I have both sold a watch and bought a watch that has gone through the authentication process. The one I sold was turned around by them within about 5 hours, and arrived with the buyer the following day. The one I bought was turned around within 2 days, which I think is their SLA. When received it was very well packaged with additional information on 3 cards. I found it a very painless process, though admittedly my purchase came from a dealer with their own guarantee and insurance certificate providing all the reassurance I really needed.
I don't know what's on the NFC-enabled plastic card as I don't have a compatible device to read it!
Ant
Got my watch back, it all seems to be in original condition, no items missing (which I was concerned about as I'd sent the original clasp and extra links in a pouch in one of the watch box compartments).
Going to give them a call tomorrow to find out the full reason for them accepting a return. One of the reasons the buyer gave to me was that the warranty card hasn't been stamped and there wasn't a swing tag.
Got to say the box it came back in didn't fill me with much hope as it was single boxed with dents all over it, but maybe I'm just a bit more clinical when it comes to sending a watch worth a few grand.
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Glad you got it back without anything damaged or missing.
It is a case of sellers needing to be incredibly specific about what is and isn’t included?
Well to say I’m unimpressed with the authentication process is an understatement.
The watch has arrived with be today. Described as in excellent condition, with box, warranty card, hang tag and receipt.
One of the items is missing and both the top and bottom of the lugs are scratched from strap changing marks. One of the top of a lug is quite deep. Photos were obviously carefully taken to mask these. The watch can in no way be described as in excellent condition so I fail to understand why this was not brought to my attention by the authenticators.
In discussions with the seller at the moment.
Had a email from eBay authenticity about a watch I was in the process of buying listed as immaculate I guess some peoples views of immaculate are very different from mine
Last edited by Balance wheel; 8th May 2024 at 18:50.
Even if a watch is what I think 100% I’d never say that .
Everyone’s mint is different,but that ain’t mint .
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I think so from what he said and my experience.
I bought a watch which went through and had similar email, showing couple marks seller didn’t say and then mentioned a discrepancy on the warranty card vs what’s on listing and gave option of accepting or refusing the watch based not matching description and photos on listing
I bought a watch on Tuesday which has just failed the authentication service. No issues with the process and I’ve been refunded already, but just curious as to whether you get sent the reasons why it failed?
There’s no info other than just a generic message saying it failed.
It looked kosher from the photos, and the seller had a decent amount of 100% feedback.
Annoying as I used the 10% off code and now that’s not available for me to use on anything else.
These 10% offers are becoming common place, there’s another one starting soon and another one first week of June
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[ignore this. I see that it is answered earlier in the thread. My fault for not reading through]
Does the authentication process also apply to watches bought from outside the UK?
I can only imagine the hassle of getting a watch through customs and eBay having to pay any duty which you then need to pass onto the customer, unless the watch fails the authentication stage.
Last edited by sish101; 8th May 2024 at 21:26.
I was looking at a watch on eBay the other day that was above the £1500 limit but didn’t have the authenticity guarantee marker on the auction. All the other similar models did. So can the seller opt out?
Anyone know how to get a code?
I’m wondering if I make an offer and it’s accepted, can I use a 10% on top of that? Probably not, I’d imagine.
If you’ve got the code eBay make it very obvious, all qualifying watches have a banner half way down the listing saying “Take xxx amount off this purchase”. I don’t think the voucher is account specific so you should have it.
It does also apply if you make an offer and it’s accepted, you can copy the code and apply it in the voucher section when you confirm your offer
I bought an IWC Tribute to MkXI from a dealer on eBay that failed authentication. I contacted eBay to understand the process/reason and was advised by the watchmakers who checked it that they wouldn't go into detail but assured me they had good reason to fail it. The dealer was going to send it to IWC for a service to authenticate it but, whilst I did request it, I never received any update.
Does anyone know roughly how long the authentication process takes?