There was a time that I would wander over to ChronoTrader.
Hard to believe that scammers went there like bees to honey.
I would simply ask: "Why so Cheap" or "If it's too good to be true, it is."
Apparently the Mods don't want me to call out their scammers.
If I try to post a reply it never gets posted. Here's the latest scam:
NEW:FS: Omega Professional Caliber 321(views: 146) -- K.Y.Z -- 10/16/19 00:55 GMT

 

Indeed 3.5k for a 321 pre moon can't be real.

 

Not just there, everywhere. I have never bought, sold, or traded a watch on a forum. You can rest assured if I ever buy one I will insist on paying the Paypal fee to avail myself of every bit of protection possible. Likewise, if I sell a watch I will insist that the buyer pay the fee for his/her own protection and I will refuse to accept payments that do not offer some type of cover. I know that despite the buyer protections out there the transactions often come with a risk, but something is something.

 

If you are a seller you might prefer a wire transfer. If they use PayPal there is a greater chance the buyer can scam you.

 

Exactly, I would never accept a PP payment from an unknown.

 

This is the rub- as a buyer, I love PayPal. But as a seller I hate it.

 

Exactly, as a buyer I would NEVER wire transfer a significant amount of money to an unknown. That is asking for trouble. It is my understanding that Paypal holds funds back if the seller is new, or hasn't sold for a while. Only when a seller becomes trusted and has a number of transactions without incident are the funds released immediately. Has that changed?

 

There are escrow services.

 

It still boggles my mind that people trade over the internet. That seems like the least savory situation to be in.

 

You mean like private escrow services? If so, which ones and what do they charge?

 

In a perfect world it can actually be a great benefit. Avoiding the ridiculous charges on the auction sites is definitely good for the buyer. I’m actually surprised that the people that run the various forums haven’t engaged a third-party escrow service, or come up with one of their own. Maybe they want to avoid the legal hassles, but if they could come up with a working system I think it would attract quite a few people, and make them a bit of money as well.

 

https://www.escrow.com/fee-calculat...MIypiz8Yih5QIVkrfsCh1b2AD6EAAYASABEgIufvD_BwE

 

The fee is fairly hefty especially if you combine the use of paypal since it almost doubles (I used a $3500 value "jewlery" in the eatimate) I guess the price of $120 if you use wire transfer isn't put of the question but it's another fee you can tack on to the never ending list of fees.

 

And now Ebay is automatically collecting sales tax from some states. There's another fee.

 

Caution is obviously important, but I have wired funds to people I’ve never met / never even spoken with via phone more times than I can even remember (probably 25-30x over the past six years) and have never once had an issue [knock on wood, as I did this yesterday for a Speedy ].

In my opinion, it comes down to comfort. If you’ve done it long enough to know the right questions, have communicated through text or email enough to “peel back the onion” and have also received their bank info and a copy of their ID, it’s very unlikely that you will be left holding the bag. I suppose it’s a “Don’t try this at home” situation if you don’t have the confidence to sniff out irregularities ahead of the transfer, but it’s often the only way to secure watches that are untouched / still with their original owners.

Or hell, maybe I’m just reckless

 

Oh Boy, look what I started. Originally I was wondering if anyone one else that's had similar issues (not permitted to reply).
Although my original post has gone off the rails, it's off the rails for the better of our Forum. Thank you.

BTW: In the over 5 decades I've been buying, selling, trading watches, I've only been "had" once.
I broke one of the Cardinal Rules: I bought the watch and not the seller

 

So websites like Chrono24 with their escrow woks OK and is safe for both buyer and sellers?

 

Yeah, you´re reckless When I sold you my 2998, I, as the seller (!), initiated/ demanded a Skype call before the transaction, so that we could get to know each other a little better before performing a, in my eyes, a larger deal. You seemed so relaxed then, in the call, so I guess you had already done your homework, or maybe it was just a hangover

 

Maybe not reckless, but definitely tempting fate. One of my “peel back the onion” questions would be, can I pay you through an escrow service, I will take the hit on the fees? If the answer to that is no then forget about it! As I said before, I will never wire transfer money to an unknown. Ten times successful, and one time screwed, is still screwed! There is always another watch.

 

Same here…Entirely agree…Sometimes, you just have to roll the dice…and take a chance

A little knowledge, and a healthy skepticism goes a long way to discerning who, one should, actually buy from…