It is the oldest trick in the book, "it is going to cost $X to service that watch...therefore I can only offer Y..."

How many people still use this when dealing with fellow collectors?

If a watch has some chrono creep, is running fast/slow, low power reserve, beat up case, wrong parts, etc, then of course it makes sense to factor that into the offer, but when the watch in question is running and functioning just fine, it seems like a BS move.

All collectors factor in potential service costs when buying a vintage watch...it is part of the game. I was a bit surprised to have this tactic used on me by a fellow collector to back up a lowball offer that was 50% of market value of a watch.

 

Your posts not so long ago about how you place high prices with make a offer, to get as much market value as you could to fund your future watch purchases.

And within 2 months you are having a go at low ballers.

I mentioned at the time it was not a smart idea to be on a forum telling people you want to sell watches to your selling practices ( even though you mentioned you had seen the light at one stage after )

 

Funny thing is that this watch is not on the market, I had someone email me about it and make an offer. While I used the term low ball, it is not the focus of the post.

I am happy to let you know that in the 2 months you mentioned, I have sold numerous watches with nice profit margins, and made some strong acquisitions.

A vast majority of collectors that I know buy to win, and not to lose...but you seem to go to the beat of different drum, and that is cool, I respect it.

Rock on, and feel free to shoot me an offer if I ever have watch you are interested in.

 

No issue with you at all @watchknut and I would shoot you a offer if there was anything I was keen on.

Buying and selling brings out all styles of personalities

( having a past Marketing background)

http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/sell-different-personality-types

 

@STANDY thanks for that article, great read.

Always good to connect with another marketing person, although I have to admit, I recently made the jump from pure sales to an integrated sales & marketing role.

 

Fact #1: dealing with people sucks.

Fact #2: dealing with crackpot insane collectors sucks.

Fact #3: life sucks.

Fact #4: dealing with me about thread subjects can really suck!

 

Here's the way I see it:

Fact #1
Only many times.

Fact #2
I go into watch purchases with low expectations on the watch's function so I am never disappointed. I learned long ago, when purchased, expect a vintage watch to need a service to function right.

Fact #3

All how you look at it.

Fact #4

Actually interesting to see how to sell to various people.

 

Since i go for watches that don't look NOS... Service is just a part that may or may not be needed.... It's part of the game... I usually don't factor it in to price

 

The issue here is not considerations such as service cost, but the fact that the potential buyer didn't want to pay half of the current market value. Service costs, import duty and, with some sellers, even postage are factors that need to be taken into consideration, as they are part of the overall cost of buying the watch,these factors are then weighed up against how much a buyer really wants that particular watch. Offering 50% of market value is a bit of an insult though.

 

A few times with fellow collectors here, ive agreed that the seller services it before shipping and we split the service costs. That's worked quite well, as yo can't argue "service will cost $500" when actually the seller can get it done for half that, or whatever.

 

#4 Search term: "This place is turning into WUS"

 

Honey Badger don't got nuttin' on Super Squirrel.

 

"After Omega service, you get what's practically a new watch with an Omega warranty. If that's what you expect in your purchase, you may be better off buying a new watch at an AD or Omega boutique at new-watch prices"

 

This exactly. There's negotiation, and there's chancing your arm. I had an offer yesterday that's 50% of the price in asking for a watch. I politely declined. The buyer told me he could get them at this price/condition all day long. I politely suggested that he did that. He's still coming back, upping by 2% at a time.

We all get pricing off sometimes... But then people.

 

As long as you do it politely why not give it a try? We can't blame people for trying. Even if the price they want is way low.

I wanted to get ahold of a beautiful longines recently (that wasn't serviced) and I was going to ask for a discount, but eventually I figured it had the wrong font on the dial and passed.

Keep in mind, however, that even if the movement looks in order, inside, things can still be pretty messy and dubious. Have you seen those microscope pictures of @Archer ? They're a real eye opener and make you wonder about various things. So, as others have said, even if the watch is serviced (or the seller says it is) always factor in potential problems and issues. Especially for vintage pieces.

 

Ever seen people buying things in LA's chinatown? That's exactly how each transaction goes It's all part of the game for some folks.

Little known fact: many Chinatown shop owners keep baby turtles hidden under the counter. You have but to ask, and the haggling will commence.

 

It´s very easy, just say to the potential buyer that a future service at ´x´ amount has already been factored/discounted into the asking price, had it been serviced it would have been listed with the asking price plus `x´

 

When the watch has a 2 year Omega Authorised Gaurantee, any issues to do with arise would be resolved under that.

There's a big difference between "it's serviced", and "it's serviced by someone legit, has paperwork to back this up, and has a 2 year warranty on the work".

I have no issue with an offer, but there's a fine line between cheeky offer, and time waster.

I think it's clear which side you'd come down on.