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Selling stuff at the wrong time.... before the market shoots up

  1. tikkathree Jul 1, 2018

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    in another live thread (about orange chrono hands in fact) there was this comment

    which got me thinking and I'm prepared to admit to
    1. Selling an Austin Healey "Frogeye" mk1 Sprite three years before prices increased by the addition of a further note, £350 becoming £3500! And
    2. Selling Speedmaster Schumacher Reduced yellow, red and blue dial watches when prices made about £600 and look at them now - 50% up on that!

    So come on, the confessional booth is open, let's hear it and share each others' regrets:eek::eek::eek::whipped:
     
    red crowned likes this.
  2. lillatroll Jul 1, 2018

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    No regrets so far as I have never sold a watch. I do always seem to join the slowest queue at the supermarket or at airport check in lines, so if I ever sell a watch it will probably be just before the price shoots up. This is what I tell my wife so that I don t have to sell any:)
     
  3. Tet I prefer Dilmah do try it Jul 1, 2018

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    I sold an absolutely mint directly(still wrapped) back from Omega service with full box and papers Omega Speedmaster Apollo-Soyuz a couple of years ago for less than £5k. To make matters worse it had the nicest meteorite dial of any that I have seen making it pretty irreplaceable.

    Not as bad a loss as I'm sure many here but I still regret it, times were tight which was why I sold it, but times are even tighter now TBH ::shy::
     
    GuiltyBoomerang and tikkathree like this.
  4. Fritz genuflects before the mighty quartzophobe Jul 1, 2018

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    sold my 1939 RAF LeCoultre master navigator's watch... but then it was covered in radium so maybe not such a bad idea.


    sold my 62 BMW R27 before vintage bikes went nuts
    sold my 53 Triumph TRW before vintage bikes went nuts


    Sold my Royal Enfield. What the F*** was I thinking!
     
  5. ulackfocus Jul 1, 2018

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    Hey, I always price watches WAY too low according to some members here. sneaky2.gif

    I have no big regrets over the price I've sold them for, and neither should anyone else. It's a hobby, not a business. I do regret selling some nice watches that I wish I still had, but it was usually to buy a watch I wanted even more.
     
  6. abrod520 Jul 1, 2018

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    I think the only instance in my experience was selling my Speedmaster XI-35 about two months before they doubled in price and started to push 5 figures. But I was happy with the price I got, since it wasn't a watch that I ever really enjoyed wearing, and I'd rather it went to someone who did
     
  7. tikkathree Jul 1, 2018

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    I agree with this sentiment. The pain comes when the market moves on after the event....
     
  8. Fritz genuflects before the mighty quartzophobe Jul 1, 2018

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    Why did I sell that damned Enfield?

    Why???

    I miss it so.
     
    tikkathree likes this.
  9. Steve Essex Jul 1, 2018

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    Sold my Cortina Lotus and Mk1 RS2000 for silly money compared to what they make now. :(
     
    tikkathree and Seaoftunes like this.
  10. ulackfocus Jul 1, 2018

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    I was saying I don't dwell on the selling price going up after I've sold a watch. No pain, unless you let it bother you.
     
    red crowned, tikkathree and Andy K like this.
  11. Tony C. Ωf Jury member Jul 1, 2018

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    When asked how they had amassed such fortunes, both Baron Rothschild and Bernard Baruch responded, in essence, "by selling too early".
     
    red crowned, LouS, tikkathree and 2 others like this.
  12. Traveler Jul 1, 2018

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    Zenith Daytonas has been $10-12k forever ... sold mine, then missed it, while they climbed and climbed ... now I couldn’t get it back for under $25k ::screwloose::
     
    red crowned, watchknut and BenBagbag like this.
  13. Andy K Dreaming about winning an OFfie one day. Jul 1, 2018

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    I saw the title of the thread and was going to post about my Japan Racing LE but the OP already quoted me! :D

    However, I think regret was the wrong choice of words. I might feel smarter had I hung onto it for a few years longer but I’m sure whatever I sold it to fund was important to me at the time.
    This kind of sums up how I feel both about what I pay and what I sell for. I’m in this hobby because I like owning and wearing watches. Saving a few dollars on a purchase or making a few dollars on a sale are fine, but focusing on price takes much of the joy out of the hobby.
     
    red crowned and STANDY like this.
  14. Nobel Prize Spell Master! Jul 1, 2018

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    I have a friend that was thinking about selling a snoopy. It was selling at 12 to 15g at the time. He hesitated. A week later it was up for 24 to 27.

    He still has it.....
     
  15. tikkathree Jul 1, 2018

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    Oh indeed. Eye candy first, return on capital second, probably a distant second.
     
  16. STANDY schizophrenic pizza orderer and watch collector Jul 1, 2018

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    Everything I bought 10 years ago stops me worrying about threads like this.

    Even then what I have sold has been at cost mostly as this is a hobby and by seeing it as that it makes it more fun.

    Selling a Seamaster at what I paid 3-4 prior to a noob that I had looked at his eBay picks for weeks made a friend and helped someone out. Worth a few $ to me.

    Totally agree with you @Andy K :thumbsup:
     
    Andy K likes this.
  17. larryganz The cable guy Jul 2, 2018

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    Sold my NIB with stickers Silver Snoopy Award this February to pay for a new furnace and hot-water heater, and the IRS bill coming due. Prices had been pretty stable for the previous year and I got what I paid for it in 2016, but prices have gone up by $10,000 since I sold mine ::facepalm2::
     
    Mtek likes this.
  18. queriver Jul 2, 2018

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    Also not fun when you're very late buying in a rising market, particularly when the horse has well and truly bolted and you can't afford something any more. I'd pay top dollar for a crystal ball though.
     
  19. ewand Jul 2, 2018

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    Ah, but if it's a LE unused crystal ball with a full set, then it's a different market...
     
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  20. queriver Jul 2, 2018

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    If an unused crystal ball we don’t know whether it actually works. We need a vintage crystal ball with cast-iron provenance.