About threads of depreciation

[Aventura]

I would like to clarify something about the issue of depreciation of watches. I am a private. There is always a great depreciation because the only way we have to sell a watch is to a gray dealer and of course the price we are going to get is much lower than normal. I tried many times to sell my watches that were of great reputation (a Rolex 16610 and a Panerai) and I could never do it because people do not know me and who was going to send me an important amount of money in advance? In all my notices I offered the option of doing the business face to face but it could only interest people who live in my city and that is more difficult.
Now the same thing happens to me with a watch that I have and I do not bother to publish it.
I clarify that I have always bought an official dealer ... I guess it is different from buying used and can get a good price. But luck depends on that.
Regards.

[NKflyer]

As a new seller, buyers might be more willing to deal with you if you're willing to accept paypal as a method of payment.

[Aventura]

Originally Posted by NKflyer

As a new seller, buyers might be more willing to deal with you if you're willing to accept paypal as a method of payment.

I don't know why? If you could explain me...

[ras47]

PayPal is considered a safer and more secure means of payment. Buyers get some level of protection from being scammed. Using PayPal gives buyers a sense of security they'd only get from a face-to-face meeting. The downside is that PayPal takes a percentage of your sale - something like 3% or 3 1/2%.

[mkmk]

A Rolex will sell from a private party. I've done it without problems. You just have to be reasonable in your price. And your price has to be less then a trusted seller would be. The price differential has to be such that one would buy from a private seller as opposed to a trusted seller with the risk factored in.

[run23]

One thought, and don’t take this the wrong way as it’s said with all respect, but I can tell that English may not be your first language (again, no disrespect, you write in English better than I write in any other language), and if you are selling in English, an English speaker may be less trustful of your ad. It’s subconscious and probably because when one gets ‘spam’ emails, they are often written by a non-English speaker and people associate that type of sales pitch with a scam. Like you are selling from some hard to reach foreign country pretending to be an American.

Maybe just state up front that English is not your first language to put people at ease (again, I think this is just subconscious with people, not a thought out prejudice). Or have a native English speaker edit your ad for you.

Good luck.

[tamiya]

Originally Posted by ras47

PayPal is considered a safer and more secure means of payment. Buyers get some level of protection from being scammed. Using PayPal gives buyers a sense of security they'd only get from a face-to-face meeting. The downside is that PayPal takes a percentage of your sale - something like 3% or 3 1/2%.

& if buyer ever wants his $$$ back, seller loses the other 97% too???

[tyler1980]

discounts and depreciation go hand in hand. This is the one thing where the forum makes no sense. Everyone simultaneously talks about getting discounts and then talks about value retention/investment potential of a Rolex. Discounts automatically create depreciation right off the bat even if you didn't get one personally and there is always someone who gets a better discount than someone else. If AD's stop discounting period and values stay higher.

You will almost always lose money even if you sell private because a grey dealer always gets a better discount initially than a regular AD buyer, so the spread never works in your favor.

[cornerstore]

OP I feel your frustration. I too have encountered the same issue. I have sold several desirable pieces. All I got was low ball offers, offers from questionable sources. I ended up selling the pieces to various high volume trusted sellers at substantial discounts to the going prices. They then resold the watches for a nice profit. Seems many buyers are either not checking the low volume trusted sellers references or disbelieve them or find it more satisfying buying from a volume seller. Whatever the reasons many buyers are willing to pay more to a high volume seller for the perceived security they think it brings. Ironically 99% of bad deals posted here are buyer scams not sellers.

[douglasf13]

I've lost money on every watch I've sold, but it's never really bothered me. I just see it as a "rental."

[tbonesteak]

I think it depends on the individual... I managed to sell this watch here to a man in Wisconsin:

https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=564271

I think some of it comes to down to verification. I gave the guy a healthy amount of information on myself (nothing he could use to financially benefit through fraud if he wasn't legit, but enough so he knew who I was).

I sent him an email from my corporate account which is a large publicly traded tech company, videos of me in my office with the watch, etc.

He wired me the funds and had the watch 24 hours later.

I'd buy off of a private seller who I could 100% verify who they are. An executive at a big public company isn't going to risk their life for $5, $10, or $20k... I believe that would be grand larceny and most likely someone who could never replicate their current income ever again after the felony conviction.

[tbonesteak]

Now if Joe Schmoe is trying to sell me a watch and have me wire them money, that's a different story.

[tng11]

I've gotten close to market prices for my watches selling to other collectors locally. Though I just find it easier to move pieces like a Sub locally collector-to-collector, compared to say, an limited AP Royal Oak Offshore. I've also taken pieces to be sold to a local grey market dealer and I end up doing about 5-10% less than market values, which is a reasonable price to pay to not have to deal with all the headaches and hassles of trying to sell myself.

[TMore9]

I think it's a matter of building up reputation on the forums... I have sold a few rolexes at market value. Keep in mind market value is normally below list... I've only ever lost 2-3% on one Rolex that I sold and that's because it was my first sale and I didn't know any better.

Also it really depends on how much you purchased the watch for. As long as you are aware of how much it sells on the market for you really shouldn't have a problem getting that much for it. I've done it many times with Rolex watches. When it comes to other brands however, that's a whole different story. I've lost mega on brands like Tag, Breitling, Mont Blanc etc. Because it's very hard to judge market value for them and the demand is so low it could take a few weeks to a month. Where as with any Rolex I've sold it's been gone in under a week without fail for the price I wanted.

[ras47]

Originally Posted by tamiya

& if buyer ever wants his $$$ back, seller loses the other 97% too???

Using PayPal is all about the buyer. To get a refund the buyer has to have a good reason.

[springer]

Good photographs (keep your hands out of the photos) help sell watches.

Detailed, sharp close-up photos work. You need a thorough description of the item for sale. Keep the unnecessary hype out of the ad - short, sweet and to the point.

Be careful with Paypal . There are way too many Paypal scams and you only need to be scammed once (whether a buyer or seller) to keep from ever using it again.

Many sellers over-price their watches because they saw Billy Joe sell his watch from Billy's Watches for a certain price and they expect the same for their watch. Well, Billy Joe probably has some overhead since he has a bricks and mortar store and other overhead so naturally his prices are higher.

Selling anything is never easy. There are many "low ballers" on the forums - best to ignore them and the other dreamers.