Is a gray market reseller worth considering?

Well, if the Seller is a professional one with reputation, 'trusted shop' stars for excample, why not?! As i ve burnt myself in the past i d never ever buy from a private person.

Depends on how much I am spending

I have dealt with Chronext, Jomashop. They are trustworthy.

I have dealt with some dealers on Chrono24, not all of the sellers are trustworthy. Gotta check if they have an actual physical store or not.

Watch out for people who wants you to wire money to them directly. (Without Chrono24’s Escrow system). Those are red flags for me

A reputable one is definitely worth it when it comes to getting certain watches. The Rolex that you have been on the list forever for. The Rolex or any other watch that you have always wanted but isn't made anymore. You can get really nice examples of used one to save money.

I bought two watches grey market early in collecting. There were issues with both purchasing experiences. I’ll never buy grey market again. It’s just not worth the problems.

Never buy new..

There's some excellent prices on the grey and secondary markets at the moment.

If I'm not buying from a boutique I prefer to buy a lightly worn example on the secondary market. Obviously buy the seller - always, but getting the balance of that OEM warranty can be worth it.

I've bought from C24, Joma, eBay, Reddit etc., etc. and never had an issue - and that's shipping from the US or EU to Australia in a lot of instances.

Don't really care where I buy it from those listed. If it's actually luxury, as long as it's verified I'm good.

Saving money and a good deal is always nice.

Plus, at this point, due to my less than stellar experiences at AD's, not gracing their doors anytime soon.

I am thinkingto purchase from a japanese dealer on chrono24. Apparently over 1K good reviews what do you think ? Or what experience did you have?

From my experience, japanese professional dealers are top notch. I trust them

In my experience, Japanese dealers in general are reliable and transparent.

I bought from Sakura Watches and was pleased.

Be mindful, though, that returns are a bit of a procedure with 🇯🇵 dealers - so much so that commitment to the purchase needs to be a priority.

I have not bought as many ⌚ as 🖋️ from 🇯🇵 dealers on Amazon and eBay and have been very satisfied.

Rakuten is also another place to look.

In my very limited experience on Chrono24, many 🇯🇵 dealers seem to be very diligent about box and paperwork and earned good reviews.

I am thinking seriously about purchasing a SBGM221 on Chrono24 at a later date because the prices are good with box and paperwork from seasoned 🇯🇵 dealers with a good review.

What I can and will say is that 🇯🇵 dealers are not open to aggressive negotiation.

They may offer an unappealing counteroffer that is a one time deal and revokable with additional negotiation or postponement.

So. . .I say to give them a try.

Hopefully, it works because I hear that Chrono24 does not always honor its guarantee policy, but I say to give it a go if you are committed to a particular ⌚ and have the finances in place.

Remember to prioritize a DEALER and NOT a private seller.

Private sellers are not innately insidious, and dealers are not exemplars of bona fid altruistim.

It is just that a private seller will entail higher risk.

There are also other 🇯🇵 resellers apart from Sakura Watches, such as J-S Online, which is more expensive 🫰🏻🫰🏻🫰🏻.

Fair point.

It does entail a non-zero probability of experiencing trouble with ⌚ facing technical or other logistical problems.

I will need to pursue this route for the Jaeger-LeCoultre Polaris World Time Chronograph when I am in a position to get it because it is discontinued unfortunately.

I think that’s the strangest phrasing I’ve read in a long time.

To say that there is always a ‘non-zero probability’ of issues buying a watch is, frankly, a bizarre way to express the chances of issues buying a watch.

I was trying to avoid wasting time getting into the details of the situations. It seems to me that you needor want them in order for my position to be ‘justified’.

Okay.

FIRST, I bought one watch from a grey market seller that was lost in shipping. When I contacted them, their attitude was that it wasn’t their problem. I immediately said fine, I’ll call my credit card company and see what they say. Instantly their tune changed, and it was give me a few minutes to track the shipment. Sure enough he got to the bottom of the problem and it was resolved. But the fact that I had to threaten them with my credit card company tells me everything I need to know about dealing with them ever again.

SECOND, I bought a watch from a different grey market seller. It was advertised as new and unworn. It was my Ball Trainmaster, which was also advertised as having a Fahrenheit thermometer. When it arrived, the watch had clearly been worn before, with obvious buckle mark from wear. Additionally, the watch has a Celsius thermometer. I called their 800 number, was on hold until they closed for the day. I emailed them and was ignored. After a week I decided to just accept the watch as was, figuring that it was not worth my efforts to get treated fairly. THEN, I was sent a link to post a review on a third party site. HAPPY F’IN DAY! So I wrote it all out as it happened, including naming the vendor, and gave them the appropriate rating. SUDDENLY, they found the time to write me back. We went back and forth and I decided to accept a price consideration for the situation. But again, it took going to extreme situations to get fair resolution.

Now, I refuse to name the grey market sellers because I feel that it’s done. But my experience is that grey market sellers aren’t ADs because they suck at customer service, and no reputable brand wants to be represented by them.

YMMV, but grey market sellers are not dependable in my experience, and the savings aren’t worth risking dealing with them again as far as I’m concerned. By contrast, I’ve bought six watches over the internet from my favorite AD, and two from a reseller that is not a grey market dealer. ZERO issues with AD or non-grey market seller. Trust who you choose, and so will I.

Where does sakura watches sell their watches ?Thank you for the awesome insights! I have my eye on a TH carrera and its cheaper from som JP sellers on chrono