How To Sell Watches On Shopify: Best Guide 2023

Selling a used timepiece can be as easy as posting it on Facebook and making a few calls to interested watch buyers – that is, if it’s just a one-off sale to make a few bucks. But learning how to sell watches, doing it consistently, and turning it into a profitable business…

Now, that is a different story.

You see, watches are the cherry on top of our daily outfits. For hardcore watch enthusiasts, not wearing one is like walking around completely naked.

They never go out of style. From the time the first timepiece was invented up to this day, real watch enthusiasts still go crazy over their precious timepieces. With celebrities sporting iced-out watches and the prevalence of social influencers, our penchant for fancy, luxurious, and sporty timepieces just keeps getting deeper by the day.

There is a huge place for you in the watch industry. In this article, we will show you the crucial first steps on how to sell watches on Shopify. So, keep reading to discover:

• Two Common Business Models To Sell Watches
• Where Should You Sell Watches?
• How to Sell Watches: The 7-Step Guide
• 5 Successful Watch Brands In Shopify to Get You Inspired

Without further ado, let’s get cracking!

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Two Common Business Models To Sell Watches

There are two (2) common business models on how to sell watches nowadays. One is prevalent in the busy streets of New York, and the other one is putting your own brand in those timepieces. Let’s talk about them one by one.

Sell luxury watches (Pre-owned)

The secondhand market for luxury watches is expected to grow to $30 billion by the end of 2025. This growth is fueled by the increasing interest of Gen Zs and Millennials in luxury watches but being unable to score brand-new items from authorized dealers. Hence, they turn used watches to acquire luxury pieces.

Ironically, the prices of pre-owned luxury watches are even higher than their original retail prices when they were brand new. And their prices continue to soar as demand for them increases.

Scarce luxury watches are more than just timepieces. To savvy investors, these are assets that they invest in and sell at a higher price in the future. Here are some of the most sought-after luxury watches in the secondhand market:

• Rolex Daytona
• Audemars Piguet Royal Oak
• Patek Philippe Nautilus 5711

Luxury watches retain their value over time because of the limited production capacities of watch manufacturers that cannot keep up with the demand. Additionally, there are certain models that were produced in limited numbers driving up the prices even more. There are also sought-after rare and vintage watches that only serious and affluent collectors can afford.

If you live in a high-income urban area like New York, Miami, and Los Angeles, and you have expertise in luxury collectibles, this type of business is for you.

Private label watch company

On the other hand, if you want to establish your own brand and make your mark in the watch industry, you can establish a white-label watch company. This type of business model enables new players to enter the watch market.

These types of watch brands are popular among young professionals who want to look classy and expensive without breaking the bank.

“Affordable luxury” is the common denominator in the marketing strategies of these watch brands. True enough, some are able to deliver that promise to their consumers.

Some of the popular new watch brands in the USA today are:

• Vaer
• Daniel Wellington
• MVMT

These are fairly new brands compared to mainstay brands with a heritage that goes back to the 20th century.

This only means that the watch industry is not an absolute monopoly, and new players have a shot at taking a piece of the pie.

If you like to compete in this “affordable luxury” segment, you don’t need to hire watch specialists or invest in a watch factory to do this. A lot of players in this market import their timepieces from overseas suppliers, usually from China, through websites like AliExpress.

What you need is a spanking marketing plan to create your brand identity and a great story to back it up. In case you have no idea how to do it, here are our recommendations on the best Shopify tips to better promote your Shopify store.

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Where Should You Sell Watches?

You can sell watches online or through physical stores. But depending on your business model and price point, there might be a sales channel that is best suited for you if you want to attain your business goals. Let’s talk about how to sell watches locally and through online channels.

Sell watches locally

Selling watches locally or through physical stores is an effective means to showcase the actual quality of your products to walk-in customers.

It grants your customers the opportunity to:

• Inspect the quality of your products
• Fit the watches
• Ask questions regarding your products.

On the other hand, business owners get the opportunity to:

• Interact with your customers
• Give your recommendations
• Upsell
• Address their concerns.

Physical stores are best suited for high-end luxury watch dealers as their customers are meticulous about quality. Of course, luxury items might be pricey, but inspecting your products for legitimacy is best done physically. This isn’t to say that newly established watch brands cannot succeed in brick-and-mortar stores.

Here are all the pros and cons of selling watches locally:

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Sell watches online

Learning how to sell watches online may seem like a straightforward deal as it can be done through selling platforms like Facebook Marketplace, Amazon, and eBay. However, these are not the best means platforms if you want to establish a distinct brand.

Using one of the best eCommerce platforms, like Shopify, is an ideal solution if you want to stand out from other generic watch sellers.

A Shopify store lets you:

• Have your own domain that you can design to whatever you want according to your brand.
• Use page builders like PageFly to gain more flexibility in design and improve the usability of your website.
• Utilize all the best Shopify apps, like live chat and email marketing, to establish customer loyalty. Also, you can minimize financial risks as a startup with Shopify pricing plans.

Dealers of pre-owned luxury watches have already seen the potential of using ecommerce. Thus, they use it as well to further their sales.

If you are still sitting on the fence, here are all the pros and cons of selling watches online:

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The 7-Step Guide on How to Sell Watches

Learning how to sell watches and establishing a successful watch business are two different things. Creating a successful watch brand is a challenging feat that only those who take their time in doing things right make it to the top.

Speaking of doing the right things, here is our 7-step guide on how to sell watches and create a long-term business out of it.

1. Deepen your knowledge in the watch industry

Expertise is formed through years of experience. And becoming an expert increases your chances of achieving success in your chosen field.

The same is applicable when learning how to sell watches. Granted that you won’t be an expert overnight – especially before you launch the business.

But it is crucial that you acquire the necessary knowledge needed to help you wade through the business.

• Visit the brands that inspire you and learn from the people you meet there.
• Talk to their salespeople and see how they interact with other customers.
• Listen to their customers.
• Explore their websites and social pages and see how they engage with their customers

By checking out existing brands operating within your price point, you will gain an initial perspective as to what it’s like in the business. Because, most likely, these will be your competitors.

2. Conceptualize your brand name

Whether you are planning to sell pre-owned luxury watches or launch your own brand, having a name that piques your target customers’ interest is an effective way to grab attention to your brand.

Your brand name is the first thing that your target customers will hear about you. Therefore, it should be appropriate to the identity that you want to portray.

Make sure that, before you finalize your watch brand, the name is not yet taken in.

3. Create your social media accounts

Creating a social media handle with your watch brand should be one of your primary targets. Thus, it is important that you create your social media accounts as soon as you finalize a brand name in order to reserve it for your business.

Instagram is an excellent business platform that you would not want to miss out on because its main design revolves around curating images on your wall in order to portray your brand. Nowadays, its algorithm also favors high-quality videos called Reels.

Having an active Instagram presence will help you:

• Create anticipation for your brand and create a following even before your launch.
• Draw in customers to increase sales volume.
• Encourage customer engagement with your product photos.

Bonus tip: Follow other successful watch brands and observe how they market their products using social media. A lot of knowledge on how to sell watches can be acquired by observing them.

4. Develop a business plan

A business plan will help you structure your actions before and after your lunch. It should include the following:

List of suppliers

• Private Label

If you want to establish your own brand, you should know where to find a reputable manufacturer and supplier of high-quality watches. Gather as many suppliers as you can and talk to them one by one to see which one suits you best. You can find these on Alibaba, HKTDC, AliExpress, and company websites like Jeek Watch. Do not order in bulk yet. Try a few samples first.

• Pre-Owned Luxury

If you want to venture into pre-owned luxury watches, you should have a network of suppliers of legitimate luxury brands. You can purchase from other reputable dealers like Phigora and Watch Guys NYC and resell for a profit. You can also browse buy and sell platforms to see if you can find great deals.
If you are well-connected with affluent people, you can make a few calls and see if they want to sell some of their watches.

Financial Projections

A financial projection is a forecast of your expected expenses and sales at a certain period of time. It is important to have realistic financial projections in order to see if your initial capital investment can sustain your business in case you operate at a loss for a few months.

This will help you have a close-to-accurate prediction of how your business will look like in the next couple of months or years.

Marketing Plan

A marketing plan lays down your strategies on how to sell watches – such as acquiring customers, selling your products, and, ultimately, making your business profitable. It’s how you sell your watch business idea to your ideal customers

Sales Channels

Whether you plan to sell watches online or locally, being certain about your sales channel will help you create realistic financial projections. Additionally, it will help you tailor your marketing plan to your sales channels.

Vision-Mission Statement

A vision and mission statement is among the most important things that you should be certain about when establishing a company. It establishes who you are and what you want to accomplish in the business.

5. Register Your Business

Once you have finished your marketing plan and fully decided to try the business, you should register your business so you can legally sell your products and pay the right amount of taxes.

6. Reserve a location or a domain

Your physical store or website domain will be the front-facing side of your business. It is where you interact with your customers. Therefore, it is important that you get this one right.

Physical store

If you want a physical store for your business, it is crucial to be located in an area with high foot traffic to increase your chances of acquiring customers.

eCommerce website

If you want to sell watches online, Shopify is the best platform that you can use as it provides flexibility for small and large businesses and is very capable in case of future expansions.

Moreover, having your own domain lets you implement your design ideas and create stunning product pages. Remember that your main goal for your ecommerce website is to provide a great customer experience and shopping security.

7. Launch your store

Everything that you have been planning since the beginning all leads to this final part – launching your business.

This will make you see if your plans work. Anticipate that you will face challenges at the very beginning – it happens to all startups.

What’s important is that you maintain composure when things go sideways. Or if your plans did not work, learn to pivot and find another way to approach the business.

One piece of advice, though – don’t skimp on marketing. This will help you gain initial traction and score a few initial sales to establish brand awareness. If your products are as good as you market them to be, word will quickly spread around.

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5 Successful Watch Brands In Shopify to Get You Inspired

Here are a few examples of successful watch brands that are using Shopify.

1. Hartley Watches

Hartley Watches is a prime example of affordable luxury. It has three (3) product ranges – Voyager, Classic, and Original. All of which feature a minimalist and elegant design.

Watch lovers and young professionals with sophisticated taste will surely find a watch that they will love in Hartley’s collection. The best part is that you can have them for less than AUD 200 ($133).

Hartley is a prime example of how visual storytelling works. Hartley’s main page is full of product images, but it does not overwhelm web visitors as the images are in high resolution and the website is well-curated.

Additionally, their checkout page allows customers to zoom into their products to take a closer look at the watches from all angles.

Truly, their website is designed to give that “WOW” factor to their products.

2. Daniel Wellington

Daniel Wellington is a watch brand that specializes in elegant and classic timepieces for men and women. Be it casual or formal, DW has a timepiece to match your fashion statement. They also have jewelry, smartwatch cases, and eyeglasses.

DW has a very snappy and minimalist website that gives that chic and elegant persona – befitting their brand identity.

Browsing their product catalog is very satisfying because you are greeted with a variety of choices to suit your personal taste.

Click on a product that you like, and you will be redirected to the checkout page and provided with pictures of the product on all angles that you can zoom in for closer inspection.

The website is well-thought-out – giving customers the confidence to buy online.

3. Stuhrling

It’s amazing how Stuhrling manages to create such sophisticated mechanical watches and sell them for just $300. Their designs remind us of watch brands like Patek Philippe.

They specialize in mechanical watches with different types of designs – from simple to flamboyant, they have them. Stuhrling has a wide array of products that suit every personality and fashion taste.

Where they truly excel is in showing the sophistication put into each one of their products. Their website does a great job of telling the product story through hi-res imagery and zoom-in functionality on the checkout page.

Stuhrling watches are worthy of being called works of art – in an affordable package.

4. Ralph Christian

Ralph Christian is another watch brand that draws inspiration from high-end brands like Audemars Piguet and makes their products available to the majority of watch enthusiasts.

Indeed, these are stunning timepieces that can elevate your personal style. If you want that feeling of affluence without having to dig deep into your pocket, Ralph Christian is a brand worth considering.

Their website helps in a big way by featuring high- quality photos of each product. And despite having a vast product line, it is very easy to navigate and find the watch that suits your tastes.

In this list, they are the only ones that have an upsell and cross-sell feature on their checkout page – which is an effective way to increase sales. Don’t forget this feature when you launch your ecommerce store.

5. Ibarra

Believe us or not, these aren’t vintage watches. These are modern timepieces with a classic design.

Ibarra is a Filipino watch brand that specializes in understated elegance. These timepieces are definitely a conversation starter because of their unique design and the brand name itself – Ibarra.

Among the Shopify brands in this list, they have the simplest website. Their main page values storytelling more than outright selling. They take their time in telling their brand’s story and heritage so as to give customers that immersive feel as to what the brand truly represents.

This approach is mainly seen in high-end watches, and it’s refreshing to see an affordable brand following this approach. As an aspiring watch entrepreneur, you’ll learn a lot about storytelling from Ibarra.

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How to Sell Watches – FAQs

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Bottom Line

And that brings us to the end of our article on how to sell watches.

Nowadays, you can establish a successful watch business either online or through a physical store.
But if you are a startup and want to accelerate their growth, focusing on one sales channel at first is the wisest move that you can make. An ecommerce store for your business is one that we highly recommend because of the benefits it provides for a comparatively lower financial risk compared to a physical store.

The best piece of advice on how to sell watches is that your brand must resonate with your target audience. Because for true watch lovers, it is an extension of themselves and a representation of who they are.

That is why your watch brand should speak to your customers in a deeper, more personal way – keep this in mind if you want to succeed in your business.

Last but not least, don’t forget to check out other articles in our LitExtension blog and join our Facebook Community to get more insights of the eCommerce world.