How Flipping Luxury Watches Works: The Simple 6-Step Process I’ve Used To Make Millions

Most people think flipping watches is as simple as buy low, and sell high.

While that's technically not wrong, there is a science to this madness.

A science that when executed successfully...

Allows you to profit massively with each deal AND protects your money in the process.

When you correctly flip luxury watches (like I'm about to show you below), you can't lose.

Worst case scenario if you can't sell a watch for profit - you can get back your money within 24 hours. 

Below is a diagram that shows a 'big picture' overview of how the entire watch flipping process works:

It's actually pretty simple.

But let's quickly go through each step so you understand how it all works:

Step #1 - Find The Deal

This is where you source the watch you want to buy in order to flip.

There are literally dozens of places online you can source a luxury watch, but the some of the most popular sites include eBay and Facebook.

In fact, most of my deals actually come from eBay.

Here's why I like eBay:

• It's a household marketplace that most sellers go-to first.
• You can often sort and find local deals.
• They do offer some type of protection/authentication.
• And you can filter between store listings vs private sellers.

That's important because we don't want to go to war with jewelers and professional watch dealers.

What we're after are private sellers who are often times more motivated to sell and do a poor job marketing their watch.

I'm talking about lazy or incorrect watch details and blurry or terrible pictures.

Take a look at this Panerai 104 (same as my very first flip) listing.

Dark photos.

Incorrect spelling of P-A-N-E-R-A-I (seen below from the eBay description).

This seller probably has no idea what model his watch is lol. 

But of course, you can't just buy any watch you see.

Certain watches are more desirable than others and will obviously sell better than others depending on brand, current market, and what's trending.

But a safe bet for beginners are always brands like...

• Rolex
• Omega
• Breitling
• Panerai
• Hublot

Step #2 - Buy The Watch

Once you find a watch you want to flip, you now have to make an offer to the seller. 

Remember, you need to buy the watch at a price where you not only make a profit, but you also need to buy it at a price where you minimize your risk exposure.

This is why I recommend people to buy watches using a formula what I call "Bottom Cash Value" (BCV).

BCV is the price that you can liquidate a watch instantly to any jeweler in any economy.

It's basically your fail-safe.

Knowing the BCV gives you a good idea of your risk exposure.

If you are in a money crunch and need to liquidate your watch at a pawnshop or jeweler ASAP to get cash... the BCV number is what THEY will pay you.

The price YOU pay should be as close to BCV as possible so it's a win-win for both you and the seller.

In other words... the seller agrees to sell you the watch at a price that makes them happy, but also with enough "meat on the bones" so you can still make a profit.

Figuring out BCV for any watch is actually easy.

Here's how you do it:

Contact any local or online jeweler such as Govberg or Bob’s Watches for a quote on how much they'd be willing to pay for the same watch you want to buy.

Take the average of the quotes and that becomes your BCV number.

For example, let's say you see an omega speedmaster Racing Panda for sale with an asking price of $3,500.

Your research tells you that the BCV is $2,650.

Let's assume with some basic negotiation you get the seller to agree to $2,650.

At that price you could flip the watch for $3,200 and make $550 profit (20% ROI).

That's fantastic.

Worse case scenario, if you ever need to get your money back, you can just walk into a pawn shop at any given time and get your entire $2,650 back since you bought at BCV.

Like any business or investment, you need to know your numbers and don't let emotions get in the way.

If you follow the BCV formula, you never have to worry about losing money.

This is exactly what my student John did to make a cool 32% ROI on this Breitling Colt GMT.

Step #3 - Create The Perfect Listing

I'll be blunt - most people suck at listing their watch for sale.

They take crappy photos or use stock photos, use boilerplate descriptions, and don't make any attempt to make the buying experience pleasant for the buyer.

You know what sells?

Emotion and trust.

If your pictures can invoke an emotion out of a buyer, you'll have no problem selling.

If you are descriptive and can provide clear details about the watch and yourself, you'll have no problem selling.

Which is why when you put a little effort into your listing, you end up selling your watch 10x faster (and for more profit) than your competitors. 

Taking good photos (which is easy to do with today's phones), having descriptions that sound human, and putting some effort into the buying experience go a LONG way in selling your watch faster (and for more money).

Here's what a good listing looks like:

Great consistent photos that catch your eye immediately.

To the point, yet engaging description that creates excitement and trust.

Here are the best places to list your watch for sale for maximum exposure:

• eBay
• Facebook groups and marketplace
• Reddit
• Forums like RolexForums.com

Step #4 - Connect With Your Buyer

Just like how you made aggressive offers on watches, you'll start to receive them too.

But remember... know your numbers and stick to them.

Since luxury watches are expensive goods, people will ask you questions about them.

But don't worry.

They're almost all the same questions (e.g. what condition is the watch in? or can you send me more pictures?) so it's really not that hard to do.

Do your absolute best to be honest about the watch and any contingencies.

It's actually quite common to get on a phone or Facetime call just to ensure both you and the buyer are legit.

As a beginner starting out you won't have many references and that's ok.

Because every successful deal becomes one new reference and one new client for life.

So it doesn't hurt if you over-deliver just a bit to rack up people to vouch for you.

As you start to do more and more deals, you can flip watches faster without the trouble of listing because of repeat customers that already know and trust you.

Best of all, referrals start snowballing too like my student Austin experienced :)

Step #5 - Collect Payment & Ship 

Alright... so now that your buyer has agreed to your terms, it's time to collect payment and ship your watch.

Let me let you in on a little secret of the watch industry.

Most buyers and sellers do transactions via Bank Wire.

Not only is it because it's the quickest way to receive funds, it's by far one of the safest ways to transfer funds too.

You'll avoid dealing with tire kickers who try to buy stuff on credit.

Although Paypal, Venmo, Zelle, etc... are very popular, I recommend to only use those methods for repeat customers who you personally know and trust.

That's why it's 1000% essential for you to vet the buyer, and equally as important for the buyer to vet you (the seller).

Get on a phone call. Exchange drivers licenses. Ask questions.

If there are any red flags, walk away immediately.

Once funds are received and cleared by you (usually within 24 hours with a bank wire), it is now your responsibility to ship the watch.

There are really two options: FedEx (my choice) and UPS.

Avoid USPS and DHL like the plague as they are not versed in dealing with expensive luxury shipments.

FedEx and UPS, on the other hand, allows you to properly insure the watch so that if anything happens, they can quickly resolve the issue.

Important Note: You ONLY want to ship watches Priority Overnight.

This basically bumps your package up to highest priority with special care from the shipping provider.

Priority Overnight is the safest and quickest way to get your watch directly from you to your buyer.

Using the normal slower ground shipment is extremely risky as your package can bounce around between various people and locations.

No one likes to spend thousands of dollars and not be informed what's going on.

So keep your customer up-to-date throughout the process from first contact all the way to delivery to ensure they feel comfortable about doing business with you.

Step #6 - Profit & Repeat

That's it.

The entire process isn't super sexy.

But it works. 

The cool thing is as you get more advanced and start dealing with more expensive watches, you'll be able to flip FEWER watches and make MORE money. 

Remember, the average profit margin is 20% per watch.

That means you can flip a $1,000 watch for $1,200 ($200 profit).

But you'll eventually be able to flip a $10,000 watch for $12,000 ($2,000 profit).

And it's really the same amount of work.

I'd argue it's even less work since higher-end watch buyers aren't as much of a pain in the ass to work with.

Now that you understand the process, I want to show you real-life proof that all this actually works.

And not by telling you more about my story.

On the next page, I want to show you an example of deals done by a student of mine who went from nothing to making over $100k profit and quit his 9-5 job.