Rolex, Patek Philippe… Luxury watchmaking is a hit on eBay
Supercars, a plane, sneakers, handbags... The Prévert 2.0 inventory of the most exceptional sales made in 2019 on eBay can sometimes surprise you. It includes both a collector's card signed by six-time SuperBowl winner Tom Brady ($400,000) and a Lamborghini Aventador Roadster ($349,800). The record for this past year: a place for the twentieth annual luncheon with billionaire Warren Buffet, for the benefit of the Guide foundation, sold for 4.567 million dollars.
Timepieces costing more than 100,000 euros
In terms of luxury watchmaking, we find that some exceptional timepieces can also be auctioned off or sold online. How can one buy, without seeing it or checking the condition of its movement, a fine watchmaking piece worth more than 100,000 euros? However, in the Top 20 of the most extraordinary sales made via Ebay in 2019, there are notably two great Patek Philippe complications (Manual calendar Ref. 5270G-014 - $139,500 (125,000 euros) & Perpetual calendar Ref. 5270G-018 - $125,000 - 112,000 euros), as well as a Rolex Pearlmaster Ref. 86285, in 18k rose gold with a diamond bracelet ($100,001 - 89,000 euros). Also sold this year, via the famous site, were a Richard Mille Automatic Chronograph in rose gold and titanium ($96,900-87,000 euros) and a Rolex Daytona in white gold Auto 40 mm diamond bracelet ($89,950-80 800 euro). “For us, luxury has always been a fairly dynamic sector, and continues to be, underlines Camille Bailleul, head of marketing at eBay France. We give amateurs and collectors around the world access to products that they would not have the physical possibility of finding.
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It must be said that trust in the famous sales and auction site was not built in a day: "eBay has been around for 25 years, and today has more than 1.4 billion items on the site, with 183 million buyers around the world who trust us. It is also eBay that invented customer reviews, in 1997, on the seller as well as on transactions. We always advise our buyers, when they want to spend such a large sum, to consult the seller's file.
How can you be sure and certain of your purchase, for products offered at such high prices? “It is not a transaction that ends up being paid for from hand to hand”, recalls Louise Benzrihem, communication manager at eBay France. We are trusted third parties. “We have also implemented a whole range of anti-counterfeiting tools, explains Camille Bailleul. The most important is the VeRO (for Verified Right Owner), with more than 40,000 rights holders who can report products to us that they have problems with.” Across the Atlantic, the site also offers the Authenticate program, particularly for luxury watches. No less than 36 watch brands are eligible for it, alongside jewelry or handbags. Only identified sellers are accepted into this program, with an expert verifying the photos and descriptions of all luxury products offered for sale through eBay.
But the most reassuring factor for buying a luxury product via the auction site is clearly the eBay guarantee, which offers a refund within 48 hours if you have not received the item. ordered, or if it does not conform to the description given. “We advise our customers, for this type of transaction, to pay via Ebay PayPal or credit card in order to benefit from it if necessary, underlines Camille Bailleul.
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