Watch help!

[princess barbara]

Hello everyone-this is my first post asking for advice. My husband's company awarded him a new expensive watch. It has all original packaging with no logo from his company on it and it's been touched by him twice but never worn since he received it 2 weeks ago.

We looked it up on ebay, spoke to a jeweler in the neighborhood and saw the retail on Amazon as well as the watch website. Basically we have a $14,000.00 men's watch. Oh what we could do with that money!

My question to you all is what is the best way to sell it to receive the most for it? The neighbor jeweler offered $5,600.00 which we turned down. He offered to put it in his shop on consignment. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity and we don't want to screw it up. Help!

 

[disprincessatheart]

I don't have advice on what to do, but a little advice on what it's worth. Most retail jewelry is sold at either "double key" or "triple key" - two or three times the store's cost. That's why the store offered you what they did for the watch - they can buy one direct for half of the retail value.

 

[Jex]

Depending on the type/brand there are many watch forums that have a place for private sellers to place ads.

 

[kimsuenew]

Remember too that you have to keep enough of the selling cost for taxes which are based on actual value. Twice we received items (none of which we sold) from local giveaways and received tax forms for the value which we then had to pay tax on. Perhaps your husband may be exempt but you need to check with a professional to cover yourself!

 

[momxx5]

You can check with an accountant, but I don't think you will recieve anything as far a taxes are concerned because this was a gift. Not somthing spefically earned.

Congrats to your DH for recieving such an extrodinary item. How wonderful.

I totally understand the feeling of "omg, the things we could do with that kind of money".

Honestly, with a retail value of $14,000, I would expect to recieve about 1/3 to may 1/2 of its value.

Do you have an actual written appraisal from a very reputable business that deals especially in watches? If not, that is the first thing I would do.
Then you can search the internet and look into the possiblity of consigning it.

Keep in mind, it is very similar as to tryng to sell a brand new car just driven off the dealer's lot. It loses so much value in less than a day.
However, earning anything over $6-7,000 is much more than you had a few weeks ago.

It is going to be one of those things, once you decide what to do, and how much to accept, you are going to have to be a peace with the decision and not look back because you can drive yourself crazy thing about "if only I had....."

Best of luck and congrats again.

 

[whatname]

Not sure how big the company is that your dh works for but will anyone be offended that he sold the watch? If it is a small company, someone may notice he never wears it or ask how he likes it, etc.

I would want to sell it too. Who wears a watch these days?

Congrats on the gift/money.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

The "retail price" is not even close to reality. If you do sell this, I agree that you need to make sure it is authenticated by a dealer first.

 

[TiggerificTigger]

Just another FYI - The watch will mostly likely be considered taxable income. So, if the company did not withhold taxes for it, you might be in for a big surprise come tax time. De minimus gifts (under $100) are unusually not taxable, but anything over that is typically considered compensation. I think there are exceptions for length of service gifts, but several restrictions must be met. Of course, check with your own tax professional.

 

[Jex]

Not sure how big the company is that your dh works for but will anyone be offended that he sold the watch? If it is a small company, someone may notice he never wears it or ask how he likes it, etc.

I would want to sell it too. Who wears a watch these days?

Congrats on the gift/money.

A lot of people, I have many that I wear rotating them depending on what I am wearing.