Stop Killing the Joy: A Stern Message to Vintage Watch Dealers

Collecting vintage watches should be a joyful and meaningful pursuit—an engaging quest for history, craftsmanship, and personal stories. Yet lately, some dealers have lost sight of what truly matters to collectors. It’s time for a reality check: if you continue disregarding your customers, cutting corners, and chasing quick cash at the expense of honest relationships, you’re not just hurting your own reputation—you’re poisoning the entire hobby. Here’s why it needs to stop.

1) Low-Ball Offers Destroy Credibility

Let’s cut to the chase: offering a ridiculous low-ball figure for a piece someone has spent months, or even years, researching is insulting. It signals you don’t value the watch—or the person selling it—and it instantly undermines trust. In an information-rich era, collectors know the market, and they recognize when a dealer is playing games. If you alienate serious watch enthusiasts with offers that are laughable, don’t expect them to ever come back. A single bad experience can burn bridges across the entire collecting community.

2) Stand Behind What You Sell—or Watch Your Customers Vanish

You may be able to offload a questionable watch with minimal disclosure once, but remember: you’re in a niche market. Word travels fast. People spend real money—often millions over a lifetime of collecting—to acquire pieces that mean something to them. If you won’t stand behind your watches when something goes wrong—whether that’s a hidden replacement part or mechanical failure—you’ll lose not only that buyer but countless referrals. Reputation is everything in this game, and if yours is tarnished, no YouTube following or brand facade will save you.

3) YouTube Fame Doesn’t Justify Low-Balling

Social media has given rise to a new crop of watch dealers who flaunt followings and subscriber counts. While leveraging an online presence can be smart business, it doesn’t grant you the right to treat collectors like fools. We see through shallow “content” that’s all about extracting the highest profit with the lowest offer. If you want true credibility, earn it by offering fair deals, providing transparency, and treating people with respect—online and off.

4) You Can Shear the Sheep Many Times, But Skin Them Only Once

It’s an old saying, but it applies perfectly here: make a quick buck by ripping someone off, and you’ll lose any chance for future business. Collectors buy multiple watches over a lifetime. We’re always on the hunt for the next piece—especially if we find a dealer we can trust. A bad deal or dishonest approach might net you a short-term gain, but it will permanently damage your standing. If your goal is to stay in the game long-term, you must nurture relationships, not exploit them.

5) Cut the Used Car Sales Tactics—They’re Outdated and Transparent

No one wants to feel like they’re haggling with a pushy, second-rate salesman who sees them only as a bankroll on legs. Using high-pressure tactics, spouting half-truths about provenance, or hiding crucial information about a watch’s condition is manipulative and shortsighted. Not only do collectors share these negative experiences widely, but it also undermines the respectability of the entire vintage market. Step up your ethics—or watch your clientele walk out the door.

6) We Buy the Seller, Not Just the Watch

This point can’t be overstated: in a specialized hobby like watch collecting, the dealer’s integrity and expertise matter as much as the watch itself. When we make a purchase, we’re effectively trusting you—your reputation, your knowledge, your assurance that what we’re buying is authentic and fairly priced. If you fail us, we’ll go elsewhere. Worse yet, we’ll warn our networks. Lose trust once, and you’ll spend years trying to earn it back—if you can.

7) Buyers Sometimes “Play Dumb” to Test You

Think you can spot a novice from a mile away and take advantage? Think again. Some collectors deliberately act clueless, asking basic questions or offering up a valuable piece to see whether a dealer will try to rip them off. If you leap at the chance to exploit what you think is ignorance, you’ll reveal your true colors—and fail that test spectacularly. Newsflash: these “clueless” buyers often know exactly what they’re doing. Don’t embarrass yourself by being unethical.

8) People Work Hard for Their Money—Don’t Disrespect Them

Not every collector is a billionaire able to drop cash without flinching. Many enthusiasts sacrifice, save diligently, and hustle just to afford that dream timepiece. It’s a slap in the face when a dealer belittles their budget or tries to wring every last penny out of them. Your role is to help them find a piece that brings them joy and stands the test of time. By showing contempt for people’s hard-earned money, you prove you care more about profit than passion—and we’ll take our passion (and our money) to someone who deserves it.

9) You’re Sucking the Fun Out of a Fantastic Hobby

This isn’t just a business transaction; it’s a shared passion for art, mechanics, and history. Part of the magic of vintage watches is the stories they carry—the connection to different eras and personal milestones. When dealers focus solely on maximizing profit at the expense of honesty and respect, you strip away the excitement and camaraderie that makes collecting worthwhile. That doesn’t just harm the individual collector—it chips away at the entire community.

Final Word

To all the vintage watch dealers out there: enough is enough. We collectors aren’t your competition on the fringes—we’re the reason your business exists in the first place. You want to make money? Great, so do we—we’ve worked tirelessly to earn the funds to indulge in our passion. But if your approach is to condescend, misrepresent, or play games, you’ll find yourself with fewer and fewer customers as time goes on.

Treat collectors with dignity. Stand behind what you sell. Recognize that building real, long-term relationships will ultimately pay far more dividends than any one-shot exploit. Because in the end, this hobby is supposed to be fun—and it’s high time you remembered it.