Hi everyone,

I've only started really looking into watches this year, and looking to pull the trigger on a 2nd hand speedmaster --

My question is I've noticed some speedmasters (2nd hand) selling outside chrono24 for much less on ebay etc but many with the higher prices on C24 are trusted dealers with hundred+ good reviews and trusted checkout ..

Just wondering what the general consensus is on C24 pricing? is it really overpriced, or am I just seeing some random ebay auctions that will eventually also get bidded up or scams etc...

Thx!
Greg

 

That is a very open ended question. Just scanning and comparing ΩF and C24 there is a tendency for higher prices in C24. Ebay is in my opinion a bit greyer in that sense. In general if you buy from a dealer prepare to pay 10-25% more than you'd be paying in a direct collector-to-collector deal. I hope I am not in the wrong in that assessment. Although you probably know that direct comparing is very difficult as condition , history, accesories, originality and other factors(e.g. service) affect the price of any watch and make generalisation difficult.

C24 has also private sellers but most are business dealers. In my opinion it is difficult to generalize if the prices are generally higher in C24 than in ebay. Ebay is notorious and famous for the odd good deal on watches but you really need to know your stuff if you wanna snipe an auction or grab a "Buy it now" deal. The "looks-to-good-to-be-true" deals are usually just that.

The actually good finds on eBay are usually snapped up quickly by collectors with alot of knowledge on the item being sold. While you are researching if the dial is appropriate for it on Google the item gets sold. Personally, even if I have a mediocre level of knowledge on Speedys and few other models take alot of time researching and asking questions. In such cases I tend to prefer dealing with dealers and as such have to pay the "premium" associated with it.

The dealers are running a business after all and they have to eat too. In the future and with years to come I hope to grow into collector-to-collector direct deals.

 

The "trusted seller" label on C24 is pretty much meaningless IMO. You need to do the same due diligence as you would anywhere else. Asking prices are often very high.

Personally, I haven't had much luck with the sellers there.

 

Indeed, one has to asses also other factors , the reviews the "trusted seller" has amassed (if any), do they have a actual store and an actual web page etc. Are they responsive , are they willing to send additional pictures and so on.

 

I don't think you can generalize whether C24 process are higher or not.

Example: I was shopping for a Speedmaster and came across a brand new one with box and papers from an authorized dealer WELL below MSRP...

So I bought it

 

Keep an eye on the sales thread here and note the prices being asked. Plenty of good dealers and private sellers on here.
Good luck with the hunt

 

Well as for any other thing in this world you have pros and cons... it depends on what you are looking for of course, sometimes you get lucky and like @64Wing you fill a good deal on Chrono24, and you can have the same kind of good luck here but one thing to remember good deals don't last long. The most important is to do your homework a lot before pulling the trigger

 

I'm not a pro, just a beginner, and I made already 6 or 7 ch24 transactions, buy and sell, with no bad surprise. Of course, I think I have maybe a little bit "overpaid". But indeed, my best purchase was a bid I won on the bay, but it was risky for me, I'm not sure to take such a risk next time (too much bpm for my heart!) and I will prefer deal in the future with "direct" collectors, on forum like OF of course, or "cda" for french guys like me... Ch24 is sometimes good to find out pro sellers who have their own web or "real" shop, (I found one like that, and when I crossed this city during my summer holidays, I entered the shop, discussed with the seller in personn, good contact... and I got my first 321 like that...!). So ch24 is quite usefull for me...

 

Got a good deal on a 2nd hand modernish watch from a seller who mainly sells (and is not that good at it) overpriced vintage watches on Chrono24. ( and I would never buy a vintage watch off them )
So due diligence is needed.
But sometimes there is a decent score amongst the overpriced, overhyped, falsely described issue ridden watches.

 

One thing you can do with most listings on chrono24 is to look at the seller details, then google them - often they have the watch listed on their own shop/retail outlet website for less. You have the option to view the watch if needed, ask many questions and still have payment protection if paying by CC. I'm not so sure eBay is much cheaper if you are in Europe any more.

 

Don’t forget that most of the prices on ch24 are just the asking price which would be the best deal for the seller. 80% of them have some room left to haggle.
As others have said, due diligence is needed, sometimes I feel even more so on ch24 then on ebay.

Cheers,

Max

 

This!

 

And I love it!

 

Prices tend to be higher on C24 as they charge 4% transaction fee as well

 

I had did above a 2 months back with very a positive experience.

 

Another factor to play into this IMO is that I would rather pay a little more for a better example than know for sure that I got the rock bottom price for a poor watch. After the initial euphoria of a winning bid a substandard watch will remind you how much you paid for it every day you wear it whereas the better example will make you happy each time you see it and make you forget exactly how much it is that you paid.

Also with C24 dealers will generally have the same watch for a bit less on their own site and still be prepared to haggle from there.

 

as a dealer i have to pay 4% to c24 plus an additional monthly fee. thereby i have to pay taxes on the margin, pay my photographer, several subscriptions for my site, insurance, interest on my debt and feed my family. i you pay directly on my site you can get a discount since i don't have to pay the fee to c24. many dealers stil rely a lot on c24 since it has the most watches on a platform that is quite easy to navigate. but many dealers are way pissed off on c24 since they doubled their fees last autumn, are removing the sellers branding on their platform to prevent leakage and start selling their own watches. this makes us dealers move away from c24 and look at other sales channels. one of the most important things in buying watches is buy the seller. vintage watches can give problems also even when they are serviced. a decent dealer will stick with you since a happy customer will be a retuning customer. you only have one reputation and that is one of your most important assets

 

This is an excellent post. It's easy to forget sometimes that all these forces are at play in pricing, but after being in any business for a while you begin to appreciate the seller's position. I think that mutual understanding is an even better tool to bring to a negotiation than is blind contempt for a figure you don't agree with. Just remember, nobody sets a price specifically with the intention to piss you off. Some people are just expecting to be low-balled so they price unrealistically. Some expect to negotiate so start a bit high and eventually agree on a mutually satisfying price. Still others don't actually want to sell the thing so they overprice just so they can show the wife that it's for sale like he promised and he doesn't know why nobody is buying it... hehe

 

thanks to everyone for their thoughts here, I think I'm more comfortable with the prices I'm seeing given this perspective. I guess its also totally different for new, in production vs old out of production where the dealer if skilled can actually add alot of value to the process.

 

I thought it was 6.5%, plus you're not allowed to sell it anywhere else