Online shopping is a rapidly growing trend. It makes sense, right? You can browse through hundreds of products and retailers from the comfort of your own home – no crowds, no trees flattened by school buses – and nobody even asks for ID when you sign for that new set of golf clubs. Why then wouldn’t this convenience be applied to watches? What are the reasons why you should be buying a watch online or even think twice about doing so?
Here are the five biggest hurdles you’ll have to jump over when buying a watch online if you can successfully leap all of them; congrats! You’ve just bagged yourself that high-end smartwatch without leaving the house.
1: You can’t try it on!
This is a big obstacle and the one that worries most people when they consider online shopping. How can I tell if this watch – which has undoubtedly been subjected to countless conveyor belts and possibly even sat on at some point – fits me?
It’s a bit of a different story if you’re buying a watch as a gift, though. If the person is local, try and visit them in person to assess their wrist size and pick up on any subtle hints they may give off about what they’d like for Christmas or whatever other holiday you observe/don’t observe.
If they live somewhere far away or are really hard to buy for, you can always purchase multiple watch straps and ask the recipient to try each one out until they find one that’s comfortable.
There is also a growing number of websites where you can upload images of the person’s wrist, their current watch (if any), and how often they wear a watch (if at all) and get advice from fellow watch enthusiasts.
2: The price isn’t the price
This obstacle is very closely related to hurdle number one, as it’s difficult to assess the size of a wrist using only online tools. People like me like to think that we know our wrist size, but the truth is that most of us haven’t really paid attention to it.
The solution is simple – if you know which watch you want and how much it costs from one of the leading retailers, check out alternative suppliers. If a given model is listed at a significantly lower price elsewhere, there’s a high chance that you’re looking at a fake.
The only exception to this rule is if the retailer has an excellent reputation for taking returns without too much hassle, but that’s usually only the case with large companies. If it were me, I would stick to buying from one of the established online watch retailers.
3: The ‘right’ price (how to avoid dealers)
If the last obstacle was the ‘wrong’ price, this one is definitely the ‘right’ one. If you’re in doubt about whether your prospective purchase is genuine, check out these interactive guides. They’re not completely foolproof, but they give you a good idea of what to look out for when checking the authenticity.
4: You can’t try it on!
This obstacle is very closely related to hurdle number one, as it’s difficult to assess the size of a wrist using only online tools. People like me like to think that we know our wrist size, but the truth is that most of us haven’t really paid attention to it.
The solution is simple – if you know which watch you want and how much it costs from one of the leading retailers, check out alternative suppliers. If a given model is listed at a significantly lower price elsewhere, there’s a high chance that you’re looking at a fake. You can find more at https://www.watchpalace.com.sg/rolex-collection/rolex-cosmograph-daytona/
The only exception to this rule is if the retailer has an excellent reputation for taking returns without too much hassle, but that’s usually only the case with large companies. If it were me, I would stick to buying from one of the established online watch retailers.
5: Be vigilant
One final word of warning – some people have been known to purchase fake watches as a prank, so if you do opt for an online merchant or another alternative supplier, then be warned that you could (in rare cases) end up with a dud.
That should do it! Buying an expensive watch online isn’t as tricky as some people make out, but it’s definitely not as simple as entering a few numbers into Google and waiting for it to arrive in the post. It’s all about being patient, researching your options, and doing your homework before you hit the ‘buy’ button.
