Launched in 2022, Grailzee is a new watch auction solution that aims to create simplicity and transparency around the process of buying and selling your luxury timepieces.
The owners of Grailzee have an extensive background in the watch business, buying and selling tens of millions of dollars of luxury watches, and they came to realize that there were a few holes in the traditional process that left buyers and sellers exposed to potential fraud and scams.
While authorized dealers have experience selling brand new watches, many have little to no experience in buying or authenticating pre-owned watches, so buyers are left to go to the open market, eBay, Facebook groups, etc, which all lack iron-clad processes for payment and authenticity checks.
We were surprised to learn that Grailzee never actually takes possession of the watches for sale on their site. Instead, this is handled by Grailzee partner Bennisson Watch Repair in West Palm Beach, which is staffed with expert watchmakers and has been a long-established repair service for the industry. These watchmakers open up and properly authenticate every single watch that is bought and sold through Grailzee.com, and only ship to the buyers after authentication is verified and the sellers confirm that they’ve received payment.
Grailzee specializes in brand-name luxury watches, such as Rolex, Audemars Piguet, Omega, Hublot, Patek Philippe, Breitling, and TAG Heuer — you can browse their current selection. Everything on Grailzee trades at market value, via fully transparent auctions. Auctions can be set with or without reserve to encourage a final selling price that is as strong as possible. The company recommends opening an IFS Inforsure account to insure shipments, and if you tell them you’re a member of Grailzee they will offer wholesale pricing. Coast-to-coast fully insured shipping for a $20,000 watch averages just $150.
Unlike some of the big-name watch auction sites where buyers and sellers communicate privately, all comment threads and communications on Grailzee are public prior to auction close. This eliminates many of the most common ways scams get started, as buyers or sellers try to go “off-platform” of the main sites to avoid the exorbitant fees.
At Grailzee, the commission rate is only 5% (on the buyer’s side), and as little as $99 on the seller’s side compared to double-digit rates on sites like eBay. Furthermore, snipe protection extends listings to give all bidders a fair chance to win. Authenticity and condition reports are provided at no additional cost to boost buyer confidence and bring top dollar to sellers.
Learn more about Grailzee.
