Hey guys,

I've been curious about the logistics of a watch trade. How are the logistics of a trade orchestrated? Who sends first? What if one side is not satisfied? What else is worth knowing?

Sales are obviously pretty straight forward as money exchanges hands first and is transferred through third parties - banks, paypal, etc.

Any thoughts on the matter?

Thanks!

 

If you want to trade with me, you'd better be well-known and referenced, otherwise it's not happening.

 

I proposed trades for some high dollar Pateks. In both cases, it was with dealers who were well known and trusted in the business. They emailed me FedEx prepaid and insured labels, and I sent my end of the trade first.
With an individual (trusted!) collector, I would send my end first also. If someone else suggests a trade, I would expect them to send theirs first.
Simple communication with the other party should sort it out.

 

I wouldn't consider a trade unless the ither party was well known with very good references.

Once you know that you should be pretty safe sebding first. Otherwise, there's too many convincing scammers about.

 

I always consider trades a 'crap-shoot', i.e, wouldn't do it unless I completely trusted the other party to be honest and forthright.

IOW, I would NOT do a trade with anyone besides personal friends/family, or an extremely well-known and trusted member of this forum... but I'm not much of a risk-taker!

...and this ^^^ it can get complicated, and difficult to sort out... money is a much better option!

 

Here are some pointers

1- demand direct contact through phone or Skype. Email is not enough
2- exchange Pictures of ID and or documentation. the ID and the seller must be in the picture so you can verify it's the same person
3- In my case I only send watches to the address on the ID. If it needs to go somewhere else I need verification (i.e if work I need a business card or linked
4- the "ransom" mage of seller with the actual watch, this is either dated (newspaper etc) or he and/or you are doing something that has been requested (i.e holding a bottle of beer or something) of course if it's done through Skype then it's easier.
5- references. Sometimes you may have a friend in the town where the trader is in which case you can send the watch to your friend for a FTF exchange.
6- Who sends first? It's always a gamble, but typically the one offering the trade as he is the "active" party.

 

Another consideration in a trade ( though maybe not as important) is the concern over valuation in the future.

Would your insurance company be willing to cover full value of a watch that was (god forbid ) lost or stolen that you acquired in trade?

You may not get actual value, unless you are meticulous about documenting details of both watches...

 

Thanks gents. Some good tips here!

 

Why would the insurance company care about how you paid for it? Market value, insured value, and price you pay are only slightly correlated.

 

I don't know, I'm not in the insurance business, but I do know my insurance company told me to keep documentation for valuation purposes, and that generally, they use 'price paid' when paying a claim.

 

Getting a formal appraisal will solve this problem. My insurance company requires it - they will not take anything else for watch insurance...

 

Where can you get vintage watches appraised for insurance purposes?

 

The guy that valued a geneve at 5000 pounds on the watch Geordie sold on eBay not that long ago would be my choice for insurance

Most watch dealers will do it for a fee. But I would take some with a grain of salt and do my own due diligence for trade value.

 

Shoot...I'd try to get that bottled bear in the trade. Haven't seen many of those...

 

I've done a few trades and here's my experience as far as "who sends first ":

You send first if you're trading with a dealer or a guy with clearly more documented buying/ selling/ trading history than you. If your references are relatively equal, than the less expensive watch gets sent first.

 

I always assumed both people send at the same time...

 

Hmm.....just completed a trade with another forum member. Each of us I think had a value in mind and things worked pretty smoothly, lots of PMs back and forth to make sure all was okay, both watches were sent at roughly the same time, and I think both of us got what we wanted.

If I were doing something in the big wide world I would be more in line with Sergio's list, but maybe naively feel that this forum is more like a small town where everybody who sticks around is more on the reasonable side.

As to the insurance side of things.....my local enabler (former Omega AD) will appraise watches and jewelry for a fee, as they are licensed by whoever licenses things like this in Canada.

 

This forum is a smaller village. When dealing with members with a certain amount of postings or references.

 

Soon you will realize that catching my typos is a full time job...most here have given up