If you have an authentic Rolex, then you may well have a valuable asset on your hands. While you may prefer to keep the watch in your family, there are also many reasons why you may wish to sell your Rolex. Perhaps there are painful memories attached to the watch, or you're looking to raise money for a travel adventure or to put towards a downpayment for a house.
Whatever your motivation is for selling, it's essential to work on getting a fair price for the watch. There are plenty of Rolex buyers out there, but authentic Rolex buyers that'll give you a good price for your watch? They can take more work to come by. In this blog, we'll run through some helpful tips to increase your chances of finding a reputable Rolex watch buyer and ensure that selling your valuable asset runs as smoothly as possible from beginning to end.
Understand What You Have
You'll make the selling Rolex process much more difficult if you don't know what type of watch you have. As you might expect, not all Rolex watches are created equal — and they're certainly not all worth the same amount of money.
So it's not enough to know that you have a "Rolex"; you'll need to know the specific model of Rolex and the reference number. This number will be listed somewhere on the watch, though precisely where will depend on when the watch was manufactured. In most cases, it's listed near the "12 o'clock" position.
From there, look at locating the watch's serial number, which will tell you the year that the watch was made. This number will be near the "6 o'clock" position on the watch side. Once you have the model and those two critical numbers, you'll be in a much stronger position to get an accurate quote for your watch since these are the details that any serious luxury watch buyer will ask for.
Is the Appraisal Important?
There's much value in working with a company that offers a Rolex appraisal service. However, it's essential to remember that while your appraisal does show merit, it's not necessarily all that important to the selling process.
The benefits of getting your watch appraised by a professional are related to insurance and tax. For example, it can form a valuable guide for valuing the watch for insurance purposes if it is lost or damaged. There can also be certain tax benefits.
But there's a big difference between the valuation drawn from a Rolex appraisal and how much you can reasonably expect to sell it for. You can think of the value set following an appraisal as "the best-case scenario, in perfect conditions."
The valuations set by appraisers are always higher than what the watch would sell for it at the market. That's not to say that appraisers are fraudulent; the figure they produce is accurate for the needs of an appraisal. But it's different from what you'd receive if offered a cash deal to sell the Rolex. There's a big difference between the valuation set via an appraisal and the actual selling price — both numbers are correct.
As such, it's best to essentially disregard the value an appraiser sets for selling purposes.
Do Your Homework
As we said earlier, plenty of people and companies will be happy to buy your Rolex from you. However, you're not just looking to sell your Rolex — you're selling it at a fair price to a reputable buyer.
So when you begin investigating your options for selling, don't just select the first buyer you come across. Do your homework. Your company should be an expert in the Rolex watch world. Not only will this make it easier since they'll have the required knowledge to determine the precise valuation of your watch, but they'll also be able to fulfill the quote's payment obligations as soon as possible. A company might offer you an OK price for your watch, but if they keep delaying payment, you haven't sold your watch. You'll be playing their game, whereas you'll have a productive working relationship with a reputable company.
Where Shouldn't You Sell Your Rolex?
The list of places where you shouldn't sell your Rolex is too long to list in detail here. In essence, we advise that you don't sell your watch to anyone other than a company with a strong track record of dealing with Rolex watches. It's the only way to have complete confidence that nothing will go unexpectedly wrong.
However, there are a couple of places to avoid that are worth mentioning specifically. It's tempting to sell your watch online via websites such as Craigslist or eBay since both those sites (and others) allow you to get your listing online in as little as a few minutes.
But both those sites are rife with fraudulent buyers. You can use Craigslist or eBay to sell (or buy) low-value goods, but when it comes to a piece of jewelry that you've had in your family for potentially decades, they're to be avoided. On eBay, scammers can replace the watch with a fake once it's in their possession and demand a refund once it's sent to you. Since eBay nearly always sides with customers, there'll be little you can do to get your watch — or your money — back.
On Craigslist, you typically have to meet the "buyer" face-to-face. As such, you'll meet a stranger with a high-value item, which increases the risk of robbery. There's a slight chance that selling via Craigslist or eBay can be successful, but it's not worth it if something goes wrong.
Mistakes to Avoid When Selling Rolex Watches
You'll only sell your Rolex watch once, so it's essential to get it right the first time of asking. Below are some of the common mistakes that people make when they sell their Rolex watches.
Sharing the Serial Number
There's nothing good that can come from posting the full serial number of your Rolex online, but there's plenty of bad that can happen. Rather than posting the full serial number, post the first couple and then blank out the rest.
Oversharing Everywhere
A Rolex is a luxury item, and it's best to retain an air of mystery surrounding your watch. Avoid oversharing anywhere and everywhere; instead, get in touch with a specialist Rolex company. It'll help to keep the value intact.
Making Improvements
See an imperfection on your Rolex watch? It makes sense that you'd want to fix it, but this is the wrong approach. Keeping the watch as close to the original as possible would be best.
Working With Non-Experts
Everyone can offer an opinion — but not everyone can provide a valuable opinion. Your friend might know something about selling watches, but they're unlikely to know everything. There's a sea of opinions out there, but the vast majority will not help you to sell your watch.
Questionable Payment Timeframes
Payment should be made promptly once the sale has been agreed upon. If they're offering questionable payment timeframes, then look elsewhere.
How the Selling Process Works
American Gold & Diamond Buyers are prepared to buy if you're ready to sell your Rolex watch. We've put together a simple, effective, and fair process that allows our customers to sell their watches at a price they're happy with.
First, you must show us the watch in person or online. If you have any paperwork or boxes related to the watch, bring them along since this can help with the valuation process. But don't worry if you've misplaced your documents and boxes — we can still make you an offer.
From there, our Rolex experts team will work on valuing your watch. From there, we'll send you a written offer indicating how much we will pay for the watch. It's risk-free and has no obligation, so you can consider whether it's an offer you want to accept.
If you accept the deal, we'll give you cash or a check for the watch on the same day. If you don't live in the local New Jersey area, we'll send you a shipping kit with insurance protection of up to $25,000. Once we've received the item, the check will go to you.
To get started, call us at (973) 428-1900 or fill out the contact form on our offer page, and we'll get back to you. Alternatively, you can visit our physical store in person; we have multiple locations throughout NY and NJ. We look forward to working with you.
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