Watches from Japan

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I have had many watches shipped by EMS and have never been charged. Only when shipped by courier. eBay gives you a significant level of protection that you won’t get if you buy directly.
 
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Also sometimes watches from Japan aren’t polished at all. There are some very savvy and sophisticated collectors there.
 
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Also sometimes watches from Japan aren’t polished at all. There are some very savvy and sophisticated collectors there.
I’d have to second that, I’ve found that Japanese collectors are much more conservative with preserving originality and just in general seem to take better care of their watches. The dealers there also tend to sell a watch with scratches or dents more willingly rather than cleaning it up for sale. That doesn’t always apply, it varies of course but in general terms I’ve found Japanese watches to just be in better condition and quite honestly described.

Korean watches are about the opposite end of the scale and its hard to find watches from there that haven’t been polished harshly, redialed and “upgraded”.
 
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I’d also say that the language barrier and the fact that eBay never had a real presence in Japan really has kept a LOT of their watches on Japanese soil which is why even the rare stuff is plentiful there.

I’ve often wondered too, when you look at all the amazing Japan only watch releases by Omega, why so much of a focus was on that country. Especially since Japan had such an enormous domestic watch industry that nearly killed the Swiss industry during the quartz crisis.

On one hand they may have had an extremely influential and successful distributor for Omega in Japan, but I’ve also wondered if making the Japanese market such a priority might have been a Swiss pride thing, making a point of succeeding in Seiko and Citizen’s homeland. Microsoft has spent a pointlessly large sum of money trying to sell XBox consoles into Japan (unsuccessfully as they only have like 0.12% market share) just because it’s Sony and Nintendo’s home market and continues to do so on principal even though every console they sell there costs many times more than its worth to market.
 
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Anyone have experience with this Japanese seller in eBay? https://www.ebay.com/str/purposejpn...uid=16FAFt6-T8K&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Looks like they have a decent rating and a physical store. But most of the reviews seem to be on clothing and other type of jewelry. Found a couple of watches down the list but wondering if anyone here have had experience with them or thoughts on whether to buy from them.
 
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I think I am going to avoid eBay and just use Sendico to buy directly from the auction sites in Japan. It does appear that most things are considerably cheaper this way. The only downside is shipping will take a little longer.

And : every Japanese 3. Party shipper is inside Japan and has to pay +10 % internal tax, that they charge you !! Ask before you commit.
 
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If you are seeing the same watch on Yahoo Japan, the eBay seller may not actually have the watch in hand. Many eBay sellers from Japan put a high BIN price on a watch, and if someone buys it, they buy the watch from the actual seller, then ship it. That's why you will often see the same watch listed by multiple eBay sellers. The proxy services charge much lower fees. Be aware, however, that if you use a proxy service, you cannot return an item under any circumstances. Even if it is counterfeit or you don't receive the item listed, you are totally out of luck. It is a real risk.

I reported them as fakes since they are using stolen pictures. fυck those guys ... But I might not know if it weren't for this community. So I am forever grateful for the info I get here and for the deals we are served up on the daily.
 
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I reported them as fakes since they are using stolen pictures. fυck those guys ... But I might not know if it weren't for this community. So I am forever grateful for the info I get here and for the deals we are served up on the daily.

Now that you're mentioning it, I'm seeing like 5 japanese sellers have the identical set of photos on a seamaster ref 212.30.41.20.03.001 if you search it. What's that all about? Each has box and papers and similar description on condition and taxes/shipping etc. Good advice to just avoid them?
 
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Now that you're mentioning it, I'm seeing like 5 japanese sellers have the identical set of photos on a seamaster ref 212.30.41.20.03.001 if you search it. What's that all about? Each has box and papers and similar description on condition and taxes/shipping etc. Good advice to just avoid them?
It’s what I described above. They do not own the watch. If you pay them they will buy it from the owner and ship it. Very common in Japan. Some of the watches listed are on the websites of Japanese retail stores, and they use those photos. I never buy from them. Not because I think it’s a scam, more because I have no interest in paying a middleman. It’s clear that they are overpriced since two people are making a big profit. You can always get those watches at much better prices if you’re patient.
 
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It’s what I described above. They do not own the watch. If you pay them they will buy it from the owner and ship it. Very common in Japan. Some of the watches listed are in retail stores.
Ok, got it. Had no clue you were allowed to do that.

So there's really no way of seeing what the actual watch looks like until you receive it. How does that work out with the eBay authenticator if the watch they receive doesn't match the photos (which inevitably in some way they won't) or the description? Unless the watch is near mint they could reject it - seems like a mess from the import and sales tax stand point.
 
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It’s not really allowed by eBay but they do it anyway. Will it go through authentication coming from Japan? I haven’t paid attention to that. But even if they do that’s not how authentication works. They’re just looking to see if the watch is legit. And they are sending you the watch on the photos so I don’t see how that’s different than any other listing. You are just buying the watch in the listing from a middleman. I don’t see how it affects authentication or taxes etc.
 
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It’s not really allowed by eBay but they do it anyway. Will it go through authentication coming from Japan? I haven’t paid attention to that. But even if they do that’s not how authentication works. They’re just looking to see if the watch is legit. And they are sending you the watch on the photos so I don’t see how that’s different than any other listing.

Good question, some of the postings do have the eBay authentication guarantee label so I'd hope those would go through that? But also haven't bought one personally so don't know for sure what happens.

And correct me if I'm wrong here, but I've read instances here where the authenticator rejected the watch based on it's condition because it didn't match the photos or the description accurately and sent it back to the seller. Those checks on condition (not just on authenticity) are part of the guarantee offering. These japanese stores have the same set of photos of perfectly mint/flawless Seamasters. I as the buyer know the reference and what it looks like, so what's different to other listings is that I never saw an actual photo of the individual piece I agreed to buy. These are used watches and while some may have very minimal signs of wear you still want to see those signs before you buy it. At least I want to.
 
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These japanese stores have the same set of photos of perfectly mint/flawless Seamasters. I as the buyer know the reference and what it looks like, so what's different to other listings is that I never saw an actual photo of the individual piece I agreed to buy. These are used watches and while some may have very minimal signs of wear you still want to see those signs before you buy it. At least I want to.

Perhaps I didn't do a good job explaining. In the situation I am talking about, the eBay sellers all show photos of the same watch, but IT IS the actual watch you are going to buy. They all skim the same photos of the same specific pre-owned watch for sale in Japan, generally from a retailers website. If you pay one of them, they buy that particular watch and ship it to you. So there will be no issue with authentication because the watch received by the authenticators is the watch shown in the listing. I look at a lot of watches sold from Japan, and I see this scenario for dozens, if not hundreds, of watches at any given time on eBay. It has been going on for years and is a standard way of doing business on eBay from Japan. On a number of occasions, I have been able to find the original listing that the others are based on.

If they are not selling the actual watch shown in the photo, that would have to be disclosed in the listing. I have seen that with some of the massive pre-owned watch dealers like Beckertime. They just show a generic pre-owned Rolex, but state it clearly in the listing. You could doublecheck by asking the seller.
 
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Just search for the cheapest one and buy from him. Often the seller "Closer"......
 
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Perhaps I didn't do a good job explaining. In the situation I am talking about, the eBay sellers all show photos of the same watch, but IT IS the actual watch you are going to buy. They all skim the same photos of the same specific pre-owned watch for sale in Japan, generally from a retailers website. If you pay one of them, they buy that particular watch and ship it to you. So there will be no issue with authentication because the watch received by the authenticators is the watch shown in the listing. I look at a lot of watches sold from Japan, and I see this scenario for dozens, if not hundreds, of watches at any given time on eBay. It has been going on for years and is a standard way of doing business on eBay from Japan. On a number of occasions, I have been able to find the original listing that the others are based on.

If they are not selling the actual watch shown in the photo, that would have to be disclosed in the listing. I have seen that with some of the massive pre-owned watch dealers like Beckertime. They just show a generic pre-owned Rolex, but state it clearly in the listing. You could doublecheck by asking the seller.

Oh wow, that's wild. And ok makes sense and totally clarifies it.
 
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Anyone have experience with this Japanese seller in eBay? https://www.ebay.com/str/purposejpn...uid=16FAFt6-T8K&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Looks like they have a decent rating and a physical store. But most of the reviews seem to be on clothing and other type of jewelry. Found a couple of watches down the list but wondering if anyone here have had experience with them or thoughts on whether to buy from them.

It is a Japanese pawnshop that deals in so-called luxury goods in general!
Please find the URL of the online store and the URL of the store on 'Rakuten Ichiba' in Japan.
http://purpose-shop.jp/
https://www.rakuten.ne.jp/gold/purpose-inc/company.html

By the way, I have never used it. Sorry!
 
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If you are interested in the 'closer0924' watch on ebay, check out the Chrono 24 as well.' There are times when 'closer0924' is selling the same watch for less than ebay.
 
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I’d also say that the language barrier and the fact that eBay never had a real presence in Japan really has kept a LOT of their watches on Japanese soil which is why even the rare stuff is plentiful there.

I’ve often wondered too, when you look at all the amazing Japan only watch releases by Omega, why so much of a focus was on that country. Especially since Japan had such an enormous domestic watch industry that nearly killed the Swiss industry during the quartz crisis.

On one hand they may have had an extremely influential and successful distributor for Omega in Japan, but I’ve also wondered if making the Japanese market such a priority might have been a Swiss pride thing, making a point of succeeding in Seiko and Citizen’s homeland. Microsoft has spent a pointlessly large sum of money trying to sell XBox consoles into Japan (unsuccessfully as they only have like 0.12% market share) just because it’s Sony and Nintendo’s home market and continues to do so on principal even though every console they sell there costs many times more than its worth to market.
I would love for someone to do some journalistic research using these insights as a springboard. I’ve lived in Japan for half my life now but my knowledge of the watch trade here is almost wholly incidental. I learn more from your articles than I’ve gleaned over the past 25 years on my own.
 
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Just search for the cheapest one and buy from him. Often the seller "Closer"......

This is where I bought from and they are not happy with everyone using their photos but can't do much.
 
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If you are interested in the 'closer0924' watch on ebay, check out the Chrono 24 as well.' There are times when 'closer0924' is selling the same watch for less than ebay.

Yes the seamaster I bought was listed for $713 ... But with my ebay rewards and their "discount" it was a no-brainer for me. YMMV.