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Making this guide because I haven't seen one before and I've been in the business for many years now. Starting your own watch business is in my opinion one of the easiest ways to reach financial freedom in the modern day. Not only is it fully legal but it also takes relatively little work compared to other businesses. And it might surprise you but you don't need much capital to start your business.
1. Learning the brands
Most watch dealers have a passion for the trade, we love watches and everything about them. If you have an interest in watches it's gonna be very helpful but not necessary. First, you're gonna have to learn about the brands. You probably already know the main watch brands out there but in case you don't I'll list some brands here.
Rolex. Their watches are some of the most well-known watches in the world and that's for a reason. They have the biggest demand in the trade with waiting lists of nearly 15 years for some models. Will never sell under retail.
Patek Philippe. Known for high-end complications and very complex machinery, they're very sought after by high-end collectors. Holds value good. Models only increase in price and rarely sell at retail.
Audemars Piguet. Known for high-end complications and innovative designs. Very popular among collectors. Holds value good. Models only increase in price, and rarely sell at retail.
Jaeger-LeCoultre. Known for its unique designs and decorations, very well respected among collectors. Professional tip, learn how to pronounce the name before ever trying to sell one. Some models hold value others don't.
Omega. Very good entry-level watches, easy to sell. Low demand. You can find most models under retail.
Breitling. Another good entry-level watch brand. Popular among Aviators. Low demand. You can find most models under retail.
Panerai. Good mid-level watch brand. Fairly easy to sell. Medium demand. You can find most models under retail.
IWC. Another mid-level watch brand. Pretty hard to sell. Popular among Aviators. Low demand. You can find most models under retail.
Cartier. Low-tier watches. Doesn't hold the price at all. You can find watches selling at 5% of the retail price.
Gucci. Low-tier watches. Doesn't hold the price at all. I would stay away unless you know what you're doing and you're getting a good price. Easy to sell to non-watch people.
Hublot. Known for ridiculous designs and worst prices. Some watches will retail at $100.000 but sell for $5.000 second-hand. They have good models that go up in value also. Stay away unless you know what you're doing.
Tissot. Very good watches, probably the best cheap watches there are. Easy to sell. Very cheap prices. Low demand.
Vacheron Constantin. One of my personal favorites. Popular among collectors but pretty hard to sell.
2. The Fundamentals of the Watch Trade
Selling and trading watches is really simple at the end of the day. You follow trends, there's no rulebook for this stuff. You will have to be constantly up to date on what's happening. You will need to know when to sell a specific piece and when not to sell it. The watch market is always going up and down similarly to a stock market. Some watches will double in value in a month and others will go down the same. Good thing is that you can see these trends coming if you're active in the business. Always make sure you're getting a good deal for a watch. You need to buy low and sell high, just like the stock market. In the second-hand market, there's no universal price on watches which means every dealer has their own price. AP Royal Oak might be selling at $56.000 at your local dealer but another dealer next state will sell at $51.000 dollars. Make sure you don't buy it unless you know you can flip it for higher.
3. Buying from Authorized Dealers (AD)
ADs will almost always have a fixed price. Building good relations with an AD is one of the most important things in the trade. To buy from ADs you will need a good portfolio and buying history. You can't just waltz off to one and buy a watch. To them selling a watch is like giving a gift. Having good relations with one will help you get watches at MSRP which means huge profits in some cases. The now important thing to know is that ADs will keep track of what watches they sold you and if they find out you're selling them they might stop selling to you. They don't like selling to resellers. To build good relations with them I would recommend regularly buying cheap models and flipping them off for no profit or even net loss. Also make sure you don't just limit to one dealer, build a relationship with multiple so you can maximize your profits.
4. How does the market work
Jewelers control the market, they buy all the hot watches at retail from ADs and pump the prices, and sell for huge profits. They also limit margins by price fixing. Most of the business you will do is with Jewelers. If you can build a good relationship with them you can buy the stock at really cheap sometimes. Jewelers stick together and deal with each other, they're very organized. You might've heard of Diamond District (47th Street) before, it's where the biggest jewelers are all located at. If you live in New York you will have access to the biggest market in the trade. There are other hot spots too but Diamond District is easily the biggest one.
5. Where to buy and Where to sell
The biggest and best market is of course online. There's no single market that you will use. You will have to use all of them to maximize profit margins always looking for good deals everywhere. You can limit to only online but you will miss out on some good deals. Depending on where you live of course. It's a fact that dealers will sell to other dealers at a trade price. Also while you sell and buy you build relationships with private buyers and that's more valuable than money sometimes because those are your loyal customers and keeping them happy will pay you back. But because of the person or business not because of the price. You need contacts because those are potential buyers in the future. It's also very advised that you buy from ADs to build good relations with them and you also minimize the risk of being scammed. You will always get lowballed so try to sell in as many places as possible. I will list some of the best places to buy online.
Chrono24. Undoubtedly the biggest site there is. Usually, the best place to buy and sell your watches. You will spend most of your time here. They use a third party to authenticate the watch in transit to protect both buyer and seller.
r/watchtrade. You will need to be careful and make sure you're dealing with real people but you can find some really good prices there. Remember to bargain the price down as best as you can.
watchuseek. You will also spend a lot of time here observing the market. A really good place to sell and buy. Try to build a reputation there.
Crown & Caliber. Another good reputable site.
the watch box. Here you can also trade on top of buying and selling.
Ebay. Yes, you read that correctly. Despite the huge hate against eBay, it's still a good marketplace for finding really good deals. They have a lot of problems but you can get really lucky sometimes.
Facebook. You can find insane deals sometimes. Very highly recommend looking through there every once in a while. Wouldn't try selling there.
Rolexforums for Rolex watches specifically.
Timezone is Not the best marketplace in the modern day but it's worth it to look in there sometimes.
6. How to make money
Now contrary to popular belief, it's actually easier to sell a watch than it is to buy a watch at the right price. Selling the watch is the easiest part of the process. That's because the watch will sell itself at market price. So the way to make money is determined by how cheap you can buy the watch. You can't really control the market sell price but you can control the buy price. You have 2 options here. You can sell it back to the trader or you can sell it to the end customer. Selling into the trade is less profitable but it's a lot easier. I would recommend doing a mix of both just to keep the business going. You need to have consistent turnover. So instead of waiting 2 weeks to make an extra $500, it's worth it to sell it a little cheaper, get the money back and reinvest it into another watch, and so on.
7. Consignment
Consignment deals are a way to sell watches without having to invest your own money into the trade. You're basically selling someone else's watch for a piece of the profits. This is good if you don't have funds to start buying your own watches and there's potentially no cash risk. Now finding consignment deals is another story. You will need connections and you will need to approach people about it.
8. Setting up and registering your business
Registering a business is not necessary, you can independently sell and trade before doing it but once your business starts blowing up you have to do it. I also would hire an accountant to keep track of your taxes and books. You don't need a storefront or office to start your business. You just need a place to safely store your watches. Depending on where you live registering a business is actually not that hard. You might think it sounds like too much work but it's really not hard. Just read about how to register a business in your country and you will find out its pretty easy stuff at the end of the day. Make sure you differentiate yourself from other businesses and use social media to market your business. Make youtube videos make TikTok videos make Facebook posts. Just market yourself and your business to stand out. You can also choose a niche category, you could focus on vintage watches or tourbillons, or grand complications. Whatever will make you stand out from all the other watch businesses. If you don't do something different you will have to do better to reach that competitive advantage.
9. Pawnshops and Auctions
Yes, pawnshops and auctions will sell watches at good prices but they almost never have paperwork for them. Selling watches without paperwork is hard and not good for your business. If you sell a watch to a private buyer without paperwork, you might be happy at first since you made a really good profit but that private buyer will never buy from you again once they find out that their watch is worth jackshit without paperwork. Unless you're buying for personal use or personal collection stay away from pawnshops. Reputable auctions are good to buy watches but make sure they have paperwork for their watches.
10. Fakes and Scammers
Yes, this is the part where you will need to learn the most. Fakes are everywhere and modern replicas are almost indistinguishable from genuine watches. You will need to learn a lot about watches before you can tell them apart. That's why dealing with reputable vendors is very important if you're just starting. The biggest tell is always the movement. Buy a jeweler's loupe and study the movements of watches to learn how they work. For most fakes, you can tell right away with a loupe. But the best replicas will fool most beginners, it's very very important that you study watches for this reason. Now if the movement looks genuine and the build quality is proper and you still think it's a replica you can send it to a watchmaker to have them open and check the movement out to see if it is built by the proper factory. You can also do that yourself if you learn how to do it, it's not too hard but will require a lot of practice. Now the easy way to not get scammed is to deal with reputable vendors and always make sure the paperwork checks out. Don't buy watches without paperwork unless you are 100% sure it's genuine, and even then you will likely have a hard time selling them.
11. Last notes
This is the end of my guide, there's a lot that I didn't put here that you will have to learn on your own. Things that you need to know like how Muslims don't wear Gold watches or how to deal with aftermarket modified watches. I can't fit all of this thing into this guide so if you got inspired to start your own watch business make sure you take your time to study.
Thank you for reading this far I hope you learned something new here today. You can message me about watches if you have questions, I'm happy to help.
1. Learning the brands
Most watch dealers have a passion for the trade, we love watches and everything about them. If you have an interest in watches it's gonna be very helpful but not necessary. First, you're gonna have to learn about the brands. You probably already know the main watch brands out there but in case you don't I'll list some brands here.
Rolex. Their watches are some of the most well-known watches in the world and that's for a reason. They have the biggest demand in the trade with waiting lists of nearly 15 years for some models. Will never sell under retail.
Patek Philippe. Known for high-end complications and very complex machinery, they're very sought after by high-end collectors. Holds value good. Models only increase in price and rarely sell at retail.
Audemars Piguet. Known for high-end complications and innovative designs. Very popular among collectors. Holds value good. Models only increase in price, and rarely sell at retail.
Jaeger-LeCoultre. Known for its unique designs and decorations, very well respected among collectors. Professional tip, learn how to pronounce the name before ever trying to sell one. Some models hold value others don't.
Omega. Very good entry-level watches, easy to sell. Low demand. You can find most models under retail.
Breitling. Another good entry-level watch brand. Popular among Aviators. Low demand. You can find most models under retail.
Panerai. Good mid-level watch brand. Fairly easy to sell. Medium demand. You can find most models under retail.
IWC. Another mid-level watch brand. Pretty hard to sell. Popular among Aviators. Low demand. You can find most models under retail.
Cartier. Low-tier watches. Doesn't hold the price at all. You can find watches selling at 5% of the retail price.
Gucci. Low-tier watches. Doesn't hold the price at all. I would stay away unless you know what you're doing and you're getting a good price. Easy to sell to non-watch people.
Hublot. Known for ridiculous designs and worst prices. Some watches will retail at $100.000 but sell for $5.000 second-hand. They have good models that go up in value also. Stay away unless you know what you're doing.
Tissot. Very good watches, probably the best cheap watches there are. Easy to sell. Very cheap prices. Low demand.
Vacheron Constantin. One of my personal favorites. Popular among collectors but pretty hard to sell.
2. The Fundamentals of the Watch Trade
Selling and trading watches is really simple at the end of the day. You follow trends, there's no rulebook for this stuff. You will have to be constantly up to date on what's happening. You will need to know when to sell a specific piece and when not to sell it. The watch market is always going up and down similarly to a stock market. Some watches will double in value in a month and others will go down the same. Good thing is that you can see these trends coming if you're active in the business. Always make sure you're getting a good deal for a watch. You need to buy low and sell high, just like the stock market. In the second-hand market, there's no universal price on watches which means every dealer has their own price. AP Royal Oak might be selling at $56.000 at your local dealer but another dealer next state will sell at $51.000 dollars. Make sure you don't buy it unless you know you can flip it for higher.
3. Buying from Authorized Dealers (AD)
ADs will almost always have a fixed price. Building good relations with an AD is one of the most important things in the trade. To buy from ADs you will need a good portfolio and buying history. You can't just waltz off to one and buy a watch. To them selling a watch is like giving a gift. Having good relations with one will help you get watches at MSRP which means huge profits in some cases. The now important thing to know is that ADs will keep track of what watches they sold you and if they find out you're selling them they might stop selling to you. They don't like selling to resellers. To build good relations with them I would recommend regularly buying cheap models and flipping them off for no profit or even net loss. Also make sure you don't just limit to one dealer, build a relationship with multiple so you can maximize your profits.
4. How does the market work
Jewelers control the market, they buy all the hot watches at retail from ADs and pump the prices, and sell for huge profits. They also limit margins by price fixing. Most of the business you will do is with Jewelers. If you can build a good relationship with them you can buy the stock at really cheap sometimes. Jewelers stick together and deal with each other, they're very organized. You might've heard of Diamond District (47th Street) before, it's where the biggest jewelers are all located at. If you live in New York you will have access to the biggest market in the trade. There are other hot spots too but Diamond District is easily the biggest one.
5. Where to buy and Where to sell
The biggest and best market is of course online. There's no single market that you will use. You will have to use all of them to maximize profit margins always looking for good deals everywhere. You can limit to only online but you will miss out on some good deals. Depending on where you live of course. It's a fact that dealers will sell to other dealers at a trade price. Also while you sell and buy you build relationships with private buyers and that's more valuable than money sometimes because those are your loyal customers and keeping them happy will pay you back. But because of the person or business not because of the price. You need contacts because those are potential buyers in the future. It's also very advised that you buy from ADs to build good relations with them and you also minimize the risk of being scammed. You will always get lowballed so try to sell in as many places as possible. I will list some of the best places to buy online.
Chrono24. Undoubtedly the biggest site there is. Usually, the best place to buy and sell your watches. You will spend most of your time here. They use a third party to authenticate the watch in transit to protect both buyer and seller.
r/watchtrade. You will need to be careful and make sure you're dealing with real people but you can find some really good prices there. Remember to bargain the price down as best as you can.
watchuseek. You will also spend a lot of time here observing the market. A really good place to sell and buy. Try to build a reputation there.
Crown & Caliber. Another good reputable site.
the watch box. Here you can also trade on top of buying and selling.
Ebay. Yes, you read that correctly. Despite the huge hate against eBay, it's still a good marketplace for finding really good deals. They have a lot of problems but you can get really lucky sometimes.
Facebook. You can find insane deals sometimes. Very highly recommend looking through there every once in a while. Wouldn't try selling there.
Rolexforums for Rolex watches specifically.
Timezone is Not the best marketplace in the modern day but it's worth it to look in there sometimes.
6. How to make money
Now contrary to popular belief, it's actually easier to sell a watch than it is to buy a watch at the right price. Selling the watch is the easiest part of the process. That's because the watch will sell itself at market price. So the way to make money is determined by how cheap you can buy the watch. You can't really control the market sell price but you can control the buy price. You have 2 options here. You can sell it back to the trader or you can sell it to the end customer. Selling into the trade is less profitable but it's a lot easier. I would recommend doing a mix of both just to keep the business going. You need to have consistent turnover. So instead of waiting 2 weeks to make an extra $500, it's worth it to sell it a little cheaper, get the money back and reinvest it into another watch, and so on.
7. Consignment
Consignment deals are a way to sell watches without having to invest your own money into the trade. You're basically selling someone else's watch for a piece of the profits. This is good if you don't have funds to start buying your own watches and there's potentially no cash risk. Now finding consignment deals is another story. You will need connections and you will need to approach people about it.
8. Setting up and registering your business
Registering a business is not necessary, you can independently sell and trade before doing it but once your business starts blowing up you have to do it. I also would hire an accountant to keep track of your taxes and books. You don't need a storefront or office to start your business. You just need a place to safely store your watches. Depending on where you live registering a business is actually not that hard. You might think it sounds like too much work but it's really not hard. Just read about how to register a business in your country and you will find out its pretty easy stuff at the end of the day. Make sure you differentiate yourself from other businesses and use social media to market your business. Make youtube videos make TikTok videos make Facebook posts. Just market yourself and your business to stand out. You can also choose a niche category, you could focus on vintage watches or tourbillons, or grand complications. Whatever will make you stand out from all the other watch businesses. If you don't do something different you will have to do better to reach that competitive advantage.
9. Pawnshops and Auctions
Yes, pawnshops and auctions will sell watches at good prices but they almost never have paperwork for them. Selling watches without paperwork is hard and not good for your business. If you sell a watch to a private buyer without paperwork, you might be happy at first since you made a really good profit but that private buyer will never buy from you again once they find out that their watch is worth jackshit without paperwork. Unless you're buying for personal use or personal collection stay away from pawnshops. Reputable auctions are good to buy watches but make sure they have paperwork for their watches.
10. Fakes and Scammers
Yes, this is the part where you will need to learn the most. Fakes are everywhere and modern replicas are almost indistinguishable from genuine watches. You will need to learn a lot about watches before you can tell them apart. That's why dealing with reputable vendors is very important if you're just starting. The biggest tell is always the movement. Buy a jeweler's loupe and study the movements of watches to learn how they work. For most fakes, you can tell right away with a loupe. But the best replicas will fool most beginners, it's very very important that you study watches for this reason. Now if the movement looks genuine and the build quality is proper and you still think it's a replica you can send it to a watchmaker to have them open and check the movement out to see if it is built by the proper factory. You can also do that yourself if you learn how to do it, it's not too hard but will require a lot of practice. Now the easy way to not get scammed is to deal with reputable vendors and always make sure the paperwork checks out. Don't buy watches without paperwork unless you are 100% sure it's genuine, and even then you will likely have a hard time selling them.
11. Last notes
This is the end of my guide, there's a lot that I didn't put here that you will have to learn on your own. Things that you need to know like how Muslims don't wear Gold watches or how to deal with aftermarket modified watches. I can't fit all of this thing into this guide so if you got inspired to start your own watch business make sure you take your time to study.
Thank you for reading this far I hope you learned something new here today. You can message me about watches if you have questions, I'm happy to help.
