Do you prefer to buy online or in stores and why?

I am interested in more expensive brands (Tag Heuer, Tudor, GS,etc.), but am not comfortable buying brand new watches from AD since I can buy 2-5 year old certified pre-owned with steeply lower price at Watchfinder & Co for example. Unfortunately, certified pre-owned boutiques are present only in selected cities. So if they had physical locations close - I would go to store personally, but now currently I buy on-line.

I’ve had varied experiences either way. I think it’s important to look at and feel a watch before buying especially for sizing and fit. I think good deals can be had either way. There is something to be said about the hoity-toity vibes from boutique salespeople but that’s their problem. Ultimately, I prefer in-person by a hair.

i bought all of my watch online basically because im not comfortable with browsing the watch while the store clerk standing beside me 😂

I'm new to the watch hobby and I'm very much in the budget end of purchases. I prefer to buy online because I'm worried I'll go into a store and be pressured into buying something more than I can really afford and that I won't like as much as something I've had the freedom to shop around for

I've bought most of my watches online. Only a few from an AD. I feel somewhat uncomfortable standing in front of a store clerk when I try to decide, so it's definitely less stressful to buy online. My TAG I bought from an AD, and that was a good experience, because I had not decided which watch to buy. So it was good to have the ability to try on several models and decide after I saw how they looked and felt.

I ticked c because I tend to buy online for price - but will get in store when it’s the best way to get something (like a new release.)

The in store experience - especially at some good brands - can be phenomenal. (And indeed it can be awful - Watches of Switzerland I’m looking at you!)

I’m used to being treated like a peasant by snooty superficial types, and I don’t mind making them uncomfortable with my presence. But since there are no ADs within a few hours, I buy almost all my watches online, sight unseen.

Would love to do face to face, but 2 things stop me. One is the price, so much discount online, and two the availability of actual bricks n mortar establishments, living in a small town there's very little choice and a trip to a city is such a chore.

Always prefer to buy in store. That way I get to throughly check for any QC issues.

I'm a bit OCD so hour hand lining up on the hour, bezel alignment etc are things I look out for.

Spotting these things after purchase and trying to return is going to be a problem because as long as the watch is functioning and fit for purpose, the seller does not have to take it back

I agree with @Xanderz , early in my buying journey, I was 100% on line. Now that I’m mostly looking at higher priced choices, I prefer to ‘try before I buy’.

I am too shy to buy a watch face-to-face 😂

Vintage has to be online I am not bother about buying in a shop .iam the one spending my money so I decide what watch to buy and let's be honest most of the time as a watch collector I have more knowledge than the 20 something sales assistant no disrespect to them.went into the Tudor shop with my pal he was getting a BB 58 guy was asking what i liked to wear showed him my WW11 watch he just said looks old😂

I really rather buy in store. Saw some examples of bad customer surface, which sucks, I've been working customer facing jobs since I was 17 and I don't know if people know they can just fake it until they clock out. I bought my Pro Diver 75% because ooh shiny and 25% because the lady working the counter was really good. "That's a great price for a watch like that, it's a steel automatic etc." She knew her stuff is the point and didn't talk down to me or anything. Every once in a while I think of applying to work a watch counter at like Macy's or something as a part time job just to see how many watches I can sell. I used to sell a ton of grills when I was working at hardware stores. Customers can suck too, easy to forget the person on the other side of the counter is just trying to get through their day.

I would ideally love to try them on but some of them are so hard to find or are only sold in other countries so have to buy online.

I always buy face to face,I understand your reluctance to go to boutique's,some SA do think their superior but they are just like everyone else with mortgage's debt ,bad days .To me half the fun is trying different watches on just to make sure they fit properly and check the quality plus they will resize it