Do you like the idea of purchasing and reselling antique collectables?
Do you already enjoy surfing specialist forums and searching eBay for second-hand goods?
Buying and selling used timepieces may be a perfect fit for you.
With assistance from The Watch Exchange London, we’ll give you a shortlist of the most essential things to know about buying and selling second-hand watches.
We want to educate you about the second-hand watch market so you can get a good deal if one comes your way.
Article Chapters
What You Should Know About Watches
Wristwatches walk the fine line between fashionable and functional.
Those produced in previous decades are highly desirable and are frequently released in limited or small batches.
Wristwatches are an extremely important piece of equipment that has evolved over time to become a fashion statement.
They are emblems of wealth and might.
Complications & Movements Inside the Watch
Simply put, a ‘complication’ is any additional function on a watch other than telling the time.
These can range from as basic as an AM/PM indicator to as complicated as a helium escape valve for deep diving.
Knowing that a chronograph is simply a timepiece with a stopwatch is an excellent way to add pizazz to your lingo.
A watch’s worth rises with its number of features, but the more complex they are to repair and the more likely they are to malfunction, the more valuable they become.
What You Should Know About the Watch Market
Like a collectable market, the second-hand watch market is governed and legitimized by the prospect of investment.
Watches are classed as “wasting assets” in the UK, and their appreciation is not taxed under capital gains tax for non-traders.
This should be kept in mind since it has encouraged and justified large investments in timepieces.
Because these items are considered investments, they’ll always retain a baseline worth.
Investment goods create an economic climate in which commodities are purchased up, become rare, and sellers can raise prices when selling watches.
Secondhand Patek Philippe and Rolex timepieces have appreciated in value over the last two decades, surpassing a number of other investment categories.
There has been an increase in the number of new investors lately.
As a result of this, the market does not appear to be currently overbought, which is encouraging for our buying and selling.
The watch business is experiencing a resurgence in how it does business, with a shift away from physical stores to the internet.
People buying and selling online or people buying and selling in person are the main market players today.
It’s unusual to come across someone who purchases on the internet and then offers in person.
Traders used to conduct a significant amount of business by trading with one another or in physical shops until around ten years ago.
Finally, with the advent of internet selling, it became simpler for individuals to sell.
The market is available to all economic agents as long as they have enough cash to invest.