A simple guide to buying a watch on this forum

To be fair: I usually ask a LOT of questions when I buy a watch (and more generally for that matter). Consider yourselves warned. But I haven’t really been in purchasing mode over the past couple years.

I am so glad that I am done buying and selling watches. I have all the ones I really want.

Only Fans?

I have had great experiences selling here, and have been very fortunate with lurkers who have turned out to be perfectly gentlemanly buyers. I will say it was a surprise that there are members here who think DMing you with “would you accept X for your item?” is some kind of conversational opening rather than an offer. I would be in favor of reeducation camps for people who don’t follow up when you’ve agreed on a price. This a community, not a used car lot.

Not so fast. We’ll be the judge of that. Let’s see them man.

Sorry you had to wade through a lot of static, but glad you got a successful sale ultimately.

I think there are dealers who use this and other forums to buy stock - and sometimes try to line up a seller before buying a watch here.

Case in point would be my tintin - which also attracted a huge amount of cocking about and vanishing buyers.

One who had the audacity to tell me, after he vanished for 2 days when we had agreed a deal, he had my bank details and I was waiting for payment, that he’d bought another cheaper for… “his client”.

" OnlyFools " 😁

I hope you

Quite astonishing they have the gall to do it to long term members and seasoned collectors. And another very good rationale for the 200 post rule. At least people posting watches for sale have participated enough that they (hopefully) can defend themselves against being gouged by fly-by profiteers.

+1 for making this a sticky thread in the sales forum.
Perhaps by simply linking to it in the Rules thread, as a recommended read?

What an abundance of great information contained in this post. Thank you everyone!!!

I've had generally excellent transactions here, and I'm concluding a purchase that's gone quite well as we speak.

Having bought and sold many items online (watches and otherwise), on forums, on Facebook Marketplace, etc., the issues described in the initial post are par for the course when dealing with "randoms" in society. While it can be annoying, it's why people trade their car in at the dealership rather than selling privately despite potentially getting more money that way. Many people do not want to deal with the hassle... but the hassle is the fundamental reason you make more money selling things yourself.

I tend to take this stuff in stride, so I'm willing to wade into the swamp of online sales; if you do not like it, I suggest you sell things on eBay, at auction, via dealers, at a garage sale, or donate it... If someone takes a silly position and is upset at you online when you didn't have a deal with them, that is their problem. Ignore it and avoid doing business with that person. If you're listing a watch on a forum, be prepared for many questions, even silly ones. Be prepared for absurd lowball offers... It's perhaps distasteful, but it's the reality of sales.

Furthermore, the "cheaper" the item, the more of this you tend to get; a $500 watch sale is going to attract more "amateur" buyers than a $30,000 watch (although this is likely to attract more scammers). In my experience, you will have far more annoying interactions selling a $10 tennis racquet than a $5,000 gazebo.

On this basis, I would flip the nature of your original post on its head. If you wish to sell on a forum to the public, expect some degree of hassle. You will NEVER achieve a result whereby every one of the random responders to your sale post will conduct themselves in the manner you've outlined. I wish it were not the case, but alas, this is the nature of society in 2023, particularly when engaging anonymously online.

As such, the only real option is to condition yourself not to be bothered by silliness or sell elsewhere as you have done. Otherwise you will be perpetually frustrated.

We all have a choice of where we buy and where we sell...but there is a certain etiquette as both a buyer and a seller to which we should all abide by and tyrantlizardrex has outlined perfectly well. In a previous work-life, 'my word is my bond' was instilled from the start and is something that has never left me.