Pre owned shops

[YSS]

Hi to all sifus, i'm a newbie here and am also new to the fine art of watch collectimg. I am looking to purchase a watch likely a pam, iwc pilot or a jlc master series. During my search i visited some pre owned wqtch shops in bts, ampang park, bangsar, etc. I noticed that most of the watches sold in these places particularly cxx in ampang do not have boxes or paper to go with the watches. Sounds a bit fishy to me. Hence just would appreciate some of your views on how safe it is to purchase from them.

Thanks in advance

[ck77]

usually is safe. if doubt, bring to distributor to verify.
but first thing first, do some research and know your stuffs.
caveat emptor.

[kltime]

First in foremost to me- buy the seller first,before buying his goods. From research and reading the threads you would know how to seperate the trustworthy vendors from the rest.
Its kind of hard sometimes to verify the originality of the watches just by handling it in the shop,unless u r one of the sifus here. The good replicas could be close to 100% of the original including a swiss engine inside...

[David_cheong]

Not all preowned watches comes in complete set. Those without papers / box takes less (cost) than the complete ones.

Depending whom you deal with. yes, I agreed - buy the seller first.

dc

[ttfjon]

I was checking out some pre-owned watches at a shop in Central Market and noticed that the prices quotes are quite high compared with those advertised in MWF or Mudah.  Is this normal for all pre-owned shops?

[ck77]

I was checking out some pre-owned watches at a shop in Central Market and noticed that the prices quotes are quite high compared with those advertised in MWF or Mudah.  Is this normal for all pre-owned shops?

People need to pay overhead expenses, i.e. salary, rental, electricity.
Willing buyer willing sellier lor.

[kltime]

I was checking out some pre-owned watches at a shop in Central Market and noticed that the prices quotes are quite high compared with those advertised in MWF or Mudah.  Is this normal for all pre-owned shops?

I hv bought once from this shop. My advise is that check n know the price of the watch u r interested in b4hand with the regular ADs. Once u know how much it costs after discount new then u hv a basis to nego.

As a guide the watch I bought can be had new at 25% discount from ADs.  it was about 4 months old,in good condition and with box/papers. I was able to nego an additional discount from the seller. How much depends on ur bargaining skill and how much u willing to pay lor...

[ttfjon]

Kltime, Thanks for sharing your purchasing experience.  As a guide, how many % below the new purchase price is reasonable for an 'almost new' pre owned piece?

[chrisyen]

Kltime, Thanks for sharing your purchasing experience.  As a guide, how many % below the new purchase price is reasonable for an 'almost new' pre owned piece?

where got a STD rate for all watches

do more homework lah...

Different brand different model will hv different value
different time also affecting the value

omega watch value higher during omegamania auction!
Currency up down aso create opportunity
some times sudden discontinue model of a gd brand watch will increase it's value

buy few more watches u'll learn faster!

[ttfjon]

Hello Chris,

I may not have made my question clear.  What I am saying is if a watch for a certain brand is listed as say 10K in AD.  After deducting the discount of say 25%, you will need to pay 7.5K.  My question is how many % below the 7.5K is a reasonable price to pay for a 'almost new' pre-owned same watch? Of course, nothing is standard, but I am looking for some ballpark figures as a guide only.


Thanks.
Jon

[takashi78]

Again there is no standard rule.
What you think is fair might not be for someone else.
All you can do is search online for an average selling price on other sites and forums.
Even if the watch is not "worth" it to you, even if its dirt cheap you wont buy it also.

No set rules, if you like and your finances permit and you feel you can part with the money and be happy then buy.
Simple as that.

[kltime]

where got a STD rate for all watches

Different brand different model will hv different value

Chris is right.

The watch I bought is currently a popular mid-range swiss brand. So did not get an excessive additional discount

[gapper]

to me, if you think the watch worth the $$ u spend on it. it's a good watch to u, in-regardless of brands or makes.
this is a very subjective question to ask (especially in a WIS forum)... isnt it?

would u call a someone SILLY/INSANE/CRAZY/STUPID/IMMATURE if he purchased a preowned rollie at few Ks.. and spent few Ks to refurbish it??
to some... it sounds like idiot.. but to WIS.. it's a cool thing to do.

just my 2 cents. no offense.

[Scott C.]

in my opinion, this is really depend on the time piece which you looking at/for. Different pc has different used value really. Like Chris was saying, a lot of factors (that affecting the used price) come in when come to a used time.. honestly, i'm not an expert here who can tell what watch has better value or not... the value come in if there is any demand, if higher demand (less in supply/production), better used value. Eg: Panerai. Not many people appreciate Panerai but i have to admit that it's the brand that growing fastest i have seen so far. THe used Panerai's price holding very well because still a lot of demand out there.

Understand you were trying to look for a "standard" or trying to find out a reasonable price in general for all used pc but in reality, it's not really that easy to achieve this.

in my opinion/observation, usually the used shop will sell 10% to 20% lower then the after discount retail price for a good condition pc, but then again, it's depend on that pc's demand Eg: compare Big Pilot and any JLC (similar complication), BP fetch better used price anytime because of it's demand. Used JLC maybe 40% to 50% from retail price. But, this is not definite, maybe one day JLC will fetch better used price in future if JLC have higher demand.

I think that's the reason why Chris was saying, do some homework before you buy it

Usually, this is what i will do, if i wanted to buy a used pc, i will check what's the brand new prices and discount i can get from AD, then compare. if the price is not a lot different, i will take brand new from AD.

Also, always buy from a trusted used shop to make sure your purchase has no problem, not just the authentication but the quality of the watch you are about to purchase, a honest shop will tell you the history of the time pc and advice if you need service or has this pc been service before; etc..

hope this help..

scott

[ttfjon]

All Sifus,  Thanks for all the feedbacks/comments.  Trust me, it is invaluable for a new comer like me. Thanks again.