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In Part I you did your homework; in Part II you honed your photography skills; now in Part III you’ll put it all together and show potential buyers just what you’ve got. In this post we will break down the essentials and then look at them together in a sample post.
One of the best lessons in writing sales posts is to consider this question: if you were buying this watch, what would you want to know about it? Put yourself in the buyer’s shoes and answer some pretty basic questions and you’ll hit most of what people need to know. A sales post can be broken down into:
1. The Intro
2. The What
3. The Package
4. The Condition
5. The Price
6. The Photos
Starting off, The Intro is a simple, short introduction to you and your post. Think of it as a friendly greeting or initial pitch. Typically you can use a simple summary of the watch you are selling and perhaps why.
The What breaks down your watch into the essential details; in other words the specs. This can be done in a narrative manner, but is perhaps easier to read broken out into a handful of mostly self-explanatory bullet points. Either way you go, these are the areas you should cover:
– Make: Your watch brand
– Model: Model name and number
– Movement: Movement type, manufacture and cal. number
– Features: Such as screw down crown, HE valve, chronograph, etc.
– Material: What the watch is made of
– Crystal: Sapphire; mineral; acrylic; AR coating, etc.
– WR: Rated water resistance
– Width: Diameter across the watch without crown
– Height: Thickness of the watch
– Length: Distance from lug tip to lug tip
– Lugs: Lug width for strap size
– Weight: Usually in grams
Right there you have a pretty comprehensive list of information for the watch you are selling. If you do not know any of these specs (like weight, for instance, not everyone has a kitchen scale they can use) try checking the manufactures website (if available).
The Package outlines exactly what the sale includes. For example: extra straps? Box? Papers? Are all the extra links present? Make it clear; spell it out so there is no question. You don’t want the seller to come back angry because there were no extra links for the bracelet and now it won’t fit their wrist. Note it up front so there is no question.
The Condition takes your homework from Part I and puts it into a descriptive paragraph is the condition. As mentioned in Part I, you can use the label and/or percent rating from the TZ Grading System, however those terms are subjective; that is why it is best to, again, spell it out. Take a few moments and jot down the condition of the watch in a few simple sentences. Include the location of any dents, dings or scratches. What shape is the bracelet or strap is? Be sure to include that as well. Again, think as if you were buying the watch from someone else. What would you want to know about it? As painful as it is to include those imperfections, it will make a big difference post sale.
The Price is where you lay out your price for the watch, what payment methods you will accept (PayPal, Money Order, etc.) where you will ship (within your own country or specific locations) and how you can be contacted (email, private message, phone). Note that if you do use private messages it is advisable to turn on PM notifications in the forum software so you do not miss an offer.
Lastly, we have The Photos. You can insert these here from your photo host, or if the sales venue allows upload them as attachments to your post.
That may seem like a lot of information but it actually comes together pretty quickly once you have all your details in your pocket, and it will give your prospective buyer a good sense of your watch and have many of their questions answered before they need to ask. Let’s take a look at a sample sales post using the above format.
For you consideration is this cal. 1861 Speedmaster from 1995 that I have owned since 2004. I have my eye on another piece and am ready to give this one a new home. My incoming is your gain.
Make: Omega
Model: Speedmaster Professional, model 3590.50.00
Movement: Omega cal. 1861
Features: Chronograph, Tachymeter
Material: Stainless Steel
Crystal: Hesalite
WR: 30M
Width: 41mm
Height: 13.5mm
Length: 49mm
Lugs: 20mm
The watch will come on a GasGasBones NASA-specs style strap & a 1970’s style bracelet (with all links). I do not have the box or papers for the watch nor the original bracelet.
The watch is in Very Good condition overall, but has clearly been worn. There are some scratches associated with regular wear as well as a few on the back of the lugs. The dial, crystal and hands have all been replaced with genuine Omega parts. The crystal has some light scratches which can easily be polished out. The watch is running about +3-5 seconds a day and the chronograph functions as expected.
Asking $1,000,000,000 USD via PayPal only. I will ship to the US and Canada only, thank you. Contact me at [email protected] or via PM. Thanks for looking!
There you have a sample hitting all the points as outlined above. It is easy to read and the specifics are clearly spelled out providing all information up front for potential buyers.
Next post, we will look at where to sell and bring it all together. See you then!
