Hi all just wondering what you have found to be the best places to find used watches for sale other than eBay and the fourms and be willing to start a list of places that other forum members have found nice used watches.

One place I just found out was shop goodwill but didn't find too many great deals there.

I have heard some people say they frequent estate sales and had good success

 

uhhh from what your saying you are looking for a diamond in the rough garage sale or estate sale as those places are not places you typically go for used watches just some place you get lucky if something is there. Otherwise the common channels are what are you are looking for which are auction sites or forums

 

Yessss a diamond in the rough that way the price is not market price

 

.....and you really think that people are going to make this information available to the internet if they know of such a place?

 

Ouch! sounds like you wouldn't

 

Others have said on other posts on this topic that there is no magic watch mart. Auction sites (ebay is not the only one), and forums are the most common places. If you're looking for the barn find, obviously, go to barns (flea markets, pawn shops, etc) and scour your local news papers for estate sales. You might also consider watch shows in your area if any exist.

If you want the prize, you have to commit to doing the work. No one is going to just hand you a highly desirable watch for a cheap price.

 

If such a place existed and it doesn't, posting it on the internet, for however many billion people to see, would be somewhat foolhardy as it would instantly cease to be that goldmine you seek. As @oddboy says, you have to put in the legwork or get very lucky.

 

Shopgoodwill.com is good as well as ebay but you can't look in the standard places. Need to search for misspellings or errors. I typically look for "buy it now" on these and search "newly listed"
That's about all of my secrets I will give away

 

You have to be lucky also, and encounter something right when it lists and then make the move. But that entails having a lot of free time 2 b on the
I-net and CONSTANTLY searching 4 whatever it is u r seeking.

 

Hey guys I'm not looking for handouts or your secrete stash I just wonder in general where people have found good deals. Thanks REDPCAR,GATORRCPA,250SCR for your post it was the type of comment i thought would be posted!

 

The Magic Watch and Discount Dream store is where I go whenever I need a deal on a vintage watch, magic beans, rainbow juice, or unicorn powder.

 

Did I mention that there's a sale on rainbow unicorn ninja stars?

 

Hey dude smoke one for me LOL

 

Funny, I was thinking of saying the same to you - especially if you think we're giving up our secret squirrel hunting spots.

 

Flea markets are good places, too. Canton and Round Top in Texas are 2 great places just to find old junk. I once found an 18K gold Lecoultre ring watch at the bottom of a box of crap. I had never seen a high end ring watch before (haven't seen one since). Paid $65 because the guy found the gold stamp on the inside. Sold it for a pretty penny on ebay.
Since I am an amateur watch repair dude, I also get some good broken watches at antique malls. They get a $300 quote for repair and sell it for $25 broken.

 

That's cheating! Can you show some results from your secrets you won't tell?

 

Just use common sense of potential errors that people would make when listing auctions. Pretend you are a noob wanting to unload grandpa's drawer of "junk" watches. The trick is to catch them right when they are listed and are a "buy it now". Checking auctions that are "ending soon" have increasingly high prices. Thanks mostly to people on this list. LOL.
Shopgoodwill.com has become a retail outlet for vintage watches. I look closely at batches of watches. Their pictures suck so it works best for those who are patient
I have one coming in that I will snap some pics and post.
That said, I have been fooled many times. For instance, didn't know that there were fake bullhead chronos out there. $300 mistake on that one.

 

I'm more interested in the results you've already had.

 

Almost everything I have I have bought for penny's on the dollar (my wife watches my expenses like a hawk). Treat it like an investment. Buy low sell high.....then buy more. I'm not a collector who wants to own every version of a specific watch. I just like cool vintage watches. The side benefit of buying old watches is the scrap gold. I get together 5 pounds of gold filled parts at a time and take it to the smelter. $$$$
I'm so cheap, I even make my own horween straps.
A few of my friends go to all the flea markets and methodically ask every vendor "do you have any old watches?". They get some great stuff. I know because they bring them to me to fix.
The beauty of the vintage watch is that they are increasing in value. I just hope they don't follow the path of baseball cards, carnival glass, beanie babies, hotwheel cars, golf clubs, etc, in the collectors market. I still have an attic FULL of vintage golf clubs. Need any?