How buying a watch from me works, start to finish

Q: What if the watch is not as described?

Say so when it arrives and Luke makes it right. Nothing is shipped that was not shown to you on the call first, which is the point of the call.

Five steps, each one there to make buying a watch you haven't held in your hand safe: live video, a written invoice, a bank wire, insured shipping to your signature.

1. Ask

Pick a piece on the site or tell me what you're after. I answer by text, usually the same day, with the price.

2. Video inspection

A FaceTime or Zoom call: the watch running, the case, the serial, the movement where the case back allows, the box and papers. In my hands, while you watch.

3. Written invoice

Your name, the watch with its reference and serial, the price and the terms, in writing, before you pay.

4. Bank wire

You pay by bank wire to the business account on the invoice. No app transfers, no gift cards, nothing to a personal account.

5. Insured, signed-for shipping

The watch ships fully insured for the price paid, tracked, with a signature required on delivery. Twin Cities buyers can pick up in person.

Four taped and fragile-stickered shipping boxes stacked on a car's passenger seat, on their way out for insured delivery — How they leave Packed, taped and insured, on the way out

Why this is the safe way to buy a watch you haven't held

Most pre-owned watch fraud happens in the gaps: a listing with borrowed photos, a payment that cannot be traced, a parcel that was never insured. Each step above closes one of those gaps. You see the exact watch running, on a live call, before a dollar moves. You hold an invoice with the serial number on it, from a named business, before you wire. And the watch travels insured for what you paid, to your signature.

I have sold this way since 2023, with the pieces posted as they come in on Instagram. If a buyer wants to meet first, the Twin Cities is by appointment; see meeting in the Twin Cities.

See what is in hand Ask about a watch

Before you text

Questions

Is it safe to wire money to a watch dealer online?

It is safe when you have seen the watch live, you hold a written invoice from a named business with the serial number on it, and the watch ships insured to your signature. That is how every OB Watch Group sale works. A dealer who will not do a live call, or asks for payment by gift card, app transfer or crypto to a personal account, is one to walk away from.

What do I see on the video call?

The watch running on the wrist and off it, the case back and the lugs, the serial and model numbers between the lugs or on the rehaut, the movement where the case back allows it, and the box and papers. Ask for anything else you want to see; the call is for you.

What is on the invoice?

The business name, your name, the watch with its reference and serial number, the price, the payment terms and the shipping terms, in writing, before you pay.

How does shipping work?

Fully insured for the price paid, tracked, with a signature required on delivery. Twin Cities buyers can meet me in person instead.

What if the watch is not as described?

Say so when it arrives and I make it right. Nothing is shipped that was not shown to you on the call first, which is the point of the call.