The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Upon returning back stateside I discovered some massive unexpected financial burdens which dictated the reduction of my collection. This has been a painful experience to say the least as each piece within my collection has meaning to me. At any rate having to sell a good number of my pieces to meet the financial burden these unexpected turn of events has brought about, I've had to switch roles from "Buyer" to "Seller". I must say that it really has opened my eyes to the caliber of "Buyers" out there and surprised me as well.

To that end I would like to extend Kudo's to our membership base here at BS. My experience with the BS consumer vs the other place where I've been advertising my pieces has been far more pleasant and the consumer seems to be much more polite and respectful.

Maybe I am expecting too much and the anonymity of the internet promotes people in general to forget proper etiquette and respect. While I do not begrudge anyone in attempting to get the best deal possible when negotiating a price, many of the offers I've received on various pieces I've advertised on the other site have been downright offensive. Not only that, but the lack of even responding to my reply makes me feel like I'm talking to myself. A simple thank you for responding to my question would be nice, or something along those lines, but to just simply not return a reply I take exception to. In my book this is improper behavior; I could get more response talking to the wall.

At any rate I really wanted to say that in dealing with our membership base here the overall experience has been much more pleasant and I wanted to say thank you....our membership base is the greatest.

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Good to hear

Glad to see you back around Richard!! Stinks that you had to sell off a bunch of those beauties but I hope the financial situation turns for the better soon.

I totally agree with you on the type of personalities on bsource compared to other boards. I've had more luck selling on other boards but the people here are much nicer and significantly more courteous than other boards. A certain board that rhymes with wristie has the worst community in terms of politeness, and I'm by far not the most polite board member....to put it nicely

Hope all is well!

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

Serge,

Dude don't be too hard on yourself...you ain't all "That" bad....LOL.

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Good to see you back Richard! Hope things turn out for the better sir.

I would've loved to give some of your pieces a good home here in California but I went a bit heavy this year.

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

Hey Jlee thank you sir and no worries, at this rate I'm sure to have a few of them left by next year...LOL.

Is it just me or is it the new way to open price negotiation dialogue by asking right off the bat.."How low will you go or What is the lowest price you'll take?"....I just once would like to reply....Well I put $8000 on it as my asking price, but hey ignore that because it really doesn't mean anything and I'll gladly take $100. I mean come on...really? If you can't even open price negotiation dialogue with something intelligent or even close to a seller's asking price why bother to insult them? Even more amazing, if you do give them a reply as to what the lowest you would settle on is...they have the audacity to offer even less than that....so why did they even bother to ask? Anyhow this whole thing has been a real learning experience and for those of you that flip watches...my hats off to you for biting your tongues as often as I'm sure you have to do.

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I've also had the "What's the lowest you'll take?" response, and don't get it. I surely won't reply with my bottom price, even if I know it, which I don't when I haven't had an item listed for more than a day or two. Often it takes a bit of time to feel out the current market value. When I name an asking price, I expect someone to pay it, or offer a lower price. I thought that was Negotiation 101.

Had to laugh at your comments about "what's your lowest price". I have experienced that same response on other forums while selling also. It must be some unique negotiating method . I also would get a two or three word response, usually a low ball offer. I'm sure everyone has had their own weird/puzzling experiences.

Anyway, glad to hear you had more polite, genuine responses on BS.

(looks like we're not alone, from wranglers response - a little slow typing tonight)

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Chrono Jetstream
Montbrilliant 1903
Aerospace E79362

Owning a couple watches where there are active ownership groups out there, I have stuck my toe into other forums. Some seem just fine, but I continue to unabashedly call this "home". The reasons for that reaffirm themselves all the time.
Hang in there--had a couple of bumps myself--the beauty of this hobby/obsession/compulsion is that if the watch budget can be set right again, so can most or all of your collection. Or it may take a different and wonderful turn you never expected.

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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

After selling one or two watches I can safely say that I can pick a 'time waster' from a serious buyer in the first few words of their PM. The people who just send a lowball number to me (and there have been hundreds) with no dialogue, get a simple response from me, No. Selling watches is no fun, Shark can attest to that I'm sure. Low ballers, time wasters, scammers, and whole sellers are all over the place; it's the price you pay for selling watches on these free boards. I don't sell to anyone, regardless of the price they're willing to pay unless I'm comfortable with the tone of the messages, promptness of their replies, and quality of their questions. This philosophy has worked well for me.

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

Well said serve, I take the same approach to buying, and have passed on good deals just because the seller has been less than stellar in their communication and tone.

Good advice here for potential buyers, if they're interested.

Glad to hear you are back home and out of harm's way. Sorry that you had to thin the herd, as I know what that is like.

As for the quality of the members here, I concur wholeheartedly. It is always a pleasure to deal with the members of the best watch forum out there and not necessarily so on some other fora. I don't understand folks who don't have the basic civility to respond and I have experienced it often. (Of course I have sales approaching most solid ADs ). Shoot, I still get emails or PMs for long sold watches and always send off a quick "sorry, but it is already sold. Thanks for inquiring." It takes 10 seconds! Or if something is OHPF and I get more inquiries I will tell them I will let them know if it falls through and, if it doesn't, I tell them it sold. Another thing that irks me is when I tell a wannabe buyer that I have already made an agreement and, for instance, the buyer has 48 hours to transfer funds, they start out bidding the person with whom I have made a deal. Sometimes it is relentless and I have to let them know in no uncertain terms that my word is worth a lot more to me than a few hundred more bucks.

Maybe this sounds preachy or like I'm patting myself on the back, but sticking to your word and taking time to reply ought not be viewed as somehow "special." For if it is, what does it say about the state of society?

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SHARKMAN

Ahmen Sharky!!

You said it buddy, replying to an email or phone message takes so little time. As for your word being your bond that is important and it's called integrity...too bad there just isn't enough of it in the world anymore IMO....guess we are a dying breed eh? Oh the guy that is trying to outbid the person you already have an agreement with; before that he was the same guy that was low-balling the hell outta ya....go figure. My Dad always said, "If a man doesn't have integrity then he doesn't have much"...I still agree with him.

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I agree. And, though folks may not realize it, in the legal profession we can get used to following through on agreements made orally, as routine, and it may affect our view of how to deal with others.