This is not a watch for you...

I am tired of it...

I am in sales, and I employ the takeaway all the time with my prospective clients...if they are wasting my time, not putting in the work, or are just being a pain in the butt, I let them know that our platform is not for them.

It works like a charm, and separates out the serious prospects vs. the perpetual tire kickers.

I’ve had to start doing this when selling watches.

When I get a long list of questions that have been covered in the listing or moronic questions, or a super low ball, I simply respond:

“This is not a watch for you...”

I don’t have time to even engage with these buyers because I know that even if they buy, chances are they try to find a problem with the watch and ask for money back.

Just had to vent...

I work in web design and deal with very large clients now, but when we started we took any client, because it meant making money and paying our salaries.

Eventually, you learn to say no to some clients, especially those that won't be worth the pain.

My dad is a plastic surgeon and does this all the time. After so many years, you can tell which are going to be the ones that are never happy and will try to sue you. They come for the consultation with a photo of some persons nose.. And no matter how good of a surgeon you are, you can not give an exact copy of another person's nose. So, if they are adamant about having "this person's nose" he drops them.

/Alex

Funny, I was thinking the other day I picked up on things exactly like this selling watches and it helped me when I started doing freelance work for startups/finding clients.

And yet, times will change, and then you will be happy that there is interest to begin with. I’m also a bit tired of sellers not wanting to answer a sensable list of questions. They don’t want to take the time, as the watch will probably also sell to a buyer that does not raise the questions. I have a list of sellers (not here, on other platforms) that just do not bother to answer when they get some more in-depth questions. I have other standards as a seller than going for the ‘easiest buyer’.

Disclaimer: I have not interacted with the TS in any way so I’m not talking about him 😉

watches can be sold??!?!?

this is a concept I'd never considered. I must ponder this heresy and decide if its even possible.

well...
except that damn Rolex... that was easy to sell... for an Omega, which means it was in fact very easy...

perhaps I do understand afterall.

Now, moronic customers. that I understand! Working, for most of my career, in quality in the automotive industry I am more than familiar with the moronic customers.

"Yes sir, the bearings will be damaged and fail if you beat them in with a hammer." (Chrysler)
"Yes sir, I'm saying the door fell off the vehicle and flattened the customer in the parking lot because you installed the roller assembly at an improper angle." (GM)
"yes sir, if you go ahead with that design it will fail, demolishing the OHC drive and possibly wiping out the cylinder head. Honda used a similar design 40 years ago and they replaced it pretty quickly"

That last one was my favorite, I made that claim early in the prototyping phase at a meeting with their design guys, with a set of ancient Honda camshaft drive parts on the table next to their prototype drawings. My boss later gave me shit for beating up the customers engineers and the customer went ahead with the design. The first 20,000 production engines were recalled for cam drive faults. I laughed my ass off. (no name, I still have to work with these clowns)

and we're not going to discuss FIAT.

You'll find that same personality type in several forms throughout your life, and the more distance you can give them the better.

I always try to be polite when selling a watch. Last time someone asked if I had the Omega Box for it (in the description was written just the watch without box and papers). I searched for one and gave it for free on top. Then he asked about a manual on how to use the Watch. I made a 3 page PDF on how to use an Omega Seamaster with a Cal.562. Then he contacted me when the watch was at the customs, and was mad at me because he had to pay customs on the watch. I took the watch back and sold it in two days to someone else.

So funny, i had dejavu while reading your post! i had exact same discussion with my wife recently 😀

What i also seriously dislike beside the "what is your best price?" questions (because these i can simply ignore) as a seller, is when i give a thorough reply to the potential buyer, answering every single question.. And then never hear from them again.. Drives me nuts!
I am fine if they would at least say" thank you, i will think about it".

I look at it this way . . .

Buying and selling rarely brings out the best in us, though one should be able to have a reasonable expectation of civility and even politeness. If the parties are patient with one another, the transaction may take a bit longer than absolutely necessary, but there is a good chance both parties will be satisfied with the result, whether a transaction takes place or not.

Sometimes it isn't only about what you say or what you do as much as it is about how you do it. In a face-to-face transaction, it may not be offensive to politely ask a seller for the bottom line price, but this can easily come off as rude when one is seeming to be disrespectful or if done in text form such as we have here or in email.

I've had this done to me when selling a used car or two and I have responded just the way some in here have suggested: "The price I am asking is the price I am seeking. If you have a reasonable offer to make, I'll happily entertain it." When it comes to used cars, it is not surprising when someone comes back with an offer half what you are looking for. "Have a nice day!" says I. 😉

If the buyer has not done enough homework, they will be less sure of a reasonable valuation. The buyer may remain unsure even after doing some due diligence. It's possible the buyer doesn't know what to offer but neither wishes to insult with a low offer nor overpay.

If the seller wants to sell into a larger pool of potential buyers, he or she will go out of their way to cause the prospective buyer to be comfortable.

If a buyer wants to complete a transaction, he or she will go out of their way to make the seller feel comfortable.

There needs to be some give and take.

I wouldn't necessarily disagree, but...
As buyers and sellers, a win/win deal should be the goal. It's what makes future deals possible.

I have a standard reply to this. Goes something like ...
Customer: you're asking £1000.00 for this ... what's your best price.
Me: Well, my best price would be £1500.00, but seeing as I thought that was probably too much, I pegged it at £1000. What are you offering?

Now, I've been known to stand a car boot sale once in a while (about twice a year, depending how much overspill I have). I love car boot sales. This one's almost verbatim:
Customer (asian): how much?
Me: For those earrings? Five pounds.
C: 50p
M: Sorry, I think you misheard ... £5.00.
C:50p
M: No.

Customer walks away. A little while later, he comes back.
C: {points} 50p
M: 12 pounds.
C: what?
M: I'm sorry, at this point I thought we were just shouting numbers.

Customer walks away again. At the end of the morning he walks back ... I just look him in the eye, smile and shake my head.

These are the ones I wish I could sell a broken quartz watch to .. but I'm not that mean.