-advice- buying watches on ebay

Why wouldn't you use Chrono24 instead?  At least with Chrono24, if you buy from an actual dealer (as opposed to private seller), you have some extra protections:

https://www.chrono24.com/about-us.htm

• Money goes to an escrow account, so you have 2 weeks to make sure the watch is all good
• If it ain't all good, you contact Chrono24, and the money is frozen in the escrow account
• Then there's a global money back guarantee

I don't know about Ebay's policies, but Chrono24's done a good job of creating a system to try to ensure a safe buying environment.

My advice FWIW

DON'T.

I've bought 2 watches on eBay for over $1K, one was from a grey market dealer and went through eBay's authentication service. Both transactions went fine. Definitely look into the seller's feedback, and be sure of your protections before buying. If anything seems off, don't do it.

I've only purchased one watch on eBay many years ago (I still have it), and it turned out ok. With that being said, today I buy from one of three places....

• Chrono24
• Delray Watch Co. in Miami (YouTuber: Fed talks watches' business)
• My ADs
• People I know

I'm not saying buying from eBay is bad, but make sure you vet the heck out of the seller (i.e. power user with 99-100% rating)  and email them through ebay to document the paper trail. Additionally, I'm told eBay is great for buyers and bad for sellers. Their guarantee is heavily weighted towards buyers.

Hope this helps!

I bought my Aqua Terra on Ebay. Ebay holds the money in escrow just like Chrono24 does while the watch goes through the authentication process. I don't think Chrono24 authenticates. Ebay does.

For me, be careful what you are purchasing though. My AT had more wear than what was described. The seller's feedback was impeccable and because of that I didn't really check the watch condition as much as I could have. The price was so attractive, I bit. I have no regrets, it's a great watch and was easily worth the price I paid, but it did show more use than I expected.

That said, using Ebay as a platform for >$1K transactions is totally fine.

eBay, for me, has been a good place to buy. I haven't had a problem. Like @gbelleh said, look into the seller's feedback. I only purchase from buyers with a 99% or 100% rating. Also, eBay offers authentication services for watches above a specific value. It can be an excellent place to get a deal if you do your due diligence.

I have never spent this much on a watch from eBay, but I have purchased several watches, both vintage and more current, via eBay ad have not had any problems with the watches after I received them. I think other posters are correct that it is really about making sure you research the seller. As long as you are not purchasing a vintage 1970s Seiko 5 for $35 with $40 to cover shipping from India, you should be fine. 🤣

I've gotten a couple bad cheaper vintage watches on Ebay, but most of the time it has been really good.  Avoid india, and pakistan for sure.  For expensive watches make sure you have the authentic guarantee deal that they have.  I think the actually send it to someone to make sure it's authentic, and what the post says it is.  Then the authenticator sends it to you.

All the youtube guys say buy the seller not the watch.

Never had any issues buying from eBay in 15 years.

I’ve also been a seller on eBay for 15 years myself and have had no returns. You want good photographs, nothing blurry were you can’t see details or serial numbers. The description should be clear and state every detail, damage or accuracy, service history if there is any and copies of any receipts if they have them.

If their an honest seller they shouldn’t mind you asking for any additional information or photos of the watch.

Ask a lot and I mean a lot of questions first about the watch and it’s condition. Check the sellers feedback and previous sales and if their new to eBay I would probably avoid them. Buy the seller then buy the watch 👍

Since you are going GS, you should be covered by the authentication process as others stated. 

But the one thing I learned recently is make sure the seller has photos of the actual watch for sale.  I had problems buying some JDM models where sellers in Japan, Hong Kong and Indonesia were listing new watches for sale they didnt even have. 2 sellers cancelled my order a week later. I guess they couldn't source them.  2 other sellers came thru with the watches,but again it took like a week for them to send me tracking numbers and the watches shipped from different countries. Not good business practices IMO and I wont ever buy from them again.

Interesting 

Yea, I know.  It was really weird.  I've used eBay for 20+ years with vast majority great experiences.  But getting these JDM watches was such a hassle.  In the end, I did get the watches I was looking for and they were authentic.  But when you buy from a seller in Japan, and the watch ships a week later from an AD in the Philippines, it's just not something I would do again.