question on negotiating price

Stewart H · May 22, 2015

You are so right Al. Until I started tinkering, I had no concept of what constituted servicing a watch and I think most people cannot appreciate that it costs as much to service their watch as it does their car.

Putting this into perspective, I have just sent my el Primero guru my A385, A386, Rainbow Flyback and for good measure, my A277 (146 HP movement)

Total cost £2,200 including VAT. Now that includes re-finishing the Rainbow's bracelet, new reversing wheels for the A386 and having a new crystal made for the A386 (to the original specification) - Zenith don't have any more of these.

The watchmaker's art is not just his training and skill, but his contacts as well and it does irk me a little when people refer to "my watchmaker" as if he was their butler or valet rather than a highly skilled professional.

jordn · May 22, 2015

Stewart H
it does irk me a little when people refer to "my watchmaker" as if he was their butler or valet rather than a highly skilled professional.

When I say "my watchmaker" or "my barber" or "my tailor", I mean it affectionately. They are my trusted partners in life, business, and worldly vices 😀

WatchVaultNYC · May 22, 2015

Yeah, when I say "my watchmaker" it's meant as a seal of approval or a positive reference vs implying some ownership like "my shoes"

Nobel Prize · May 22, 2015

Straight forward works for me...too polite can be more offensive, specially on writing. It comes off as passive-aggressive. Just a simple "I'm looking into these model and year and this is what I am finding, I also notice the dial is showing slight signs of wear here etc etc...would you consider xxx as a fair price? Please let me know if I am missing any detail or am completely mistaken on these observations...." With similar verbiage I've negotiated a fair amount of deals...and often been corrected when then the seller is able to say "Yes, those don't come with box, or papers, or happen to be from x serial versus Y serial housing movement a instead of B. That is why mine is a little bit more expensive" (for example) Then I do my research or ask around here and if it all squares out I go back with a different offer or accept the sellers fair price. (or not)

oddboy · May 22, 2015

Well, in my hypothetical example, the seller and I simply disagree on some points and each have references to substantiate our perspectives... so I suppose, hypothetically, it's a take it or leave it decision at this point.

MikiJ · May 22, 2015

oddboy
Well, in my hypothetical example, the seller and I simply disagree on some points and each have references to substantiate our perspectives... so I suppose, hypothetically, it's a take it or leave it decision at this point.

Sooner or later it often times gets there.

Davidt · May 22, 2015

When all's said and done, you've got your top figure and the seller has his lowest. If it's a rare model you simply must have, I'd guess your top price maybe more than fair. If you still can't reach his figure then you're done.

Just make sure you don't regret it!!

dennisthemenace · May 22, 2015

If I want to sell one of my watches I will offer it for what I think is a fair price given the current market value.
I don't work out a figure and then add 20% in the hope that someone will offer me 10% less.
Sure, I get a load of silly offers and stories about late pay cheques etc, but just decline the offers politely and no-one gets offended.
By all means if you think a seller is asking way too much for a watch you are interested in, be polite and explain why you think his asking price is too high. Good manners go a long way when buying or selling watches.

Nobel Prize · May 22, 2015

I had a buyer offended because i had the serial on my posting redacted...he simply saw it as a fraudulent move no matter how much I tried to explain him why this is done and even offer to send him the actual serial if he gave me a verifiable phone number or email to send it to...then he insisted I should be selling as a matter of course at 48% of the price of a new watch. Not sure where he got that exact figure but that was it and he would actually harass me through PM and even insult me (as in: You wanker, if you want to sell this watch you better meet my price unless you're a piece of shit etc etc etc) I ended up reporting him to eBay. Eventually he left me alone. I did sell that watch for almost asking price not long afterwards.... Whatever you do, don't be that guy.

scruffy · May 22, 2015

WatchVaultNYC
I sell a lot, the only time I'm offended is if the buyer makes an offer so low that I would only accept it if I were an idiot..

Like for example, $500 on a new Planet Ocean. Happened just this week.

$501 but that's my final offer 😉

WatchVaultNYC · May 22, 2015

Nobel Prize
I had a buyer offended because i had the serial on my posting redacted...he simply saw it as a fraudulent move no matter how much I tried to explain him why this is done and even offer to send him the actual serial if he gave me a verifiable phone number or email to send it to...then he insisted I should be selling as a matter of course at 48% of the price of a new watch. Not sure where he got that exact figure but that was it and he would actually harass me through PM and even insult me (as in: You wanker, if you want to sell this watch you better meet my price unless you're a piece of shit etc etc etc) I ended up reporting him to eBay. Eventually he left me alone. I did sell that watch for almost asking price not long afterwards.... Whatever you do, don't be that guy.

There are some people not just in the watch buying sphere who think that they can get a deal by irritating you into submission.

There was once a forum guy who in succession:

- wanted to buy a watch, changed his mind and wanted me to refund him even before he received the watch

- received this watch, wanted to return it but wanted the refund BEFORE he returned it

- then wanted to EXTEND the refund period

- then claimed that I was selling the watch again even though he had not returned it yet(!) - even though it was a completely different model, and was going to complain to PayPal blah blah

The crazy flailing and irrationality of it all is clearly a sign that the guys strategy was to be an @$$ until I gave him what he wanted for him to stop being a nuisance.

STANDY · May 22, 2015

I like the buying when a enabler sends you a pm and shows what he has at the price he wants and there is no need to haggle. ( thanks you guys. Who know what I am talking about)
Next watch they have you get to see first due to being easygoing.

Most watches on this site I don't haggle as they are reasonably priced.

And @Nobel Prize will know it's guys that know what they want and don't mind paying for the extra to get it are gems 😉 ( luv those pictures on the wall )

Nobel Prize · May 22, 2015

STANDY
I like the buying when a enabler sends you a pm and shows what he has at the price he wants and there is no need to haggle. ( thanks you guys. Who know what I am talking about)
Next watch they have you get to see first due to being easygoing.

Most watches on this site I don't haggle as they are reasonably priced.

And @Nobel Prize will know it's guys that know what they want and don't mind paying for the extra to get it are gems 😉 ( luv those pictures on the wall )

100% ... 100%

NT931 · May 23, 2015

STANDY
I like the buying when a enabler sends you a pm and shows what he has at the price he wants and there is no need to haggle. ( thanks you guys. Who know what I am talking about)
Next watch they have you get to see first due to being easygoing.

Most watches on this site I don't haggle as they are reasonably priced.

And @Nobel Prize will know it's guys that know what they want and don't mind paying for the extra to get it are gems 😉 ( luv those pictures on the wall )

+1. Having bought >5 watches from several people on this forum (you know who you are!), who've priced their watches fairly and reasonably, I don''t bargain too much. If it's a fair price, it's a fair price!

Davidt · May 23, 2015

dennisthemenace
If I want to sell one of my watches I will offer it for what I think is a fair price given the current market value.
I don't work out a figure and then add 20% in the hope that someone will offer me 10% less.
Sure, I get a load of silly offers and stories about late pay cheques etc, but just decline the offers politely and no-one gets offended.
By all means if you think a seller is asking way too much for a watch you are interested in, be polite and explain why you think his asking price is too high. Good manners go a long way when buying or selling watches.

There are different kinds of buyer though. WIS who know, fairly accurately, the value of a piece and will offer accordingly. If it's already well priced, they'll likely pay it. One of my watches was bought from here and I felt it was priced at its value, so I just offered the asking price.

On the other hand there are folk who maybe have a passing interest and have less of an idea of the worth or value of a piece, other than whats being asked. It's human nature to want to feel like you're getting a deal, and getting a bit knocked off assists some people in justifying it to themselves.

Maybe it's because I grew up around jewellery fairs but I'm used to people always asking "what's your best price".

ulackfocus · May 23, 2015

Two things are clear by the posts in this thead:

1) Everybody wants a discount and has different ideas what's fair.

2) Dealing with people sucks! 😜

lillatroll · May 23, 2015

I bought my second omega watch on ebay. I contacted the seller by pm and offered a reasonable price. He almost bit my hand off and after we had agreed the price he told me he was originally going to put a buy it now price for 600 $ less than I paid.
He would not pull the auction until the funds had cleared which did not happen untilit was too late to do so. He told me to put a highest bid so that I would win. The auction ran and it went 500$ over what I paid for it. I think I was happier than him in the end.
After that I have bought my watches here all for fair prices that I was happy to pay.

WatchVaultNYC · May 23, 2015

I moved more than a hundred Omegas in the last 6 months, so this observation should have some level of statistical legitimacy: for over 90‰ of sales I did not even have to make a counter-offer, price was good to me (generally at or a bit below fair market price). 90‰ of inquiries that do NOT end up in a sale are from shoppers who just want an impossible deal, and don't even reply to a fair counter offer from me. They want their new Planet Ocean for $500 and are not interested in anything near transaction prices. Basically these are a waste of an email and the only reason I reply at all is because they will clutter my inbox and send me their unreasonable offer AGAIN if I don't. Why does this sort of thing happen? Because it's easy to be a faceless nuisance online, and hey maybe one of the hundred sellers they are emailing is an idiot and will give them that PO for $500.

LastMan · May 23, 2015

There are also some sellers who will put a high price knowing they will negotiate down... or if they are lucky, someone in a hurry will just give them their asking price.

WatchVaultNYC · May 23, 2015

LastMan
There are also some sellers who will put a high price knowing they will negotiate down... or if they are lucky, someone in a hurry will just give them their asking price.

That's true, but what I've found is that high priced watches do not get any traffic (unless it's the only game in town), the best strategy at least for me is to price FAIR and leave a small bit of room for negotiations.

Also on a personal note, I'd rather move 5 watches at a fair price than 1 watch and make a killing on an unsuspecting n00b. In the end the n00b will find out he's been had and will not be happy. Post sale drama is not for me

question on negotiating price

Stewart H

jordn

WatchVaultNYC

Nobel Prize

oddboy

MikiJ

Davidt

dennisthemenace

Nobel Prize

scruffy

WatchVaultNYC

STANDY

Nobel Prize

NT931

Davidt

ulackfocus

lillatroll

WatchVaultNYC

LastMan

WatchVaultNYC

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