Has anyone done this? I have a small collection of six watches I'd like to trade for a vintage Seamaster or Constellation. Do I just post what I have and then negotiate based on what I'm offered? About half are freshly serviced (past 24 months) and the other half run but are not. Any advice welcome. Tom
You won't know until you post in the sales corner. Good luck, vintage has its pluses and minuses, but some of them sure do look great and feel amazing on the wrist. Be as specific as possible in your listing and provide as many pictures of each watch as you can.
Personally, I would think it best to sell the six watches, as I would suspect that most Omega owners would not necessarily want to give up a nice vintage SM or Connie for 6 $100-200 watches. Cash is king, and you will be in a much better position to acquire the watch you want versus the watch that someone may be willing to trade.
My two cents which post-inflation is worth even less, is that while that is a neat and tidy solution you are seeking a rare person to deal with. First they have to have a Seamaster or Connie they want to part with, then they have to be wanting to part with it to obtain what you are offering and the odds are that they aren't going to be seeking the six particular pieces you will offer. They have to think the six combine to equal or exceed the value of the watch being given up. Chances are good that they won't want all the pieces and will have to weigh whether they want to take the trouble to sell the ones they aren't interested in. The undesired pieces become a liability to the deal. You stand a better chance of getting the desired outcome by converting the six to cash and then trading the cash for the desired watch.
As said by sky21, you won't know until you try. You might find a dealer that is willing to trade with cash on either end depending on what the 6 watches are that you have.
When you trade, you generally have to provide a discount. If you're okay with that, then by all means - otherwise, I agree with others....watches --> cash --> omega
Sounds like a good deal for you but not necessarily so good for the other party. It is a technique that various buyers have attempted with me over the years, I have something attractive and in great condition for sale and I'm offered a few lesser specimens ( in both condition and desirability ) as a trade, generally with very optimistic trade values too.......needless to say I have never bitten this particular worm. And as the others have said it's much better for you to be a cash buyer, although that will entail some extra effort to first offload the six you're holding
I used to see this attempted in the WTT forum at WUS all the time. Guy with 20 Seikos, Citizens, and Orients wants to trade for a Speedmaster or Rolex ExpII or something. I was always curious if it ever worked. Even if the values work out in the favor of the guy with the watch he wanted, it is unlikely their interests overlapped to the point where he wants all 20 of those watches, or even 5. A dealer with the right watch might do it, but you'd be taking a big hit as a dealer is going to give you even less value in trade (while at the same time valuing his watch at the high end of the market). Sell the six watches individually, or just save the cash and buy the vintage piece to add to your collection.
I had a guy on WUS seek offer me a used Breitling Superocean and $1k for a 5512... I stopped posting on WUS FT section...
What was amazing was that guy had no clue what a 5512 was or its value. I had a pleasant email exchange, and convinced him to sell his Breitling, save more on top of his $1k and buy a used modern Sub...he sold his Breitling! I give him credit for learning and taking advice.
More generally and assuming a trade, which party would send first? Would both ship same time? Just curious if any experience here on the forum...
You know what, I'm pretty stupid. Here I was thinking, "hm, I want a nice dress watch because that's the one thing I don't have," not that I couldn't wear a Speedmaster as a dress watch, right? I have my father's 1960 Croton Aquamatic that needs servicing but is otherwise a fantastic example of a dress watch, especially once you put the fancy "baby alligator" strap on it. Not that most of the collection can't be worn as unique fancy dress watches. I have to get serviced what I have left that isn't serviced and look at what I have for what it is and not what it isn't. Left to right: 1960 Croton Aquamatic Circa 1920 Ferrero 1945 Elgin Type A-11 1917 Elgin "Foch" Circa 1910 Waltham The Croton and the Waltham need service. The Foch needs real lume and not brown paint (grr, didn't follow direction). I feel better now thinking of these as my dress watches. I only need to sell the Accutron because I don't want to be changing batteries in a watch I rarely wear. Your advice helped me get here, so thank you! Tom
No need for a vtg SM or Connie if you just want a dress watch...especially since you have your dad's Croton! That is a great looking watch, and the others are pretty sweet too. Sell the Accutron, and maybe a couple of the 6, and then see what you can fund.