Buying a used Rolex UK

[rolex37]

Hello All,

I'm in the market for a datejust 41mm. I've seen a few for prices between £7,200 - 7,800 for a Wimbledon dial.

I've noticed that there are some private sellers on eBay. Now here are my concerns:

1. What if the item isn't genuine? If I pay via PayPal am I covered?
2. I assume the private seller would have tried to sell to dealers, what sort of price would he/ she get? Are we talking 60-70% of he RRP? And can I use this to negotiate?

I hope that these questions are not breaking any forum rules and thanks in advance for help.

Rolex37

[Dennisoul]

I payed £6,600 for my DJ41 SS fluted bezel, jubilee bracelet from and AD in UK...I was given £350 off the £6950 for a brand new watch.....I wouldn’t go through eBay for any of my Rolex

[malb85]

Personally, the only places I'd feel comfortable buying from would be Watchfinder, Blowers & Watches.co.uk (assuming you're not purchasing brand new from an AD)

Blowers have always been good to me and they're usually a little cheaper than WF, but a much more limited selection.

[rolex37]

Hi, watchfinder would not budge on price, I will have a look at blowers

[woodruffm]

I've had very positive experiences this year buying used Rolex with both watches . co . uk and Chronext, might be worth you taking a look.

[Boothy84]

I've just bought a BLNR off watch finder and had £150 knocked off.

[rolex37]

Okay, sounds like you guys are suggesting to give the eBay option a miss? I do have several other Rolex watches which I've always purchased new.

Just really fancied a Wimbledon or another Roman numeral one.

[rolex37]

Watchfinder were being sh*t, I asked to drop the price by £250 and I'd buy it there and then they refused.

[malb85]

Hmm, that's strange. They're usually pretty good.

Drop me a PM with the link if you'd like and I'll ask the guy I usually deal with. Can't promise anything but they've always dropped the prices in the past.

[rolex37]

Ive just emailed the lady in the shop, to be honest now I'm thinking perhaps this is a sign that I shouldn't buy the watch I don't really need it...

[malb85]

None of us ever really 'need' a watch, but that's not a good enough reason for not buying more!

[kwingy]

Watchfinders in the past were allowed as much as £250 off a Rolex but with the market the way it is now - £150 is usually the norm. Even the guy I deal with for all of 10+ transaction with them wouldnt budge on 150 off the last one.

[malb85]

I guess with the SS models, there's no real incentive to offer huge discounts! I got offered 500 off a TT Sub last month, but that was when it was being thrown into a deal with buying an AP.

[rolex37]

I got a PM have no idea how to answer it, but I'm London based

[tyler1980]

Originally Posted by malb85

Personally, the only places I'd feel comfortable buying from would be Watchfinder, Blowers & Watches.co.uk (assuming you're not purchasing brand new from an AD)

Blowers have always been good to me and they're usually a little cheaper than WF, but a much more limited selection.

i tend to agree, but still do your research first. Perfect example is there is a well known store in Burlington arcade who deals in grey market Rolex and i was there yesterday looking at a BNIB sea dweller 43. It didn't have a glide lock clasp. I questioned this and the response is "that is the latest clasp".

It was not WF, btw

[malb85]

Originally Posted by tyler1980

i tend to agree, but still do your research first. Perfect example is there is a well known store in Burlington arcade who deals in grey market Rolex and i was there yesterday looking at a BNIB sea dweller 43. It didn't have a glide lock clasp. I questioned this and the response is "that is the latest clasp".

It was not WF, btw

I could spend hours in Burlington Arcade.... infact, I have. Several times!

[rcwatches]

watchfinder work on a completely different pricing structure to most. I wouldnt recommend buying off ebay

[sdh1980]

Watchfinder can be hit and miss depending on who you deal with. Richard Brockman at WF has always been excellent with me. Recommended

[AK797]

The dealers mentioned are all good. You can buy on ebay but make sure it is from a proper dealer that has a lot of feedback that they also rely on. Ebay will cover you anyway but if the dealer wants to preserve their reputation they will accept returns and refunds asap. I bought a Breitling and an Omega last year in successive months on quick whims and returned both easily, no hassle, and the watches were fine.

[malb85]

Originally Posted by sdh1980

Watchfinder can be hit and miss depending on who you deal with. Richard Brockman at WF has always been excellent with me. Recommended

Yeah, that's the guy I deal with, he's absolutely brilliant.

[rolex37]

The seller on eBay is an individual not a trader or watch seller, hence why I was concerned.

[malb85]

Originally Posted by rolex37

The seller on eBay is an individual not a trader or watch seller, hence why I was concerned.

Personally, I wouldn't go near that with a barge pole. If it's only a few hundred quid cheaper, I'd pay for the peace of mind from WF, and if it's considerably cheaper, there's likely to be a reason.... give it a wide berth.

[rolex37]

WF have lowere their price by £100... May go for it.

[malb85]

Do it.... it's a beauty.

[rolex37]

Just spending 7k odd on a 2nd hand watch is a lot of wedge

[rolex37]

Okay I'm being a wuss now.

I have the money and I've wanted the watch for a year. Just goes to show you that there really is a place for shops like WF and it's pretty hard to sell a 2nd hand Rolex as an individual.

[malb85]

Originally Posted by rolex37

Just spending 7k odd on a 2nd hand watch is a lot of wedge

If you're not sure that it's worth spending 7k on the watch, my guess is you don't love it enough to want to pull the trigger....

Don't forget, having a Rolex is pretty close to having money in the bank. Can you chop it in the next day at a small loss back to WF.

[DuncanInLeeds]

I've a watch that I need to sell relatively quickly to help cover the cost of my new purchase. I'd saved up nearly enough money to buy my 116500 but was hoping the shortfall would be covered by trading in my old one at the AD, but they simply didn't want or need it.

Watchfinder have offered me what I consider to be well below what it's worth - and I'm not being greedy, I do appreciate WF et al have overheads and need to make a profit - but what are you supposed to do? I've not been on here really long enough and I doubt my watch is exclusive enough to sell on here anyway, so the only real option for me and I suspect many others is Fleabay...

[rolex37]

It's annoying as the chap with the watch on eBay was nice however there is little or no recourse on buying a watch which might be fake. The only alternative is to meet in person and have the watch inspected at a shop and then head to a bank to do a transfer. But is it really worth a £400-600 saving? I it was £1,000 then okay with it.

[rolex37]

Also another issue with the eBay thing, how does one know the watch ain't stolen? Sorry if I sound paranoid but I've bought a couple of things from eBay which turned out to be fake and also have been screwed over by a bathroom fitter who took my money and didn't finish the job. Police and trading standards didn't give a sh*t.