WatchChoice.com has seen a significant upturn in the last few months in the interest being shown towards luxury watches that have already had a previous owner. While some people call them second hand watches, others say “used” while others prefer “pre owned” or even “pre loved” but whatever your term of choice, the market for quality second hand luxury watches is gaining in popularity.
As the Global Financial Crisis deepens and the luxury watch market slows, a greater number of luxury watch enthusiasts on WatchChoice.com are shifting their attention from new luxury watches to pre owned watches. Glenn Palmer, WatchChoice.com’s Managing Director, says feedback from Watch Choice members indicates there are a range of reasons for the rise in interest in the second hand market. The soft economy and the concern about whether the economy will decline further or when it will bounce back has lead to low levels of confidence in enthusiast’s prospective financial circumstances. That means buyers planning to purchase a luxury watch have found it harder to justify the outlay and have turned to the second hand watch market as a cost effective way to acquiring a luxury watch for themselves.
Other feedback from luxury watch enthusiasts shows the current financial environment has also affected their buying patterns. Some collectors have reported they are more likely to sell one or more luxury watches from their collection to raise money for the purchase of their next watch where previously they may have simply just added watches to their collection. Enthusiasts who become sellers before buying have therefore added to the number of used watches for sale.
Luxury watch buyers in countries that have in recent times experienced substantial currency rate declines, such as Australia, against stronger currencies such as the US dollar, English pound and the Euro have seen significantly increased watch prices. Buyers in these countries are particularly looking for the best value and are looking to quality second hand watches to meet their luxury watch needs.
Glenn Palmer says that the new levels of interest in second hand watches is likely to continue for at least as long as the economic climate remains depressed and possibly longer. He says “we could see higher interest levels in second hand watches maintained in the long term as the current economic climate has introduced buyers who would not have normally considered buying a used watch to the value and variety of the second hand watch market”. It will be interesting to see whether second hand watch sales return to their usual levels when the economy recovers.
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