. What we’ve all learned is that you can’t go on assumptions, obviously, but there are chances to do ones diligence in fairly assessing such a seller including speaking with the seller as well as supposedly previous customers, just as the OP did and thankfully his process revealed the red flags.

As one’s collection may tend to “evolve” as they get older, more often than not there will be the desire to sell off pieces. In my case, I am taking note of new dedicated escrow services that can facilitate safer transactions, and also having recently learned here from TRF about the online group Moda. The hope is that such alternative avenues will become more of the trusted norm to allow safe and reasonable selling/buying transactions between genuine and honest peoples.

[Bxtek]

Glad to hear that you were able to avoid getting scammed! Definitely sounds like at least one of those would have taken your cash and run. TRF is a great place and there are several trusted sellers on here. You will read "Buy the seller" over and over again all over TRF, including on this thread already. #1 tip to follow for sure!!

Forget the lowest price as that is obviously the biggest "bait" from these scammers. Pay the fair price of today's market, get the exact watch you want in the condition you want. You can feel good that you bought it on the downward trend, and got it at a deal compared to the peak pricing just a handful of months ago!

[Kevin of Larchmont]

What’s going on with you, OP. You chase one price you deem “too good to be true” and another you deem “aggressive” and then are shocked, shocked when your intuition proves correct and the individuals you’ve chosen stink of scamming. There are plenty of vetted and trusted sellers here, make better choices. This isn’t a TRF issue, this is a personal responsibility issue.

[amh]

Originally Posted by Armis

What about those cases of honest, legitimate individuals who are not in the ‘business’ of selling regularly but instead have their own piece(s) that they want to sell? Such individuals aren’t necessarily going to sell at the same premium and also don’t want to get lowballed by the grey dealers, and they may not have reviews. As such, they do offer a better deal. What we’ve all learned is that you can’t go on assumptions, obviously, but there are chances to do ones diligence in fairly assessing such a seller including speaking with the seller as well as supposedly previous customers, just as the OP did and thankfully his process revealed the red flags.

As one’s collection may tend to “evolve” as they get older, more often than not there will be the desire to sell off pieces. In my case, I am taking note of new dedicated escrow services that can facilitate safer transactions, and also having recently learned here from TRF about the online group Moda. The hope is that such alternative avenues will become more of the trusted norm to allow safe and reasonable selling/buying transactions between genuine and honest peoples.

Agree, there are honest individuals selling as well.

However it's very likely they're not going to be local. I'd be pretty leery of wiring 15k to someone I will never be meeting F2F no matter how good their 'references' are.

For a GMT I'd recommend going with OCWatchguy
https://www.ocwatchguy.com/

Or nashville
https://nashvillewatch.com/

[fskywalker]

Originally Posted by travisb

Buy the seller.
Why not look at some of the Trusted Sellers here on TRF? You might pay slightly more than these other two offers you had but you'll have piece of mind and full open communication with countless references.

+1

[Tools]

Originally Posted by Amplifiednation

. . .

I go back to check the watchandbullion account last night on TRF and he’s “banned” which is obviously a huge red flag. Account was opened in August.

What is going on at TRF??? Is this really how you guys do business?? Or am I being overly skeptical?

TRF doesn't do any "business" and has nothing to do with your potential purchase. TRF does not sell watches!!

We are looking out for members and react to sketchy sellers when it is reported to Admin. You saw physical proof of this during your experience.

You're welcome

[mailman]

Originally Posted by Armis

What about those cases of honest, legitimate individuals who are not in the ‘business’ of selling regularly but instead have their own piece(s) that they want to sell? Such individuals aren’t necessarily going to sell at the same premium and also don’t want to get lowballed by the grey dealers, and they may not have reviews. As such, they do offer a better deal. What we’ve all learned is that you can’t go on assumptions, obviously, but there are chances to do ones diligence in fairly assessing such a seller including speaking with the seller as well as supposedly previous customers, just as the OP did and thankfully his process revealed the red flags.

As one’s collection may tend to “evolve” as they get older, more often than not there will be the desire to sell off pieces. In my case, I am taking note of new dedicated escrow services that can facilitate safer transactions, and also having recently learned here from TRF about the online group Moda. The hope is that such alternative avenues will become more of the trusted norm to allow safe and reasonable selling/buying transactions between genuine and honest peoples.

In this case unless the seller was local and had references I knew, it’d be a hard pass for me. I’d rather have piece of mind when spending my money.

[alphadweller]

The secondary market is a minefield. Either buy from a trusted dealer or don't buy.

[Banksy]

If the watch you buy is listed here in the sales forum, you may enjoy the benefit of all this experts looking over your shoulder as people drop in to sale threads to scope the goods.

Bit hard to pick anything that's 'off' in a quick look-see but take the protections along with people who can demonstrate they're a good business.

[Amplifiednation]

Originally Posted by Tools

TRF doesn't do any "business" and has nothing to do with your potential purchase. TRF does not sell watches!!

We are looking out for members and react to sketchy sellers when it is reported to Admin. You saw physical proof of this during your experience.

You're welcome

Yes I fully understand that TRF is not responsible for the sales forums.

My question is more involving the frequency of scam ads.

I enjoy looking over the for sale ads…but are they mostly from scammers?

I realize there are trusted sellers, they are not hard to identify.

I’m obviously going to look at things a bit different moving forward.