If you are a collector then you will mainly want to buy pocket watches to add to your collection, or buy damaged pocket watches to repair and add to you collection.
Then again you could buy pocket watches to repair and sell, make a decent profit to finance your collection of finer pocket watches, selling pocket watches for big profits is not easy, you will need a basic amount of knowledge to know the difference between a pocket watch that can be repaired, or just sold on for spares.
See below for a few examples of multiple watches available and also individual watches that can be bought for repair.
Type:
Auction
No. of bids so far:
23
Ends in:
0d 0h 34m
'Buy now' item
Ends in:
0d 3h 42m
Type:
Auction
No. of bids so far:
0
Ends in:
0d 4h 11m
Type:
Auction
No. of bids so far:
0
Ends in:
0d 5h 12m
'Buy now' item
Ends in:
0d 5h 34m
Type:
Auction
No. of bids so far:
1
Ends in:
0d 6h 16m
NOTE: to keep the site running smoothly, product data is only refreshed once every minute, approximately. Click on a product to see the most up-to-date data on the seller's page.
As you can see ebay is a great source for buying pocket watches, but is not the only one. Also try
1-Antique shops and ask if thye have any broken watches as they will not normally display these.
2-Auctions, online and offline
3-Antique and collector’s fairs
4-Second-hand junk and charity shops, again ask as they might have some hidden round the back
Once your watch has been repaired it can be described as working, working should mean will run keeping a reasonable time over 24 hours, these will fetch higher prices. Take a look at the following:
You can sell to an antique shop or dealer, but expect to be offered a lower price as they will need to sell on adding on their margin.
The best way I’ve found is selling through an auction, the offline ones that specialise in time-pieces can be very good as they gather collectors and dealers, if the watch is good then the collector will normally outbid the dealer. The problem with offline auctions is that it’s not international and they can be very expensive due to the high commission rates.
I’ve found the best way is through ebay online auctions, you get to present your pocket watch to an international audience, and thus the final bid can be a lot higher than offline auctions, plus the overheads and final costs are a lot lower.
To take advantage of online auctions you need to do your homework, to make sure you follow a practice that will maximise your return. I will offer some suggestions in another post on how to maximise your profit selling through ebay.
Follow the above and you should easily be selling pocket watches for big profits, but as is the case with most complicated timepieces, knowledge and experience will make it all so much easier.
So get reading, go to auctions, and antique fairs, find and get to know what makes a pocket watch tick.
