Tag Heuer on ebay

[Loki324]

I was looking for a Tag Heuer and came across this seller
Tag Hueur Formula 1 WAU1112 | eBay
but a while later I stmbled across this ended auction
TAG HEUER FORMULA 1 WATCH - BRAND NEW, GENUINE AND UNWORN | eBay

Do you think I can trust the seller? Maybe he bought the watch thinking he can earn a bit more? Or do you reckon the watch is fake?

[Webby23]

I was looking for a Tag Heuer and came across this seller
Tag Hueur Formula 1 WAU1112 | eBay
but a while later I stmbled across this ended auction
TAG HEUER FORMULA 1 WATCH - BRAND NEW, GENUINE AND UNWORN | eBay

Do you think I can trust the seller? Maybe he bought the watch thinking he can earn a bit more? Or do you reckon the watch is fake?

Looks genuine to me.

My 3rd Tag was an "unsure" eBay purchase, for which i drove to pick it up in person, a journey from Nottingham to Plymouth......cost me £80 in petrol but it was well worth it as buying it if it were fake would have cost me £850!

It s irrelevent whether or not the seller got the watch to try and make a profit. If you are happy with the price asked then go ahead with the purchase.

I dont see any issue with this watch at all.

[tfarchio]

There are a lot of fake tags out there. Many of these have fake boxes and papers. At first blush, it looks genuine, but the seller has a very low rating. A real reason for caution IMHO. I would never buy a watch from someone on eBay with that low of a rating, even if every feedback is positive.

I noticed that you were looking at a Longines on eBay recently as well. You might want to stay away from the bay, unless you're buying vintage watches that don't come up that often. There are many, many good sellers on this forum, and others such as PMWF, MWF, etc. many of these sellers have references from other members on the forum, so you know they're trustworthy. Often the deals on the forum end up being better than eBay. People selling on the forums have more to lose if their reputation is tarnished (they will be ostracized from the "community" and be unable to reasonably sell watches there in the future). This is important to consider. Even if you don't end up with a fake watch on eBay, you could buy one that's not really "as described." I believe this is less likely to happen on the forums. Also, with the forums you don't have to deal with shill bidding. This is very important and one of the reasons I don't like auction sites in general. I've seen way too many watches go for much more than I initially expected, just to see the same watch resisted a week later because the winning bidder (who usually has less than 5 positive feedback) didn't pay. Seems fishy to me. Why would u want to bid against people who aren't going to pay anyways? To them, it's just play money...they just want to win the auction. Assuming it's the same watch, I would ask him why he's relisting it. It might reveal something.

There are many other reasons as well. There are some good sellers on eBay but with this watch, I think it would be a real risk. Even if it's not fake, it's a risk. And I can almost guarantee that you won't get it for a little as you might think, simply because you'll be bidding against a lot of other people who are also looking for a good deal. That's been my personal experience in looking at what these watches sell for. I'm often surprised by the final bid.

[Loki324]

Thanks for the replies. I have checked around this forum in the trade section. I would also consider purchasing from this site, but the only problem is, there's no way I can (or at least I don't know how to) narrow it down (for example) to UK sellers only. Buying from abroad I'll eventually have to pay customs etc and it just seems like a lot of hassle. Thanks nevertheless.

[tfarchio]

Try the TZ-UK forums. Mostly European sellers.

[Rogi]

Its a gamble on any forum/site , this sites sales section/TZ/whatever other watch forum is the same as ebay to me. If they can't get together and don't provide refrences if they live in the same town as me or someone I know to have the watch checked out by an AD I'll pass every time, like recently:

I've had 3 sellers drop out on the TZ forums when I suggested we get together so I can have the watch looked at by a Omega AD, TAG AD etc (I was in the market to buying a couple dif. brands of vintage watches :D). The thing is, sometimes the pictures look good and the watch is bad in person or somethings completeley off and thats why they don't want to meet up with you.

I'll usually pay a better price than I know the watch is worth when I'm buying in or near my town, so that it makes it worth the person's while. For example if my AD says "I wouldn't pay more than 200 for that model" I'll pay somewhere round 250-290 because I know that no one will outbid that and the watch will be mine. After that if people try to say "trust me" etc and I do and I don't have it looked at, I'm only the fool for getting screwed over.

I especially like it when they agree to get together and then they cancel on you when you send a time and place and go "you have to trust me" (and my non existant refrences I never sent you) which happened to me on 2 seperate occasions this month (usually people always give the time that there free when the AD is closed or some hour of the day when they know no ones working, when there trying to screw you over)

I'm like you I'd rather not pay shiping, but it peaves me off when there in my area and they don't want to get together, why are you selling it then ? :D

Another thing if you absolutley know nothing about if the watch is genuine or not and there selling it near or in your town, go get it checked out, if they refuse and they'd rather mail it to you, then somethings a bit fishy.

[Loki324]

I just heard that Tag depreciates very fast when buying brand new, so I wanted to take less of a hit by buying used. But it seems too risky like this. I might just go and buy it from an AD. Thank you everyone!

[Rogi]

ADs are giving out 25-30% on discountinued models (I beleive the F1 falls into that category) at least in Canada and the States.

[nuovorecord]

If you're thinking this is the same watch in each auction, please note that the serial #s are different.

With regards to where to buy and sell, at least with eBay, you have some level of security if things go awry. I'm currently working out a sales issue at the moment with a WUS member that reneged on his commitment to purchase a watch, so buying and selling on the forum isn't exactly a bed of roses either.

[Loki324]

I assume you mean you would have to go in and "haggle" just before buying? Or is the discount applied anyway(i.e. can purchase online from AD)?