Hello
@danielhurst. Yes I can sympathise with your concerns. It also works the same way for an Inexperienced owner who decides to sell a watch. Not so much with regard to the quality of the item, I was thinking more about the actual financial transaction.
We have this rather strange situation where we buy and sell items that are valued in multiples of 1000's of dollars or pounds based on photographic evidence. The more I think about it the crazier it sounds. I can't think of anything else, of that value, that I would purchase on that basis. It scares the 'shite' out of me,
but it's normal practise here and seems to work OK for experienced members.
I have never bought or sold any watches on this forum or any other so, as such, I have no reputation good or bad. Even though I contribute all sorts of 'old cobblers' on this forum, I am still an 'unknown person'. Many of our members are long-term, serious collectors. As such they may have built up a good reputation over several years. Obviously, a new member cannot offer this kind of assurance to a buyer.
I do believe, however, that if a new member demonstrates a measure of transparency about themselves, and the item they are selling, this can offer a degree of reassurance to a purchaser. I can see why a collector needs to be security conscious, but If they are overly vague about themselves, or the watches they are selling, that has got to be a red flag to a prospective buyer. That's why I like the way the sales sections on this forum are managed. Items for sale are on view to all members including our experts and moderators. Any obvious misrepresentations can be quickly picked up by experienced members.
You mentioned that you live in the UK. Are you able to get into London? If so, you could contact
@tyrantlizardrex and ask if you could attend the 'time for a pint' meet ups. (I think Chris stipulates that you bring at least one watch). I live in Dorset so I'm hoping to do this myself at some point. It would provide an opportunity to meet forum members face to face and maybe get some advice about how to go about buying.
cheers Jonathan.
Click to expand...