Uncertain Times

As the year winds down, the watch media reflects on the best launches and sales of 2022 and predictions for 2023. Is the secondary market still oversupplied? Will prices fall further? Will the cost of living crisis impact watch-buying? How will the expected Rolex price hike affect things?

The truth is – we don’t know. No one predicted the crazy price bubble in the spring of this year, although in hindsight we all had our explanations. Are there still waiting lists for the most sought-after watches? Yes. Will people pay 3x retail to jump the queue? I doubt it.

Price and availability will always fluctuate and the only way to protect yourself is to buy what you truly like, at a price you can justify to yourself. If the value of your watch shifts up or down, you don’t care because that’s not the reason you bought it.

When the time comes to sell, you need to move fast to lock in the current price and keep as much of that value as possible. That is where Watch Collecting can help. Our 7-day timed auctions achieve you a competitive price without months of waiting. We charge sellers nothing to list with us, and our buyers pay only 6% plus VAT with a minimum fee of £600.

Over the 22 months since our launch Watch Collecting has seen the highs and, hopefully, the lows of the market and the number of buyers and sellers using our site each month has grown relentlessly. They know that an advertised price is meaningless without an achieved sale. The market will set the value, all that matters is how little it costs to transact.