The Breitling Watch Source Forums

I'll be honest... I'm not big on making descent size purchases on forums unless I know someone personally. What precautions should be taken with this if you are not familiar with them?

I know to ask for references, have them set the watch to a particular time and put a specific note next to it (or whatever), but what else?

Is there any security at all and does anyone else feel the same? Or is this one of those things, if someone really wanted to f*** you they could? I've been keeping an eye out on some rolex's and I almost pulled the trigger last week but pussied out. Just had a weird feeling about it.

Please let me know your opinions and precautions you take.

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Past: BlackBird, Navi World, SA, Rolex DJII, IWC Yacht Club
Present: CE, DSSD
Future: Changes daily

If you ever have a weird feeling about it, dont go through with it. Thats rule #1 for me. I generally will avoid buying from anybody unless they have a well established presence on the forum, are well known, and are regularly active. These people are generally safe, with the exception of hijacked accounts. You need to verify that somebody is who they actually say they are, so specific pics of a watch that you want can make sure that the person does actually have the watch and isnt just some hacker who got a hold of a legit person's account. References are good, and ill usually ask them to send me a message from their ebay account. That way I can confirm its their account and ill also get to check out their feedback. You can always talk to someone over the phone, but in my experience this has been the worst way to stay safe. Some of these thieves are sophisticated these days, and can BS you with the rest of them. I prefer objective info to make my decisions.

Just remember that there is no shortage of good sellers out there, so dont waste your time with somebody that youre not sure about. Always trust your gut.

Paypal with your credit card is the best way to pay, since at least youll have *some* recourse should anything go wrong. Its no guarantee, but its better than nothing. Only go with bank wire if you are absolutely sure that youre dealing with somebody on the up and up.

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-RJ

I have purchsed 3 watches from Forums. It is definately a bit nerve racking to wire a complete stanger thousand of dollars and trust them to send the watch. On my first wire transaction, I expressed my concern with the seller and he said that a wire is safer since it is a felony to commit wire fraud. He was willing to except paypal plus fees, but in the end a wire transfer was the best/safest play IMO.

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Jibba
Rolex DeepSea | Rolex Sub C-LV | Panerai PAM 111

definitely w/ RJ here; while it is true that the seller would commit wire fraud - I´d rather have paypal or my CC company do a chargeback and have the money back in days, than hoping the seller would be afraid of the law - or hoping he would be able to repay me while sitting in jail.

You should just buy from your boy, why screw around with a forum purchase when you can buy new?? Rolex is the only brand that I refuse to buy preowned.

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"I don't own any watches, I just lease them"

I have bought and sold some on forums. Perhaps dumb luck, but the people who I have dealt with have been either guys with references, a history in forums, and who you could talk to on the phone, or people who hadn't done a forum deal before (like me a little over a year ago) who needed to baby-step it along. Those all worked out; there was even a return in there but there was communication all the way through and we both walked away without any problems. Communication makes all the difference.

However, I was a bit distracted while some of those transactions were pending. Until it's done, the transaction frankly occupies a little too much of my mind. I've done a few deals on forums but I'm not well suited for many and it sounds like you may not be, either. So, I'd take a close look at the seller before you bought. There are some great sellers out there and some bad ones, but I think they can be vetted.

Also, buying a Rolex is, to me, anyway, a unique situation. There are so many and they hold value so well that it's easy to see how dishonest people want to get in on the market. Still, its such a robust piece that a good one is probably one of the safer pre-owned buys. As others have said, if you research and buy the seller as well as his watch, no reason you can't buy from the forums. Another option is to seek out a reputable local dealer who works with used. I've had a relationship with mine for ten years now, most of what he does is Rolex, he trained in Switzerland and I go to him first for a Rolex, or any other, purchase. Guys like that are out there, but you may have to wait until he gets in what you want. A.D.s are of course the safest, there's a Rolex dealer in town I'd love to give some business , but for me it makes no fiscal sense.

End of the day, with a little care and research I think you can do just fine buying from a forum member. Just do your due dilgence. Still, if the idea makes you very uncomfortable, don't put yourself through it.

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Scott

AP Royal Oak 15400, silver
Zenith Chronomaster El Primero Classic Cars
Vintage gold Corum
Rolex DJ 36 TT, oyster dial, oyster/smooth
Baume & Mercier Riviera 200m, silver dial/aquamarine bezel
Breitling Superocean 57, rose/stainless

I agree with Scott and RJ. And usually with the typical big forums, it's easy to do reference checks and any of the guys that deal often on the net take their reputation seriously, as word spreads rapidly on even one bad transaction. Post count, date registered, googling user IDs and names, etcs... I take all of that into consideration of course assuming someone hasn't hacked into the account.

It's a big leap of faith to blindly hand over someone money and expect something in return. Even my friends that are non-WIS don't believe that I do it, but with due diligence and careful thought, a lot of nice stuff is out there and can save some money as well.

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"I don't got the bright watch I got the right watch" -Jay Z

When I bought my Navitimer World, I purchased it on Craigslist. The guy only wanted to sell face to face, but he was in a different state. He returned an e-mail and said he really didn't feel comfortable unless it was face to face.

I gave him my home number and my work number, the signature in the e-mail he sent had a URL to his website. The site had a pic of him, I googled him and he was a pretty accomplished guy. The e-mail he sent was from a work e-mail address not yahoo or hotmail.

Finally after speaking on the phone multiple times did he finally trust me to sell to. Pretty ironic, usually it's the other way around. In the end, worked out very well.

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End of Discussion.

I may end up doing that like I usually do

But this was ome hell of a deal I actually thought about it

I'll be playing golf with George on Friday so I play him for 1% off per hole

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Past: BlackBird, Navi World, SA, Rolex DJII, IWC Yacht Club
Present: CE, DSSD
Future: Changes daily