Juhku
Power Member
- Jul 9, 2020
- 598
- 3,956
Some people here might know that I am a big nerd when it comes to watches and that I might get a bit too excited whenever I see a beautiful timepiece.
That’s why I enjoy flipping watches as a side hustle. Well, honestly it’s more of a free-time hobby to me since I enjoy it so much, but I could definitely see someone making watch flipping their biggest income source.
So, since I have a few years of experience in the field and have been pretty consistently making $1k+ a month (with less work than an hour a day) from hobby watch flipping, I feel like I’m more than qualified to at least offer some novice advice to people interested.
Note: You should have a capital of at least $1k to start comfortably.
Step 1.
Find your local online ‘used-stuff’ marketplace(s).
For me, it would be Tori.fi, and for Sweden, I reckon it would be Blocket.se/Tradera.se.
(something like this)
Why local markets and not something bigger like eBay?
Simply, Perceived Value.
A lot of the price in a lot of the watches comes from the brand itself and the perceived artistic value.
For a watch to inherit any value from those two aspects, you naturally need a customer base that values those aspects.
Local markets = lower population => lower number of hobbies/topics of interest.
These kinds of market areas will experience value deprecation in items that require some sort of hobbyist to purchase them for their so-called ‘real’ value.
So, that’s why.
Local markets = local prices.
Worldwide markets (such as eBay/Chrono24) = (more) standardized prices.
Step 2.
Learn to spot old (3+ years) limited edition watches from a certain brand.
For beginners, I would suggest only searching and dealing with Seiko watches.
Seiko is a great brand to start with, as they are one of the only watch brands that are considered high-quality by watch nerds (like me), but are still popular enough that almost everyone has heard of them.
That is the reason why a lot of people who have no idea about watches but have still bought a watch, have bought a Seiko.
Because they’ve heard about the brand being high-quality despite not appreciating the artistic values of the brand & their watches.
That brings in a problem that we can capitalize on - non-hobbyist people having watches which have some sort of artistical value. When people like these are looking to sell them, either they themselves and/or the market they are trying to sell the watch to, mostly only value the watch by its material value.
From my own experience, I have found the most profitable watches to flip are older limited editions exactly for the reasoning above.
They do not care or place any value in the watch being an Europe-only limited edition watch which has a ‘Save The Ocean’ theme.
Step 3.
When you find a good watch, such as some sort of older limited edition, you want to see if there’s any profit to be made by checking the prices that watch hobbyists are paying for them.
For that, you only really need to check two sites.
ebay.com
And
chrono24.com
For example,
I spent a hefty 5-minutes of my time in my local online marketplace, Tori.fi, and found 6 watches that I could flip for at least a 100 USD profit.
One of those watches was this beautiful Prospex Alpinist (ref. SPB197J1) for 450€.
A very good sign that a watch will get sold quickly, is that it is a popular model (Prospex Alpinist), yet that reference number doesn’t have any current listings on Chrono24.
Next, look at eBay, and filter by ‘Sold Items’.
That’s why I enjoy flipping watches as a side hustle. Well, honestly it’s more of a free-time hobby to me since I enjoy it so much, but I could definitely see someone making watch flipping their biggest income source.
So, since I have a few years of experience in the field and have been pretty consistently making $1k+ a month (with less work than an hour a day) from hobby watch flipping, I feel like I’m more than qualified to at least offer some novice advice to people interested.
Note: You should have a capital of at least $1k to start comfortably.
Step 1.
Find your local online ‘used-stuff’ marketplace(s).
For me, it would be Tori.fi, and for Sweden, I reckon it would be Blocket.se/Tradera.se.
(something like this)
Why local markets and not something bigger like eBay?
Simply, Perceived Value.
A lot of the price in a lot of the watches comes from the brand itself and the perceived artistic value.
For a watch to inherit any value from those two aspects, you naturally need a customer base that values those aspects.
Local markets = lower population => lower number of hobbies/topics of interest.
These kinds of market areas will experience value deprecation in items that require some sort of hobbyist to purchase them for their so-called ‘real’ value.
So, that’s why.
Local markets = local prices.
Worldwide markets (such as eBay/Chrono24) = (more) standardized prices.
Step 2.
Learn to spot old (3+ years) limited edition watches from a certain brand.
For beginners, I would suggest only searching and dealing with Seiko watches.
Seiko is a great brand to start with, as they are one of the only watch brands that are considered high-quality by watch nerds (like me), but are still popular enough that almost everyone has heard of them.
That is the reason why a lot of people who have no idea about watches but have still bought a watch, have bought a Seiko.
Because they’ve heard about the brand being high-quality despite not appreciating the artistic values of the brand & their watches.
That brings in a problem that we can capitalize on - non-hobbyist people having watches which have some sort of artistical value. When people like these are looking to sell them, either they themselves and/or the market they are trying to sell the watch to, mostly only value the watch by its material value.
From my own experience, I have found the most profitable watches to flip are older limited editions exactly for the reasoning above.
They do not care or place any value in the watch being an Europe-only limited edition watch which has a ‘Save The Ocean’ theme.
Step 3.
When you find a good watch, such as some sort of older limited edition, you want to see if there’s any profit to be made by checking the prices that watch hobbyists are paying for them.
For that, you only really need to check two sites.
ebay.com
And
chrono24.com
For example,
I spent a hefty 5-minutes of my time in my local online marketplace, Tori.fi, and found 6 watches that I could flip for at least a 100 USD profit.
One of those watches was this beautiful Prospex Alpinist (ref. SPB197J1) for 450€.
A very good sign that a watch will get sold quickly, is that it is a popular model (Prospex Alpinist), yet that reference number doesn’t have any current listings on Chrono24.
Next, look at eBay, and filter by ‘Sold Items’.
And from there we can see that this watch has been sold two times just within a few months.
And ka-ching!
Easy profit of at least 350€, though this watch could most likely be sold for even 900€.
—
Some things to keep in mind
Unless you find a watch that you’re extremely sure that it will sell, never spend your whole budget on a single watch.
If you are getting started with $1k, I’d advise you to buy at least 3 different watches with it.
When sending items in postage, always video record yourself packing the watch and dropping the package for transportation. This will help you fight any possible scammers.
And most importantly,
You learn by doing.
The more you buy and sell watches, the better you get at it. You will get faster and better at spotting what watches can be flipped for a good profit.
When you find that a single brand is not enough for your monetary goals, start looking for other brands as well.
Once you 'conquer' the Seiko watches, I'd start looking at Oris, Omega and Tudor.
Ps.
If you live in a bigger city that has a few flea markets, I would very much encourage you to also go through those places to look for any and all watches. Especially keep an eye on vintage watches and any actual watch brands (NOT fashion watches).
A lot of people just throw away their ‘unknown’ watches that they have gotten from their deceased parents and price them extremely cheap.
A family member of mine once found a vintage gold watch for 7€ at a flea market. The watch was later valued and sold for 1700€
Good luck, and feel free to ask any questions. This guide was a lot shorter than I initially planned due to time restrictions. I might write a lot better and more detailed guide sometime in future when I find myself more time.
And ka-ching!
Easy profit of at least 350€, though this watch could most likely be sold for even 900€.
—
Some things to keep in mind
Unless you find a watch that you’re extremely sure that it will sell, never spend your whole budget on a single watch.
If you are getting started with $1k, I’d advise you to buy at least 3 different watches with it.
When sending items in postage, always video record yourself packing the watch and dropping the package for transportation. This will help you fight any possible scammers.
And most importantly,
You learn by doing.
The more you buy and sell watches, the better you get at it. You will get faster and better at spotting what watches can be flipped for a good profit.
When you find that a single brand is not enough for your monetary goals, start looking for other brands as well.
Once you 'conquer' the Seiko watches, I'd start looking at Oris, Omega and Tudor.
Ps.
If you live in a bigger city that has a few flea markets, I would very much encourage you to also go through those places to look for any and all watches. Especially keep an eye on vintage watches and any actual watch brands (NOT fashion watches).
A lot of people just throw away their ‘unknown’ watches that they have gotten from their deceased parents and price them extremely cheap.
A family member of mine once found a vintage gold watch for 7€ at a flea market. The watch was later valued and sold for 1700€
Good luck, and feel free to ask any questions. This guide was a lot shorter than I initially planned due to time restrictions. I might write a lot better and more detailed guide sometime in future when I find myself more time.
