It’s a good question and there are many answers depending on a number of factors. Most people have got an old watch lying around not always working and generally not of great value ( that quartz Boss watch a girlfriend gave you many years ago was probably a nice thought but just like the girlfriend , any value it had is long gone !
It’s true to say however that 99.9% of people know very little about vintage watches and why would they ? They are not a subject matter most of us need to know about on a day to day basis. until of course you ask yourself the question “how do I sell my vintage watch” or any other type of watch for that matter.
I buy a lot of vintage watches as I am a collector and a retailer and whilst many of you may think selling a vintage watch is difficult I can assure you buying one is even harder until you get the hang of it.
So here are the top 10 ways to sell your vintage watch
Once you have made contact and I have received some details ( a decent picture of the front and back would normally be enough but if you are not tech savvy I can initially work on a description and the name of the brand ie ” it has Longines written on the dial , it was given to me in the 1960s , its a mens watch , I know it is solid gold but when I wind it it does not run “
Watches Of Westminster specialise in making the sale of your watch simple and quick and we can often travel to you for the right watch , meet you in central London or send you a postal pack.
2.Contact one of the large High St watch buying firms such as Watchfinder
https://www.watchfinder.co.uk/
They operate a very slick set up but their overheads are high and the process takes a while ( I have tried it as part of my research for this article. You need to make initial contact , send in details of the watch then have a valuation booked , go to the shop with the watch and then leave the watch with them for a week or so whilst they work on a offer.
I quite often find that when buying watches customers have contacted the High St buyers but found the process too complicated and lengthy so when I offer to come and visit them either at their home or nearby they are very relieved.
In fact I am actually just about to drive 200 miles ( each way ) to collect a watchI have just bought as the buyer was not keen to post.
3. Send your watch to a auction house specialising in vintage watches.
Fellows are one of the well know watch auction houses and they offer a very professional service . I used to buy watches from them when I first started the business but whilst the hammer price seems reasonable you then have to add 24% commission on top which is not great for the buyer and of course depresses income for the seller. The other issue is that you have to again send the watch in and let them assess it. If they are happy with it it will go into the next auction which could be a month or 2 away!
4.Advertise the watch yourself on Chrono 24. This is a large watch selling site but the process can be complicated if you are not used to putting watches on the web and needs some decent photography.You will also need to be able to describe what your watch is and its condition. Its really a site for professionals and they are quite expensive.
5.Ebay
A well known selling web site that sells almost everything and has a lot of vintage watches. You have a choice of putting the watch on as a auction or as fixed price with or without offers. You will need a Ebay account and there are fees to pay. Again you need to know how to present and describe the watch. As it is effectively a anonomous platform and whilst you have the protection of Paypal there are a lot of very clever scammers out there and you need to be very careful when selling high value items. You must follow the rules !
6. Watch fair
There are a number of these in the UK but they are not very frequent. There are a lot of dealers who attend ( Covid permitting ) and they would be happy to give you a valuation
7.Hatton Garden
There are number of shops in Hatton Garden ( central London ) where you can literally just walk in and show them your watch but any you have to leave the watch with them . Most of the shops only deal in high end makes like Patek Philippe so the chances are you will get a low offer if any at all.
8.Watch Forums
The World Wide Web has literally thousands of specialist forums where you can get good advice on your watch .Generally speaking they are a great source of information but of course there is no guarantee that advice is correct !. They do have for sale pages but will will have to join up as a member and again be aware of the less than honest people finding behind that keyboard !
9.Sell to a friend
This may seem strange but most of us wear a watch and more people than you think may be interested in buying the watch. The problem here is that if the watch stops working you will feel obliged to take the watch back. You may also end up selling the watch at the wrong price which could be awkward
10.Gumtree
Another well known selling platform but its really best for low value household items. It does of course suffer from scammers but worse of all it seems to attract people who dont seem to have a grip of reality
WoWadmin December 4th, 2020
Posted In: Second Hand Watches
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