*** PLEASE READ *** Consignment Sales to Dealers - Advice.

The mod team were contacted by a member on here who wanted to warn people of the risks of consignment sales with dealers or a specific dealer.

Now I can actually type this to you as I actually do consignment so have knowledge of how I do it and how every other dealer should do it - but some don't. This is where you can get burnt - Badly.

Selling through a dealer you would think that it takes the stress out of selling a watch. In most respects it does, but in some instances it's not great. Normally you have no messing about with buyers who actually can’t buy it or low ball you thinking you are desperate to sell etc. Hassle on worldwide shipping and insurance are also another factor a private seller will struggle with.

So, you want to sell a prized watch of yours but where do you list it? C24, Forums, Fleebay? The choice can be plenty. Then you think a respected dealer can help you. Commission varies from platform to platform and dealer to dealer.

For example I charge a flat fee, some might charge more, some less than others. But what do you actually look for in a dealer to trust to sell a timepiece?

Here are a few pointers:

1. This is probably the best advice I can give you - DUE-DILIGENCE!

Don't just have a phone call with a guy who you have found on the net. GOOOOOOOGLE is everyone's friend, search for reviews on there, as well as every platform you can think of.

2. Don't be shy in asking forums for a reference check, it’s a big world out there and the chances are if the dealer is established someone on the forums will have dealt with them in the past. People won't bite your head off for asking. Legit dealers are not offended if you post on a public forum as it simply advertises the fact they are good guys and promotes their business. The bad guys on the other hand simply get a bashing from members who have had crap experiences with that dealer.

3. Look for yourself what the price range is of the piece you want to sell, even if it’s a broad spread, take a look at sold listings on Fleebay and forums and work out where you want to be on the price returned to you.

4. If something seems too good to be true it generally is so don't be fooled by privateers that sell a lot of watches that claim to be dealers.

5. This one is important!! I cannot stress how important it is to have a written agreement in place that states that the watch remains the property of you, the actual owner, that you have listed said company to hold the watch in stock and make sure they have no legal claim to the watch. Make sure it's signed by both parties and dated.

After a string of major players in the used Porsche car market here in the UK going bust and owing owners tens of thousands of pounds for cars that they sold and used the cash to pay someone else they owned money too, I now will only take a consignment with an agreement in place. This agreement must cover the watch make and model, any accessories that come included and the serial number of the movement. That way it can be crossed referenced as your legal property until sold and paid for.

6. I have a client funds account that any watch sold belonging to a client, the funds get moved away from my cashflow. This is important because once a dealer sells your watch, your funds need to be safe for any potential return if the client is not happy. Once the deal has completed fully you should be paid in full the total after all fees. This is normally in the form of a bank transfer for me.

7. Make sure the watch is represented nicely, nice photos, nice descriptions social presence postings etc.

I hope this helps some of you thinking about consigning with any dealer. Good luck. Remember not every dealer does consignment.

D

Thanks for posting this Darren.

No. 1 and no. 5 strike a particular chord with me. My own stupidity, but I let a local ‘friendly’ dealer sell several of my watches, with no documentation that he had them or was doing so. It was early in his ‘career’ and I chalked the lack of professionalism up to that, but It was months of stress and hassle, and put me in a very fragile position, as I felt like if I ‘bugged him’ too much, I might end up with a very bad outcome. Ultimately I ended up getting most of what I was owed, but it left a very bad taste, and completely broke my relationship with the dealer - he claimed one of the watches needed repairing, went silent on it, and that was it .... I never saw the watch or the money, and never heard from him again. ‘Luckily’ that was the last of the batch, and a ‘relatively’ inexpensive one, but the hard facts are this tool stole $1500 from me. And this was a guy I thought I knew, and even defended on this forum! Since he has since gone on to grow his business quite substantially, I imagine he is doing the right thing by other people now .... Out of magnanimity, I won’t publicly out him here, but as to Darren’s point 2, PM me if you are considering using a Tri-State based US dealer to consign anything, and want to know who it was.

Yes it can be quite an ordeal. Imagine if that was 10k

Amen, too many people balk or bitch about fees when buying or selling. If you can't stomach the fees do the transaction (buy or sell) on your own.

Fees can vary depending on dealer. 10-25%.

Since we have opened up this topic, I have always had one major question about this type of consignment. Let's say there is an agreement in place that the dealer will get a flat fee or a percentage, that's fine. But how would the owner actually know how much the dealer got for the watch? The dealer could say anything he wants, and provide an invoice backing it up. I there some sort of documentation that is totally credible? I doubt it. The dealer could sell the watch for $10k and tell the owner that he sold it for $9k, providing an invoice that he prepared. The dealer could sell the watch for some cash and also get another watch in trade, and just tell the owner that he got the cash. Is this basically 100% based on trust?

One member here they are 35% 😗

I have done a lot of consignments with aircraft owners, basically they consign their Boeing or Airbus to me, I take it apart and sell the parts.

Every month I produce a spread sheet with the sales and whom I sold the material to, I send my invoices and customer purchase orders showing the transaction flow plus bank account screenshot if required. It all open, clean and above board.

Consignment contracts can be loose or tight so read what you are signing and look for other costs in plain sight besides the consignment percentage such as handling, storage, servicing, transport, local taxes etc.