Keep or not?

Sell 'em!  

• If a seller and a buyer engage in a voluntary transaction, the overall happiness in the universe goes up
• Seller gets some cash, which he values more than the good he's selling, generating "producer surplus"
• Buyer gets the good, which he values more than the cash he's got in his pockets, generating "consumer surplus"
• "Surplus" is just another word for happiness

I always say, voluntary transactions are like cocaine or Gandalf - they magically create happiness out of thin air.

I agree, if you have a watch you no longer wear and don't have a particular connection with why not sell it and make someone happy with it?

That being said I'm guilty of this myself. I was gifted an Executive Nixon (Earnshaw rebrand) by a now former friend. I don't wear it and it's just laying in my closet until I decide what to do with it.

"Former friend"?  You gotta do this to the watch...

I have a few also.  It's quandary time!  This one could go with the fewest tears. The bracelet is splendid and the time keeping super.  But my ex bought it for me and it just sits there depleting the battery.  Alas.

Sell or gift.

"Ex"?  You gotta do this to the watch...

My children have been given some and one I traded in for a new watch. I have some that I really like but maybe doesn’t get much wristtime. That doesn’t bother me much. I can still play with them.

Generate some cash for other opportunities!

I have a few of those too, Just can't seem to get rid of um. Maybe do a giveaway with um if the $$ isnt a big deal, or offer them as a giveaway prize for 2nd 1WC or whatever crazy global musical chairs were about to get into. 

My collection theme is such that not everything is going to get wrist time (Ex: watch from an ex-wife, currently broken and will not be repaired in symbolism). 

The pieces I have purchased to date are also such that selling them would be more of a hassle than the value returned. 

I have gifted a couple of watches to family and would likely continue on this path if I choose to upgrade a wearable piece in the collection. 

I do a little of both. If I don’t really wear a watch much but still really like it as part of my collection, I keep it.

I cannot think of any other collecting hobby where there is so much discussion about getting rid of items that don’t get used often as intended. Books, sports cards, comics, guitars, coins, stamps…they rarely talk about use. My wife collects tea pots, and we use none of them. I have.a few rare 1st edition books. I don’t even touch them without gloves, let alone read them. Collection is about having, not using, and if you get great joy from having a piece then I don’t think it really matters how much you wear it. If you want to have a collection of only pieces you wear frequently that’s up to you. But it’s far from a requirement and is probably unusual in terms of the universe of collecting.

Understandable perspective.  

I’ve got two I’ve put up for sale but haven’t moved. Considering giving them to someone just starting out but not convinced that Reddit is a place to find that someone.  
 

Let’s create some of that happiness. 

If you’re reading this and you’re at the start of your journey or consider getting into the hobby, drop me a line. 

Pick one, pay for shipping and it’s yours.

seiko SNZG11

citizen AW1430-86A

Collection is about having, not using, and if you get great joy from having a piece then I don’t think it really matters how much you wear it.

This. Wear frequency seems to be a gatekeeping mechanism. 

I found a blue rubber banded Swatch Gent the other day that ticked too loud for my taste. I stewed about the unused watch's perceived failings and then about the regret it isn't worth more than it is now. I would totally give it (or another disused watch) away to a friend in need, maybe even use my handiman skills and swap a bracelet or a battery. Sadly, with low resale value, my unique "taste," and the ubiquity of alternatives, there is little demand for inexpensive watch gifting in my social circles. A cheap watch is great if you'll use it forever, but a crap watch is best returned quickly for full value.

I wish I could give them away. Nobody else wants them either.

I have a box full of "affordable" watches I bought early on. Then I moved up the price tiers now have a few "luxury" pieces. The affordable ones don't get much attention anymore, but I haven't sold any of them. I don't sell much of anything, even aside from watches, and I like having them around. They're still interesting, and I look in on them from time to time, and wind them up once in a while. I have to be much more considered about the expensive pieces, which I buy in the first place, and what I do with them. If I ever get to the point where one of them just languishes in the watch box, I'll have to think seriously about what I do with it.

There are lots of collectibles you don't do anything with, stamps, coins, your grandparents' Hummel figurines. To an extent, watches are just baubles you put to your wrist rather a china cabinet. So I'm okay with having some china cabinet watches that are just there cause they're fun to have around.

Until very recently (today), I was happy with all of my watches, then I thought "hey I'm not so sure about this one, and I like this one but I don't wear it, and this one is too big" So now I have to put up for sale at least 2 watches, and maybe give away the 3rd one if someone is interested, they're not worth much (if you know me that much is obvious) but it'll clear up a couple spots for other watches 😄

When I purchased a watch and stop wearing it, I give it away to someone who wants/needs it. If it was a gift and I don't wear it, I keep it for sentimental reasons. I have 2 watches that fit that bill...

My watches take up little space. I keep them. I have other collections that take a lot more space that I try to get rid of — like broken dreams. 

I kinda wanna get a mudmaster , just to have one. 

I admit I’m not only a collector but also a hoarder. I have only completely removed one watch from my collection and I gave it away, a orient Kamasu and I gave it to my brother. Reason being no one around me are really into watches and I’m not doing the whole internet selling thing… but I have found storing the watches I’ve grown tired of away for a few months and then put them back in rotation is like falling in love with them all over again.

Depends on your economic situation. If you need the disposable cash to continue funding your hobby, then sell the watches you no longer want/use.

If you are fortunate enough that the above is not an issue, then by all means find someone worthy or interested in the hobby and gift them a watch. Or offer them up on this list to raise money for charity like a number of members do - that way you will make a watch collector happy and the recipients of the charity will bless you.

Personally I really don't like to handle retail transactions. I've had my experiences with other items on eBay and other platforms (Hey Amazon - why can't you stop your warehouse employees from stealing merchandise from your marketplace sellers). I prefer to avoid the hassle of selling something - even if it's for charity - you never know when you are going to get a disgruntled customer - not worth the hassle to me.

I just gift the watches I no longer want in the collection or I gift ones that a friend really admires (providing it's a reasonably priced one and not a sentimental piece). It makes them very happy which makes me very happy - that is something money cannot buy.

I gave away a watch once, but regretted it because it didn't get used. I sell the ones that are heading out.

Sell because you and the buyer are happy. I only gift a watch if I'm 99% sure it's a hit. 

Man all these talk about watch sentiments has got me thinking im the crazy one for selling my first watch, my first Rolex and the watch that witness the birth of my first born. Am i A robot?

i have a tight rotation.  if a watch falls out of rotation, it's gone.  the problem is, sometimes it finds its way back.

To be honest... if the price is right I would sell my watches. I however do not go out looking for a buyer for the watches i do not wear. what i do is keep them just to look at them later.