Selling your watch online has the air of the unknown about it. Most digital auction sites feel like minefields waiting to go off in your face and, if you’ve never sold a watch before, it’s hard to know where to even start. You might have an inkling of what a watch is worth; you might not. Either way, you need an expert like Watch Collecting to help you sell.
The most obvious route would be traditional auction houses, who have self-evident expertise. But you could be waiting months to go to sale, and there’s no guarantee that the right buyer will be in the room on the day. It could end up being a long wait for little reward. You need the accessibility and flexibility of an online auction, but with the expertise of an established seller. That means Watch Collecting.
Patek Philippe Nautilus 5711 Double Sealed, sold for £82,500
Despite being a relative newcomer to the world of fine watches, Watch Collecting hit the scene hard when it launched in 2021. In its first day, it sold £150,000 of watches and later that same month set a world record for a Double Sealed Patek Philippe 5711. And then the records just kept coming: £28,000 for a Snoopy Speedmaster, £64,200 for a lapis-dialled Rolex Submariner 16613 and £205,000 for a 6200 Submariner. Evidently, something struck a chord. The question is, what?
First is something formative to how Watch Collecting has approached the space – its experience in the field of online auctions. The company is actually the horological take on Collecting Cars, one of the most vibrant online automotive auctions in the world. Needless to say, it knows how to sell luxury and sell it well.
Rolex Submariner 6200, sold for £205,500
Apparently, the one thing it has learned more than anything else is that the whole process should be quick and easy, from start to finish. That’s why, shortly after contacting the brand to say that you have something to sell, it’ll reach out to discuss the kind of reserve you want to put on it. It’ll be a reserve that’s not based on anything as nebulous as prestige or what it could achieve, but reflective of actual market value.
This means importantly that its valuations are realistic. It’s all too easy to convince yourself that your precious watch, a timepiece that’s been with you for years if not decades, isn’t just valuable for its emotional attachments, but was a great, savvy investment too. That way lies not meeting your reserve and, in the end, not selling. Assuming there’s a reason behind selling your watch, that’s not ideal.
Omega Snoopy Speedmaster, sold for £28,000
Once you’ve agreed a reserve, the next step is to show the watch off at its best. No out-of-focus, poorly lit phone shots here. In fact, you don’t need to do anything. Watch Collecting works with a cohort of excellent freelance photographers who are well-versed in the delicate minutiae of shooting a watch. Trust us, it’s a hard skill to master.
Of course, a watch needs a description on top of some good images. All you need to do there is provide Watch Collecting’s team with as much information as you have. The more, the better, but even if you don’t have much, they can work on putting something together from the model reference. Either way, you get final approval so you can rest assured that your watch is being represented correctly and fairly.
Rolex Daytona 116506, sold for £68,900
Finally, it’s posted for sale. There are actually two different ways of going about it though, with different benefits. You can list it as Buy Now or Best Offer, which gives interested parties 14 days to either pay the full amount or make an offer. This gives you time to wait for offers to come in and counter-offer with potential buyers across the two weeks. If you have a specific figure in mind you want to get for your watch, this is a good way to go about it.
The other way is the auction route, with a twist: Watch Collecting does daily auctions. This short timeframe means that there’s a sense of urgency to the auction, that interested parties can’t um and ah over whether it’s the right watch for them. It encourages action and reaction, aiming to get the best possible price for your watch.
Patek Philippe Nautilus 5811, sold for £105,000
From start to finish, Watch Collecting offers a seamless approach to selling your watch, one that emphasises speed and ease. But if all those steps sound just a bit too much effort, it also offers a way of streamlining it further. Its Managed Service has two steps: send in your watch, wait for the money to roll in. That’s it. The watch is fully insured, and Watch Collecting will liaise with the buyer so you don’t have to, taking even the minute amount of worry that remains in the standard experience out.
So, next time you’re thinking about selling your watch but dreading the idea of researching it, shooting it, writing about it and all the other necessities that selling online involves, don’t worry about it. Just go to Watch Collecting and find out just how easy it can be.
More details at Watch Collecting.
