Watches are not only a necessity nowadays but also a statement. As you know there are many second hand watches that are up for sale online, and as one of the largest online marketplace in the world, eBay offers consumers thousands of second hand watches from many high-end brands from all over the world.
Next year on, purchasing second hand watches will be much easier as eBay is getting better at ensuring only genuine second hand watches are sold through their platform. With their new initiative in expanding eBay Authenticate from handbags into the luxury watch segment, buyers would be able to purchase them worry-free as the watches will be verified by professional evaluators. eBay has also collaborated with Watchbox and other approved professional sellers to list timepieces on eBay. The verified luxury watches will be marked with an “Authenticity Verified” label like other luxury items eBay offers.
“By the end of 2019, we look to have an entire suite of services available to all luxury watch sellers and buyers on the platform,” James Hendy, in charge of eBay’s authentication service for luxury goods, told Reuters in a recent interview.
Hendy said ebay’s transaction volume of second hand watches would exceed $1 billion in 2018 compared to volumes of around 1.3billion euros expected at German rival Chrono24 by its co-CEO and founder Tim Stracke.
eBay will also allow consumers to sell their luxury watches instantly from the first quarter of 2019 on the site with the addition of authentication services for customer to customer transactions on the second half of the year.
Luxury watch brands have always had second thoughts selling their products on online platforms like eBay or even specialised sites such as Chrono24 because the watches that are hard to sell often end up with discounts. eBay however has future plans of collaborating with luxury brands as it targets a market estimated to be worth around 17.6 billion euros ($20 billion) wheb included with jewellery according to a report by Bain & Company.
Younger consumers are credited to contribute to the boost of used market items as they are more keen to shop online attracting watch manufacturers like Richemont and Audemars Piguet to enter the market.
