We experience the pain of loss stronger than the joy of having.
This is the reason why sellers remorse, that feeling of regret we can sometimes experience when we sell a watch, can be so crushingly horrible. We can feel completely confident that our decision to sell is the right one. We no longer wear a watch, never have the desire to choose it from the box, maybe even regret buying it, but as soon as you get that ‘sold’ email from eBay all your confidence disappears and your left with that pit of regret in your stomach.
It’s a horrible feeling that I know some enthusiasts go through in a perpetual cycle. Buying and selling the same watch repeatedly in the hopes that each time it comes and goes from the collection it’s finally the right choice.
The good news is there are ways you can help prevent sellers regret and free yourself to move watches out of your collection without worry.
No regrets: The steps to preventing sellers remorse.
These are my suggestions and the steps you can take to avoid sellers remorse. You may feel that not all of them are for you, but consider it a tool box that you can use as a bit of a mental check list when you are thinking of selling in order to try and minimise any mistakes.
- Put the watch away and come back to it.
This is a tip which often gets mentioned when someone is on the fence about selling a watch. Put it away, out of sight and see how you feel about it after a month, or 3 or 6.
Give it long enough so that you forget what you liked and didn’t like about it, so that you can come back to it again with fresh eyes.
If you find you’re yearning to get it out from the back of the cupboard after a few weeks then chances are it’s a keeper… at least for now.
After its period of time ‘in the hole’ bring it back out and reassess how you feel about it. Treat it like a second unboxing and see if it gives you butterflies or a general feeling of ‘meh’.
If reuniting with it doesn’t feel like anything special, then you are probably safe letting it go.
2. Watch YouTube reviews
Let’s face it, we all love a good dolop of social proof in our decision making. Seeing others making the same choices as us is very reaffirming, so get on YouTube and look up reviews for the watch you have on the chopping block.
Seeing others swoon over it, or pan it completely, may help you with your decision and remind you why you wanted to buy or sell it.
Try to get a range of opinions if you can, and then decide how you feel about it personally.
I don’t want you to keep a watch just because other people tell you it’s great, so if you watch a bunch of review videos of people raving about it, and yet you still don’t feel it’s for you, then let it go.
3. Is it just because you don’t use it right now?
People will often say that they are parting with a watch because it simply doesn’t match their lifestyle. Maybe you have young kids and are much more likely to be wearing a G-shock in the park than a Reverso to the restaurant.
Of course, it’s sensible to move a watch on to a new home if it never sees any wrist time, but do consider that this may not always be the case.
Situations change. Children grow up, we move jobs, take up different hobbies and even our style can change over time.
That gorgeous dress watch may not get much wrist time now, but don’t get rid of it just for that reason. If you really love it then consider if it may be worth keeping for a time in your life when it will see more action.
4. Try it on different straps and with different outfits.
The right strap can change the whole feel and look of a watch. The right strap choice can elevate the comfort level exponentially. The right colours can bring out beautiful subtleties in the dial, and even different strap materials can give a watch a totally different perception.
A nato strap will dress a watch down and can feel more comfortable to some. Rubber straps can give a sportier feel, while leather can look more elegant or vintage, depending on the style.
I won’t go into the detail of colour theory, but suffice to say, strap colour matters. Try choosing a strap colour that matches one of the minor colours on the dial, or go for a contrasting one instead. There is a huge amount of choice out there on Amazon, Etsy or from some of the great independent strap makers, so sit down with your watch and have a play around.
Also consider pairing the watch with different outfits to see if you find an absolute stunner of a combo that means it’s worth keeping hold of. See if wearing it with a shirt or a hoodie changes how you feel about it.
5. Wear it for a week
In a polar opposite move to ‘the hole’, try wearing the watch exclusively and continuously for a week.
Doing this will give you a proper opportunity to appreciate what you do and don’t like about it, perhaps giving you time to see details or features that you hadn’t noticed previously, for better or worse.
You will get to appreciate how comfortable (or not) it is when worn everyday, how frustrating the crown is to use or how useful a chronograph function is for timing your parking or your morning brew.
Give it the opportunity to prove itself to you, and then at least you can say you tried.
6. Think about why you want to sell.
Sometimes you can be in the mindset that you need to stick to a watch collection of a certain size, only have one of each style of watch, only have watches that you can wear often enough.
This can be a helpful way to limit your collection if you feel that without such constraints, and a firm collecting plan, you would end up going out of control. But just be mindful that this may lead to you parting with watches that you actually still love.
Take a bit of time to think to yourself, would I be happier sticking to my plan of no more than one Chronograph in my collection, or actually would I feel better keeping both of these watches?
This is a very personal decision, and I’m not going to tell you that you should just buy and keep every watch you love, that’s just not real life for most of us. Many of us have a set amount of money they are willing/able to put into the hobby and they sell watches to fund future purchases. This is a perfectly healthy way of managing a collection, but just take a bit of time to understand your own motivations for selling.
If you need to sell a watch. Sell it. Sell them all if your family needs feeding or your need to keep your car running. But don’t sell a watch just because someone else on the internet says you should have a three watch collection.
7. Don’t sell it for too little
If after trying the above you still feel that it’s time for the watch to leave your collection you need to make sure you are happy with the terms of the breakup, otherwise you may still be left feeling bitter about it.
Do your research. Check eBay and especially do a search for previously sold items to get an idea of what your pricing should be.
Another good place to check is Chrono24 to get a feel for the market.
If it’s a particularly unusual watch, such as a rarely seen vintage model or a microbrand, then it may be tricky to decide on a price.
In this instance you have three options:
1. You stick the watch on for 99p and let the market tell you what it’s worth.
2. You can put a starting bid of the lowest you’d be happy to part with it for
3. You can try putting it on for an ‘optimistic’ price to see if you get any bites.
The choice is yours, but personally I wouldn’t go for number one. If luck isn’t on your side then you risk your watch going for much less than it’s worth and you won’t be feel good about the sale.
8. Don’t sell on impulse
Sometimes we can get the fever upon us to just have a massive cleanse of the collection and feel the urge to get rid of the undesirables as quickly as possible.
But be wary of acting on impulse.
It can be very tempting to strike while the iron is hot, with the feeling that if you don’t take advantage of your current motivation to have a clear out then you may never get round to doing it, but still, consider taking a little time to consider if you actually want to part with the watches your considering selling.
By all means take the photos for the ads, create the eBay or Chrono24 listing and get together all the boxes and paperwork. But then give yourself some time to think the decision through.
Unless you need to raise the cash for something urgently, then there is nothing lost in giving yourself a little time to mull things over before parting ways with a watch, and take time to try some of the suggestions above.
Ultimately, the only way to not regret is to not sell, but this could mean you end up with a box full of watches you don’t want. Sometimes you are just going to have to be brave let a watch move on regardless.
Take care my friends, and happy selling.
Kaysia
The Escapement Room 
It’s great advice. Thanks Kaysia, hope you are well!
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