Becoming A Seller - Helpful Tips Anyone?

[Kronos]

I'm going to try to reduce my incredibly insane number of watches to a slightly less insane number. Though I have been collecting/aggregating for years and haunted this forum and the old place for a couple of decades, I have never really sold any of my watches.

My plan is to dip my toes into these waters with some reasonably low end watches and proceed from there.

Obviously, my first stop will be our own sales forum. But where to from there, if necessary? I haven't been to the old place since IWL was founded. Does that matter if I were to seek to use their sales forum?

To date, I take photos with my iPhone X. Is it worth investing in a better camera and/or indoor lighting for photos?

Thoughts appreciated -- particularly suggestions to help avoid rookie mistakes.


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[geoffbot]

I've sold a few watches including my not inconsiderably priced jlc and rolex. Forums are good as there are no fees and you're totally protected as the seller - you get your cash before you send, buyer has no recompense except your honesty. Reddit watch exchange works this way too. Reputations based on feedback are very helpful. Face to face in a public place is handy for the exchange where possible.

Or there's ebay which has a free authentication service which protects you and the buyer. In the uk this is free on watches over 2.5k gbp. Fees can be hefty for ebay sales in general though - 8% or so I think, (same as chrono24) but ebay often has £1 fixed fee offers which is great value. Buyer can still file disputes at a later date though even once authenticated so yeah, something to consider. Chrono24 holds cash in escrow until buyer confirms receipt so it's risky for sellers if they claim receipt of an empty box etc (tracking means nothing). Though I've sold through it before no problem.

IPhone photos are fine, just take lots of good detailed shots from different angles.

Depends on the value. If they're inexpensive you're less likely to get scammed (a scammer would 'probably' sooner scam a £20k watch (seen it on reddit) then a £200 transaction)).

Or sell to a dealer though you'll not get top whack. That said I px traded my aqua terra to a dealer and got an insanely good price, and a good price for a sale of my tag to watchfinder a while back. Look into it.

[tribe125]

‘Reasonably priced low-end watches’ can be the hardest to sell in my experience - other than through a large forum like WUS. I’ve had such a watch for sale here for ages without any interest. I’ll probably put it on eBay and take whatever I’m offered, but I haven’t been inclined to make the effort yet.

[tempocalypse]

Having never sold a watch I dont have any advice specifically on that front. Investing in camera gear is probably not worth it though for the return in investment you're going to get just for these sales (though its always worth it in general for the joy of photography in general if thats what you want to get into )

iphone photos can be perfectly acceptable but taking it in good lighting is everything. Indirect sunlight from a window is best, (direct sunshine will be too harsh). Use a piece of paper on the side of the watch opposite the window close enough but out of the frame if you're not getting enough light from both sides. This should let you take perfectly decent photos. This is the lighting setup I use for most of my pictures thats not on the wrist.

[happyscrappyheropup]

‘Reasonably priced low-end watches’ can be the hardest to sell in my experience - other than through a large forum like WUS. I’ve had such a watch for sale here for ages without any interest. I’ll probably put it on eBay and take whatever I’m offered, but I haven’t been inclined to make the effort yet.

I don't think I've ever sold a watch here, even though I regularly list the ones I think might be interesting to IWL'ers. WUS and Reddit are the best places I've found, especially for modestly priced watches. I looked up my stats on WUS; I have feedback for 35 sales, 32 purchases, and 7 trades. I'd estimate I have another 20 or so that I didn't have feedback on. For Reddit r/watchexchange, I have 4 sales and 2 purchases.

@Kronos, the guidelines for selling on WUS are 90 days membership and 100 posts. There are LOTS of scams out there, so as a seller I buy the buyer as much as they buy the seller. If I sell to someone without a lot of feedback or participation on WUS, I will not let them use a payment method that will give them any buyer protection. A good example was the Zodiac White Wolf I recently sold, the buyer wired me funds and I shipped it off to Austria. If the buyer (or seller) seems suspicious in any way, I politely decline to sell (or buy) the watch from them.

When I list a watch, I try to provide as much information and pictures as possible. I want to catch the casual buyer and the guy looking for my specific model watch. Here is a better listing of mine from earlier this year - https://www.watchuseek.com/threads/f...#post-56568547

• Watch brand and model, reference number
• All the watch details; measurements (diameter, thickness, lug to lug, lug width), movement, water resistance (has it been tested?), etc.
• Just the facts - what's the condition, what's included
• Description/narrative
• Terms/price and I include my email address for those browsing using watchrecon and aren't members on WUS
• Pictures

That's my usual listing. For the main listing I like to include front/back/full pic of what's included, then have a link to an album of details pictures and videos. Make your first pic the money shot because that's what www.watchrecon.com picks up as the picture for their listing.

Feel free to reach out if I can help. Getting started is tough because you are a nobody as far as buyers go. I'd sell some inexpensive watches to get started; less skin in the game if you're scammed and you can build a reputation. Lots of WUS'ers in NYC, so you might be able to do cash+face to face. Any sales on PayPal, Venmo, or Zelle, will be reported as income and you'll need to sort out what was actual gains and pay tax on those. It's a pain in the ass.

EDIT - cell phone pics are adequate for most watch sales, I use a Pixel 6a for mine

[skywatch]

YMMV but I have had good luck *so far* selling affordables on WUS. I take a lot of pictures, over-report swirlies and scratches, and I list all of my good feedback from past sales. After the WUS ownership change, I did notice a lot more low-ballers and tire kickers, and in general people tend to ignore the lowest price watches, and they seem to follow trends based on conversations on the forum. I haven't looked at WUS in years except for the sales pages occasionally, and I haven't sold a watch in several years, so these aren't recent observations.

[Kronos]

Thanks folks. Your observations are very helpful!


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[Raza]

The camera on your iPhone X will be plenty, don’t worry about that. Take the photos against a dark, non-reflective background and don’t use flash. But as a seller, I’ll say this is my mantra: Disclose, disclose, disclose. Every flaw, no matter how minor; it’s fine to downplay scratches as normal wear and tear, but you’ve got to disclose. And don’t just hope the pictures will do that. Every little thing. The more upfront you are about everything regarding the watch (scratches, timekeeping, etc), the more comfortable people will be paying what you ask. Take the uncertainty away and buyers will walk away much more satisfied.

Oh yeah, and as annoying as it might be, even on well known models, post the stat sheet. Width, lug width, lug to lug and weight if you have it, etc. Don’t give potential buyers a reason to navigate away from your listing to do the research themselves and be distracted or fill your inbox with questions that could have been easily answered. It’s a waste of your time as well as theirs.

[litlmn]

A little late to this one, but as I’ve recently crawled out from under a rock

Think the basics have been covered. I find WUS to be more user friendly, but also have been on it forever. Reddit has more specific nuances with how to list and the correct syntax to use. Reddit sales tend to go much faster, though no frequent bump option if not. Reddit will also send you a message with the latest scams they’ve been seeing, and things to look out for which is cool.

In all cases as Wayne said buy the seller and if it sounds fishy, walk away.

[Kronos]

A little late to this one, but as I’ve recently crawled out from under a rock

Think the basics have been covered. I find WUS to be more user friendly, but also have been on it forever. Reddit has more specific nuances with how to list and the correct syntax to use. Reddit sales tend to go much faster, though no frequent bump option if not. Reddit will also send you a message with the latest scams they’ve been seeing, and things to look out for which is cool.

In all cases as Wayne said buy the seller and if it sounds fishy, walk away.

Thanks!


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