How To Maximize The Profit When You Sell Your Watch
The Condition Of The Watch
In short, the condition of the watch, and the documents that follow it, which show the condition. One of the most important documents is the service document, which, of course, shows that the watch has been serviced, what has been done to the watch, and the precision. If potential buyers know that your watch is in good condition, that goes a long way toward getting a higher price for your watch. Many buyers know that the cost of the watch includes the cost of ownership, and service costs are among them.
Service
One important thing to know though before you send your watch in for a service, is that non-polished watches often have a higher value on the watch market among collectors, especially with collector pieces, but also in general among watches from brands such as Rolex, Tudor and Omega. Collectors and many watch owners want a watch in as original a shape as possible. Sometimes polishing can be warranted, but it's good to know the downsides of it, among them to maximize the price for your watch.
Cost Of Service Between Different Brands
In general, the higher the price and value of a watch, the higher the cost of the service, although this doesn't need to be the case every time. Common watches from Rolex and Omega with mass-produced movements can have a lot lower service costs than an in-house movement from a small, micro watch brand. Every watch is also unique and is in different condition, which will also affect the cost of the service.
Should You Service A Watch Before You Sell It Or Not?
A served watch will sell quicker and at a higher price point. A served watch also doesn't have any hidden costs. Of course, a watch doesn't need to be served often, for example; have your watch been to a service 2–3 years ago, that could be sufficient, especially if the watch is in good condition and have a good precision.
When You Shouldn't Service Your Watch
If you need to sell your watch fast, then a service can be a problem, because some brands take a long time servicing their watches; 6–12 months is not uncommon. A non-serviced watch will be sold at a lower price, though. One possible middle point could be that you take your watch to a watch dealer who can check the precision of the watch and clean it.
What is a ‘full set’?
A full set means the watch, of course; the original box and original certificate, warranty card and original receipt, and even price tags could be a positive. A receipt shows where it was sold and the history of the watch. This is a very reassuring thing for potential buyers. If a watch has a full set, it can mean a 30% higher value. In short, you need to save everything!
Sales Platforms
The different ways to sell a watch can be arranged into 1. Selling it yourself. 2. Go to a watch dealer. 3. Use an auction and lastly 4. Use a pawn shop. If you have done some initial research and found the value of your watch is under $2000, we recommend selling it yourself, if your goal is to maximize your profit.
If the value is higher than $2000, we recommend a watch dealer, or an auction house, and often with watches with a value between $2000-$20 000 a watch dealer is the best choice.
For special collector pieces with a high value, auctions could be your best bet. International auction houses, that can reach audiences outside your town and country. Auction houses do comes with their own pros and cons. They happen at certain times, and they are less flexible than a watch dealer.
Lastly, there are pawn shops, which are, in short, meant for loaning money where you have the ability to buy back your watch within a certain time frame. The positive with them is that they can buy your watch fast, but they are probably the least good way to sell your watch if you want to maximize the price for your watch.
How Do You Know If a Watch Dealer Is Good?
Firstly, you should research the company and see which watches they sell, what their niche is, and whether they offer watches at the same price levels as your watch. Another question is: how do they sell watches? Do they only sell watches through a brick-and-mortar store, or do they have an online presence? Do they sell through platforms such as Chrono24, and do they sell watches internationally? A watch can be more popular in other countries than your own. For example, if they only offer high-end pieces, and you come to them with an $5000 watch, it may not be a great fit.
Watch Appraisal
Independent of which platform you choose and if you want to service your watch or not, a watch appraisal is something valuable, in the process of selling your watch. You can do that at a watch dealer or an auction house, and they will look at the condition of your watch to see if it's genuine and value it. To have this on paper is something you can have when selling your watch. It's also important that you do your own research and look for similar watches to your own to see in which price bracket your watch belongs to.
Description And Images
In the watch description, write everything important down, including if anything is included in the sale, such as extra straps or a box, if the watch has been serviced, and what was done during the service. The more information, the better.
Only a description will not do, though; you will need images, and good ones too. Our best tips here is to have good lights where the sun will do you good. We don't want to take photos of watches in the dark. If you have a professional camera, use that. If not, a smartphone nowadays will do fine. One last tip regarding images, is to take images of all the important angles of the watch, so the buyer knows the condition of the watch visually. Lastly, we do not want to edit our images; it's okay to make them lighter but not to edit out scratches and hairlines.
Safety And Fraud
In recent times, it has not been safe to sell a watch on your own. It's always good to think hard about how you will sell your watch, and the higher the value, the higher the risk of getting scammed or worse. We don't want to reveal personal information about ourselves in the sales process or post information as a telephone number that can track back to you. For example, Facebook Marketplace is not the way yo go. A platform as Chrono24 is better, where they can offer safety barriers between you and the potential buyers.
Regarding safety and fraud, a watch dealer, auction or pawn shop will always be the safest way to go, where you don't have to face the buyer yourself.
Selling A Watch May Take Time
Selling a watch, can go fast but in many cases, it takes time to find the right buyer that can match you at the highest possible price on the market, if your goal is that. On the other hand, if you want it to go faster, lower the price.
At Fredmans we set prices that match the market price, and we do our research regarding future prices, so if you have the chance to wait out for the highest possible price, we have the opportunity to do that.
Summary
In general, we recommend selling via a watch dealer in the price range of $2000-$20.000, but with rare pieces, an auction and if the value of the watch is lower than $2000, selling it yourself can be your best bet if maximizing the price is the goal.
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