WatchProSite|Market|Digest
WatchProSite|Market|Digest

Horological Meandering

Thanks for the clarification, and interesting question...

 

Much of this was already said by others.

When I read your original question, my first reaction was, "There's not enough information here to answer the question. I need to know if $50K is the typical preowned dealer's ASKING price -- like what I'd find if I looked up this watch on Chrono24 -- or if it's the typical (lower) SELLING price." That's hugely important. Also, my definition of "reasonable" (irrationally) involves what I originally paid for the watch, regardless of when I bought it: I tend to fixate on what I paid, and I hate taking less than that (if I bought it preowned). Lastly and more generally, when dealing with real estate brokers and others who sell things on my behalf, I avoid subjective words like "reasonable" in my instructions to them because I don't want to waste their time or mine. Instead I tell them, "Don't even bother to contact me with offers below $__."

All of that being said...

In this case, I'll assume (a) $50,000 is the typical preowned dealer's asking price, (b) the watch is not especially rare (so there are many examples for buyers to choose from), and (c) I paid $45,000* for the watch. Under those circumstances, I'd probably sell it for $45K in the near future, and then increasingly take lower offers as time progresses, maybe even going as low as $42K.


  *The less I paid, the more likely I'd be to deem lower offers as "reasonable" to me.

What I find interesting is the corollary question, "What do you do if X months pass, the inquiries have died down, and the watch still hasn't sold?" (not that that's ever happened, lol). I grappled with this question with a fairly costly watch over the past few years, so it's near and dear to my heart (and I'm glad I resolved it in a way that works for me, so it's in the past now).

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33 Comments view entire thread 

Question to the Forum: "What's your Definition of Reasonable?"

 
By: NickO : January 9th, 2020-17:39
Consider the following scenario: You decide to sell a watch to free up funds for other projects. You give the watch to a trusted dealer friend to sell for you. You set your asking price for your watch at $50,000 and you inform your friend that you will al... 

It also depends on what is your watch...

 
By: Clueless_Collector : January 9th, 2020-17:55
and if you’re being reasonable in the asking. How do you price your watch to be $50K, vs all the listings on a selling platform like C24? If it’s a hype one then your $50k will hold, I say -$2.5K for a good round number. Really no good answer without a sp... 

At 50K ask, I’d give up maybe 5%.

 
By: Jay (Eire) : January 9th, 2020-18:59
Assumes of course you priced fairly (realistically) to begin with.

Depends. If the goal is to recover cash, then . . .

 
By: Dr No : January 9th, 2020-19:00
. . . the floor can be deep. Everyone who's acquired a new watch other than a Patek or steel Rolex in the last ten years is likely to be on the short end of the secondary market stick. If time isn't of the essence, though, and one is selling to reconfigur... 

Depends on your asking price vs market price.

 
By: nwk00 : January 9th, 2020-21:21
As stated by another member, it relative to your asking vs market. If you are being greedy, and ask for 40% above market, I think a big discount to counter that markup is not unreasonable. Generally 5-15% off is reasonable. I cannot highlight enough how o... 

Are you defining the linear line as "Truly Reasonable" and the independent variable as "Time?"

 
By: NickO : January 10th, 2020-12:12
Then what you're saying is that one's opinion of what is "Reasonable" is never actually ever "Truly Reasonable" but the difference between the two diminishes over time but never reaches zero. That's quite astute if I read you correctly, Fab

As the seller, you are free to choose the sales price.

 
By: rdenney : January 10th, 2020-10:03
Of course, the buyer is also free to not to buy it. But as an instruction to a consignment shop, “reasonable” means he may not be wasting his time by calling you when a prospective buyer makes an offer below asking price. If you are authorizing the seller... 

Thanks to everyone who responded, especially those who gave a definitive percentage answer

 
By: NickO : January 10th, 2020-11:24
Reasonable can be defined as "Fair, Sensible, and Moderate". These are all subjective terms. What I was attempting to elicit from my question was - all other things being equal - how far away from an objective data point - $50,000 in this case - does one ... 

In the car business we often say the buyer sets the price

 
By: cazalea : January 10th, 2020-18:32
Because he doesn’t have to buy, whereas eventually the seller has to sell, or go out of business. Going back to the original question, 10% off is reasonable for a private sale (in Calif) but 50% is not. Unless it’s a street market in the Mediterranean reg... 

Thanks for the clarification, and interesting question...

 
By: CR : January 11th, 2020-08:18
Much of this was already said by others. When I read your original question, my first reaction was, "There's not enough information here to answer the question. I need to know if $50K is the typical preowned dealer's ASKING price -- like what I'd find if ...