If you are looking to sell your luxury watch then you are going to want to make sure that you get the best possible deal, and you may be wondering whether it is best to sell privately, sell to a trader, or to allow a trader to sell your watch for you on consignment. We discuss below the benefits and pitfalls of each approach, and provide details of BQ Watches terms for a Consignment Sale.
A consignment sale is where you hand your watch over to a professional luxury watch trader and they will attempt to sell it on your behalf. If the trader manages to set up a satisfactory sale, they’ll charge you a percentage fee as a commission and deduct this from the sale proceeds.
The terms of the agreement will be set out in a contract which will be for a set period of time and will confirm the commission rate. It will also mention any additional fees that may be incurred, and detail the timings of any pay-out.
There may be an early termination fee, if you wish to take back possession of your watch before the expiry of the contract.
There are benefits and drawbacks to each of these approaches. With an outright sale you will get your money immediately, whereas with a consignment sale you will need to wait until the watch sells before you receive your funds.
However, as the risk and responsibility in the watch passes to the trader on an outright sale, they will usually offer you less for this than you’ll probably earn on an eventual consignment sale.
An outright purchase takes away any uncertainty, as there is no way to know when your watch will eventually be sold on a consignment sale.
The benefits of a consignment sale over selling privately are manifold. With marketplaces such as Chrono24, it may look easy to list your watch and sell it for a higher return. The reality, however, is somewhat different.
The first thing to consider is the hassle. You will need to do all the work yourself to get the product listed – writing the description, taking the photos, fielding enquiries, etc. And then, even though you did all the hard work, you will still need to pay around 6.5% commission for using their platform! Not to mention any optional fees you may choose to pay to boost or promote your listing.
Next is the quality of your listing. Professional dealers have the resources to refurbish the watch to a high standard, polishing out light scratches, etc. making a watch that much more desirable. Additionally, they will take professional photos of the watch to show it in its best light. This may mean that your listing does not look up to standard in comparison, resulting in a disproportionately long time to find a sale, or people making low-ball offers because of the condition of the watch.
In addition, listings on online marketplaces are generally overstated by around 5% above market value, so you can expect to be knocked down on price, even if you make the watch look perfect.
Lastly, by listing the watch yourself you are limiting your exposure to just the one channel. A dealer is likely to advertise your watch in multiple places, including online marketplaces as well as their own website and within their network of contacts.
BQ Watches are professional watch dealers with years of experience selling high-end, luxury timepieces. If you contract us to sell your watch on consignment then you will benefit not only from this experience, and our excellent reputation, but we will also:
Repair, refurbish or service the watch, as required, to increase its saleability.
Provide a 24 Month Warranty to any purchaser, at our expense, which reinforces trust in our brand and makes a sale more likely.
Professionally photograph your watch for our product listing.
List the watch on our website, on online marketplaces (including Chrono24 and ebay), and across our network of resellers; and
Cover all costs for insuring and dispatching your watch to the purchaser.
In addition to this, we can guarantee great exposure of your watch, with well over 1,000 unique visits to our website every day, an online advertising spend of £1,000 per day, and an active presence on multiple social media platforms, ensuring your watch is placed in front of potential buyers. We can also offer additional payment options that a private individual could not, allowing customers to purchase on credit card, and on 0% finance with Deko.
BQ Watches offer very favourable terms on consignment watches. Our commission rate is 15%, with competitors charging 20% or more, and our contract term is for 6 months, whereas competitors can lock you in for up to a year. We do charge an early termination fee, but it is a flat fee of £250 + vat, whereas competitors will insist on receiving the full commission that they are missing out on.
If your watch requires any repair, refurbishment, servicing or polish then a price will be agreed with you for this before we enter into contract, but you will not be required to pay for these upfront. We will deduct the cost of any repairs from the sale proceeds, after the deduction of our commission, or it will become payable by you upon the return of your watch.
When we sell your watch, for face-to-face sales your pay-out will be immediate, and for distance sales we will transfer your funds after the expiry of the statutory cooling-off period, which is 14 days from the date of receipt by the customer (assuming the customer does not cancel the sale).
If you have a watch that you would like BQ Watches to sell on consignment, then please complete the form below to send us details, and an experienced advisor will contact you shortly.
