Community Stories

Questions about starting a watch business that turned into a social experiment

dsio
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immmhus immmhus
Make assumptions. You really don't know who I am or what I do in real life.

Let me give you a little lesson seeming that we are giving them out willy nilly.

Sarcasm is very hard to portray through text, but assumptions come very easy.
I’m making assumptions, I’m making an assessment based on what I’ve seen from you, and explaining that thinking you’ll have a better time with watch collectors elsewhere is wishful thinking.
 
immmhus
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Walrus Walrus
I like this guy I m only buying watches from him

Be sure to like comment and subscribe for more. 😉
 
Shabbaz
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Well, if you're looking for a small side-business besides your other activities I guess you could give it a try. Why not. Anyway, I wish you all the best. When I see a watch from New Zealand I will give it another look. Cheers!
 
immmhus
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Shabbaz Shabbaz
Well, if you're looking for a small side-business besides your other activities I guess you could give it a try. Why not. Anyway, I wish you all the best. When I see a watch from New Zealand I will give it another look. Cheers!

Hey hey thank you brother. Enjoy the rest of your day.
 
immmhus
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I had recieved a Hamilton watch today from a guy who said he had it serviced. It had an eta 2824-2 movement inside which is an automatic movement but also has manual winding capabilities. I noticed it wouldn't hand wind and the winding positions did not alway engage. There was a clear defect in the watch and the seller had stated that it had recently been serviced which should of eradicated these problems.

For what its worth I made sure that I got a refund.
There may of been speculation around the authenticity of my watches due to my knowledge or there may not off been. But with all the best intentions in this post, I do learn from what people tell me but also do have a bit of knowledge myself. 😀

Anyways I felt the need to share. Ciao. 👍👍
 
watchyouwant
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immmhus immmhus
I had recieved a Hamilton watch today from a guy who said he had it serviced. It had an eta 2824-2 movement inside which is an automatic movement but also has manual winding capabilities. I noticed it wouldn't hand wind and the winding positions did not alway engage. There was a clear defect in the watch and the seller had stated that it had recently been serviced which should of eradicated these problems.

For what its worth I made sure that I got a refund.
There may of been speculation around the authenticity of my watches due to my knowledge or there may not off been. But with all the best intentions in this post, I do learn from what people tell me but also do have a bit of knowledge myself. 😀

Anyways I felt the need to share. Ciao. 👍👍

The need to share and the not knowing, when to shut up, are different qualities. Looks like you always have to have the last word/ last post. Vintage watches are different. You have to listen to your customers and respect them. Nobody NEEDS a vintage watch these days. You are a facilitator , nothing else. Humble behaviour goes a long way. Your current attitude will not win you many friends. If you piss off a customer, remember that he knows other watch guys and you loose them as well. Just start your business and see, where it leads you. The most knowledgeable person in our field in NZ is Marcus Alexander. If you talk to him, pls. Do NOT mention, that I mentioned his name to you . I'd like to keep him as a friend and trusted watch person. Good luck !
Edited:
 
Watch my Whisky
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immmhus immmhus
I had recieved a Hamilton watch today from a guy who said he had it serviced. It had an eta 2824-2 movement inside which is an automatic movement but also has manual winding capabilities. I noticed it wouldn't hand wind and the winding positions did not alway engage. There was a clear defect in the watch and the seller had stated that it had recently been serviced which should of eradicated these problems.

For what its worth I made sure that I got a refund.
There may of been speculation around the authenticity of my watches due to my knowledge or there may not off been. But with all the best intentions in this post, I do learn from what people tell me but also do have a bit of knowledge myself. 😀

Anyways I felt the need to share. Ciao. 👍👍

Cool story, bro!
 
Davidt
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immmhus immmhus
I had recieved a Hamilton watch today from a guy who said he had it serviced. It had an eta 2824-2 movement inside which is an automatic movement but also has manual winding capabilities. I noticed it wouldn't hand wind and the winding positions did not alway engage. There was a clear defect in the watch and the seller had stated that it had recently been serviced which should of eradicated these problems.

For what its worth I made sure that I got a refund.
There may of been speculation around the authenticity of my watches due to my knowledge or there may not off been. But with all the best intentions in this post, I do learn from what people tell me but also do have a bit of knowledge myself. 😀

Anyways I felt the need to share. Ciao. 👍👍

Im unsure what the point of this post was
 
SpeedyPhill
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All I can guess is that these watch websites, in the USA, Europe & elsewhere, must make a lot-of-money in the lucrative watch-business as they have multiple "journalists" or so called "reviewers" with positive opinions about everything.
However, for most it's so obvious everything is marketing as they're promoting each-and-every make or brand... it's all great & better etc...
Sponsoring is so obvious and YouTube videos having the "" Comments are turned off "" , we all know enough 😁
 
Mark020
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Engee Engee
Something else I know, related, is that my dad was in the silver antiques business for many years. He told me the business is simple. You just have to know three things:

1) more than most (not all) of your competitors
2) where to buy the right things cheap
3) where to sell those things for a profit.

this sums it up. 1) may be doable 2) is perhaps the hardest part 3) may be easier due to the social media thing. Still I think when you do the numbers it is not an easy one. EUR 100k in margin as a trader may be equal EUR 60k working in a regular job. However: making 100k margin means buying 100-200 watches a year and selling 100-200 watches per year. Good luck on that.
 
Aroxx
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I think these days the better move would be to become a watchmaker.
 
C
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i have met a few people who are successful in the business. From my observation, certain watches have higher profit margins like full sets and certain lines (e.g. the Dark side of the Moon). You have to be willing to negotiate with a lot of sellers for a fair price.
 
sheepdoll
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If it were easy, then a lot of people would do it.

Even with the difficulties a lot of people do sell watches. Millions if not Billions are sold every year. Then there is the stock that does not sell. Storage costs etc.

I have a lot of 'stuff.' Most of it has some value and much could be considered 'rare.'

'Rare' items are not always valuable. Even to other connoisseurs. Probably why second hand and charity shops exist. Much of what I have accumulated came from such places. Recently I have been acquiring vintage cameras and electronics from eWaste recyclers.

This is not to say that someone can not make a living from such activity. Most junk haulers charge for their time to get the stuff, haul it away and sort through it. Metal recycling requires tons of materials to go into the crushers. Not to mention acids and other nasty ways of recovering the more valuable assets.

Repair still has its value. Most however want a 100k++ per year salary and a ten cent candy bar. Same with services like repair. Users expect repair to cost cents on the dollar for the repair person's time. They also expect the job to take not less than an hour and make the repaired item 'perfect.'

30 years ago when I did customer support/sales for the nascent computer industry. I noticed some of the customers just like to have it out with the repair person. Perhaps their dog died than morning. They may be under performance pressure from their work. There are many reasons for such attitude. When one thing goes bad, then we look for trends and confirmation that we to borrow a modern phrase are in a cursed doom loop. Murphy's law and all the rest.

Humans like to see patterns in the chaos. What makes games of chance so enticing.

Success also brings contempt. I often state that there are better odds winning a lawsuit than to win the lottery. Especially when one gets a prize simply for showing up, participating and taking one for the team.

If one is apt to fear the boss. (Since the boss has the so called power to reward and punish.) Then if one is one's own boss they would have to fear themselves. This in turn becomes self fulfilling.

If I reward myself, I will over indulge in watches, candy, chips/crisps and probably doughnuts.
 
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