@tobyf27
As some who considers himself just emerging from watch collecting pre-school please let me offer you a few thoughts.
Geneve’s are mostly of little interest to collectors. They are mostly seen as uninspiring, unremarkable entry level dress watches. You’re not going to draw a lot of enthusiastic reactions from people here when you post pictures of them and ask if they’re a good deal. Most people here would probably not consider buying one at any price but certainly anything over £300 for one in decent condition will be sniffed at as overpriced. (Clearly there are some models, early ones, where there are exceptions to this rule, but that does not include the watches you have shown).
Collectors often don’t have a budget and try to get any good deal watch for that amount. They know what they want and they wait until they see it at the price that’s right for them. That’s why you’re being encouraged to research more, to identify maybe two or three specific watches you want (Geneve is a collection of many watches), and then find a good example of one of them.
Gold plated dress watches are about the least desirable style of watch to collectors so again, you’re not going to get much interest when you post overpriced examples of them.
eBay is a very difficult place to buy well, certainly for collectors. Many of the watches on sale there don’t meet the condition quality that collectors look for, or else they are sold by greedy / hopeful people (some are scamsters) are are bought by naiave newbies. In the sea of all those there are few opportunities for a bargain. You really need to know what you’re looking for and spend a lot of time dangling you rod in the water before you catch anything. To give you an idea, and I have no idea if I’m typical of people here, I usually have four or five watches on “eBay watch” at any given time, and end up snagging 2 or 3 a year, and I’m not particularly discerning as a collector - I’ll buy almost anything that takes my fancy.
I understand you’re working to a budget and Geneve’s fit the bill, but what I believe is frustrating some of the correspondents here is that you are showing underwhelming watches being offered by dealers at prices for which, with patience and spreading your net wider, you might in time get a more substantial, interesting piece. They can’t help you if you’re in a hurry and keep posting low end overpriced watches and they’re going to lose interest in trying to.
As a resident of Brexit Britain as I believe you are, you need to factor in the extra cost of importing a watch to the U.K. from anywhere in the world.
One thing that frustrates collectors is when people overpay for watches because it puts upward pressure on prices and while that might increase the value of their collection, they typically aren’t thinking about selling - they’re thinking about buying - so they don’t like it!
Finally, we’ve pretty much all paid noob tax. You, wisely, discovered this place before paying it, unlike me. Make the most of that wisdom. Stick around, learn, and perhaps buy your watch from a member here where you stand much less chance of being screwed.
