Rolex Resale:a Beginner’s Pricing Guide
Used rolex: that is the topic of this post. If you come to this site looking for information on rolex resale pricing, you have come to the right place. I give you no frills information on how to buy used rolex.
Before you proceed, I would like to recommend my two part articles on how to physically examine a used rolex. All together, these 2 articles will give 9 powerful tips on spotting a real rolex. If you are buying rolex resale, I highly recommend you check out these articles on how to buy used rolex.
Well, when buying a rolex resale, there is only one word that matters: condition, condition, condition. The thing you should keep in mind is that the more worn out a used rolex is, the less money it will fetch in the marketplace. Assuming two identical models of used rolex. the one which is worn less often will of course be less valued in the market. This is the golden rule of buying rolex resale. Keep that in mind.
Let’s talk now about the main focus of this article, which is the right pricing for a used rolex. The first step is to use the list price of a new rolex watch. Typically, there will be a ‘discount’ factor we can apply to the list price for a new rolex because people expect that from buying stuff over the Internet. What is the size of this discount? On average, it will range from the high end of 40% to the low end of 20%, depending on the site you are buying and other factors like desirability of certain models, difficulty in obtaining, rarity of discontinued models, as well as several other factors, which I’ll go into in another post.
We can make this clearer by using an illustration. Say there is a new rolex selling for say $5,000 and the general discount factor for buying on the Internet is around 20%, then the price will be around $4000 ( we take 80% of $5,000). If you have a used version of this rolex, and this watch had signs of wear, then the buyer would not spend more than $3,500 or even $3,000 since he can buy a new rolex for $4,000.The general rule of thumb is that a used rolex should be sold for around 30% to 50% of list, depending on condition and age. Of course, many brands have a much stronger resale quotient such as Rolex.
A special note you should remember is that there is a unspoken factor for the pricing of used rolex. This factor is the strict guidelines that rolex has about dealers’ discounting, which gives us the benefit of a steady price. This is one of the reason why the prices of used rolex will not depreciate but may rise over time. This also explains why buying rolex resale makes sense since it has strong staying power.
A side note: When you are buying rolex resale, you will come across rolex vintage watches. The most popular models for rolex vintage watches includes the First Rolex Submariner, later coined the James Bond, the Early GMT Master made for Pan Am transatlantic Pilots, the First Rolex Explorer’s made famous by the Everest Expedition, the later Explorer II worn by Steve McQueen. All these models are worth buying as they retain value very well and is a worthwhile addition to any collection.
So, if you are thinking of buying a watch, buying used rolex will be a great choice.