For the first 20 years of its existence, Watchfinder bought every watch that it then resold on its ground-breaking site.
That changed in its home country, the UK, in 2023, when it started working with carefully selected third party sellers who were invited to trade via an online marketplace.
The UK marketplace was a learning experience and, almost two years since launching, the plan is being expanded and rolled out in the United States.
Country manager Edouard Caumon says the expansion from an owned-inventory model with the addition of third parties selling via its marketplace is a natural evolution that will deliver more options and opportunities for buyers and sellers.
“It all comes down to choice,” he tells WatchPro.
“Providing our customers with unprecedented access to the widest selection of great quality pre-owned timepieces has always been our number one priority From current bestsellers and cult classics through to vintage and limited-edition pieces, Watchfinder already has thousands of watches from more than 70 different luxury brands, all available online and via our network of private showrooms and boutiques. The decision to launch our own marketplace was a way to bring even more choice to our customers without compromising on product quality or customer experience,” he adds.
Marketplace watches will be integrated into the existing Watchfinder e-commerce offering, with marketplace watches shown side-by-side with Watchfinder owned stock. Marketplace watches will be identified on the product pages with a small marketplace graphic and the seller’s name displayed clearly. Customers will also have the ability to filter out marketplace stock if this is not what they are looking for.
As with its own inventory, Watchfinder’s marketplace watches will be meticulously inspected, performance-tested and authenticated by its team of expert watchmakers, which are accredited by 19 of the world’s leading watch manufacturers. Plus, each watch will also be checked and traced to ensure it’s not been flagged as lost or stolen.
Once these processes are complete, every watch will be delivered with Watchfinder’s 24 month warranty. “Our marketplace will be an extension of Watchfinder so marketplace customers will benefit from everything a Watchfinder customer does,” Mr Caumon promises.
The work of ensuring watches meet the standard starts before they are even listed on the marketplace because Watchfinder will only work with a tight list of pre-approved professional sellers that already have excellent reputations.
Watchfinder marketplace is by invitation-only. It is targeted at professional retailers of certified pre-owned watches who share our values and stringent standards when it comes to product quality and customer experience,” Mr Caumon explains.
The process will not be rushed because quality controls will be maintained across owned and marketplace inventory. In the UK, this meant just five professional sellers were onboarded in time for launch, and this has gradually increased. In America, Mr Caumon expects to have around 20 sellers within six months of launch.
Key to success is a solution that appeals to sellers while being almost unnoticed by customers. In the UK, this has been a provably successful model that has expanded Watchfinder much faster than would have been possible if it had stuck to owning all its inventory. In the ten months since launch, the marketplace has grown to the point where around 40% of the watches people see listed on the site are from third party sellers.
“The ambition for the US is very similar, and we estimate that our US marketplace will enrich our US inventory by approximately 30% by the end of this year,” Mr Caumon suggests.
In simple terms, that means more brands and models for customers to choose from. Watchfinder also promises to be competitive on price, despite its uncompromising focus on maintaining the highest quality standards, and is even allowing its marketplace sellers to set their own prices, regardless of whether they are lower than those offered on its owned inventory.
And there is no expectation that Watchfinder’s sellers will have to abandon any other sales channels, including their own direct to consumer offers. “It’s certainly not a case of us or them. The Watchfinder marketplace is intended to provide sellers with a new sales channel that will complement their existing business model,” Mr Caumon says.
One advantage Watchfinder has over almost every other pre-owned watch trading operation is its experience built up over more than two decades.
The company was a pioneer in professionalizing secondary market trading to the extent that the mighty Richemont bought it in 2018.
That deal sparked the gold rush of competitors hoping to emulate the success, but the original remains the best, and that is one of the most important reasons third party sellers are expected to rush to join the marketplace.
“Ultimately the marketplace is an opportunity for sellers to take advantage of everything Watchfinder has built up over the last 20 plus years – the customer base, the brand reputation, the infrastructure,” Mr Caumon suggests.
Watchfinder’s scale and global reach are another reason to come onboard. For example, many of its customers like to part-exchange one of their own watches in order to buy a new one. With the hybrid model, this is a flexible process so that somebody can sell a watch to Watchfinder in order to fund a purchase from a third party seller.
“We anticipate our part-exchange services will be a key conversion driver for our sellers,” Mr Caumon predicts.
As the marketplace expands and grows in sophistication, there is even a plan for third party inventory to be offered in Watchfinder’s network of physical stores around the world.
For customers, it will be possible to search Watchfinder’s listings and filter for marketplace stock, which could take a little longer to ship because of the quality control process that has to take place before a watch is delivered with its two-year guarantee. Owned inventory has this process completed before watches are listed.
Again, it is about offering choice.
If the UK experience is any guide to the future of the American marketplace, it will become a one-stop shop for watch lovers, regardless of budget.
Right now, watch prices for Watchfinder’s US inventory ranges in price from $780 up to $130,000. By comparison, UK inventory, including marketplace stock, ranges from around $1,100 to over $700,000.
For more information visit:
www.watchfinder.com/marketplace