On one hand, eBay is the greatest marketplace on Earth — on the other, its fees for watch sales are outrageously high.

The margins made on products that don’t need to be stored or shipped by eBay must make even the wealthiest tech moguls envious.

If you sell a $5,000 watch, eBay will take 15% of the purchase price or $750 plus the insertion fee, and any shipping and insurance fees. That amount subtracted from the sales prices is not insubstantial.

Most Jewelry & Watches (except Watches, Parts & Accessories)

15% if total amount of the sale is $5,000 or less, calculated per item 9% if total amount of the sale is over $5,000, calculated per item

It’s worth noting that “Eligible Watches $2,000+” will be required to go through eBay’s authentication process. So as a buyer, you get the standard eBay Money Back Guarantee and an additional Authenticity Guarantee.

Optionally, for watches listed from $500 to $2000, you can add the authenticity service for a flat fee of $80.

According to eBay, “Smartwatches, watch parts, and accessories are not eligible for authentication. Items specified as customized will not be authenticated. Customized is defined as original brand parts that have been replaced with non-brand parts, or parts not original to the model or era, or components that are modified from the original design. Listings that offer only local pickup or items shipped to P.O. Boxes will not be eligible for Authenticity Guarantee. Any item purchased using an offline payment method will not be eligible for Authenticity Guarantee.”

Once the sale of an item with the blue Authenticity Guarantee badge is made, the watch is shipped to eBay’s partner Stoll & Co. (a professional watchmaking service center in Ohio), where it’s authenticated at no additional cost (takes approximately two extra days), upon verification the watch is then repackaged and shipped to the buyer.

The authenticity program is a great way to give buyers more confidence in buying and selling watches on eBay. However, some might argue the service should be optional. Bear in mind, that the authenticity service adds to eBay’s overhead, which means they could eventually raise commission rates as a result, which would be a loss for consumers — especially those who do not want the service in the first place. Let’s hope eBay lowers, not raises, its significant 15% commission rate to make selling watches on eBay a more viable option.

 

Screenshot by eBay.