Seiko 7A38 - by the numbers

I've written about UK eBay seller orangeclockwork007 on the forum a couple of times before - here and here. Funnily enough, the second post is a mention of a Titanium 7A38-7130 which he'd posted on Instagram, back in January 2023 - of more anon. He's obviously a dealer, possibly Hungarian, named Laszlo Peter Bak, who evidently runs his business out of a suburban semi in Eltham, London SE9. He currently has 315 assorted watches listed on eBay, but he's also extremely active on Instagram. Calls himself 'James Bong' and frankly strikes me as a bit of a cocky b*st*rd.

So why have I decided to write an exposé on him now ? Simple - his greed has finally given him away. Yesterday morning he listed an average worn condition stainless 7A38-7270 on eBay. It's nothing to write home about, certainly far from 'Georgeous' (per title), but his Buy-it-Now asking price is a hefty, almost risible £475, with no option to make an offer.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204860199675


Most of the 12 photos are very similar (to the hand-held shot). One that caught my eye was the reverse of the bracelet, which was obviously short, fitted with a ½" clasp extender. It immediately rang a bell because of that (and the lurid green backgrounds of the previous seller's photos). The watch was originally listed by a UK eBay seller, chrisk2012 at the end of January this year, as a 7-day auction (item # 176211004587) with an opening bid price of £250.


There were at least 5 other stainless 7A38-7270's listed on eBay in January, so it went unsold. The previous seller re-listed it many times, gradually reducing the opening bid price. It eventually sold on the 13th May for £190 after 2 bids.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/176366804906


Checking the bidding history, the encrypted winning bidder has a feedback of 4170, the same as orangeclockwork007. Needless to say, the case-back serial number 773451 also matches.

I suspect the reason that orangeclockwork007 hasn't come up on my (re-seller) radar before is that he obviously prefers to sell through Instagram, which I don't monitor closely, and only lists watches on eBay, as a last resort, when that fails. He may only have got round to listing that stainless 7A38-7270 on eBay yesterday, but he's been posting photos of it on Instagram since 15th May, two days after the eBay auction ended. The most recent, a wrist shot, which he subsequently used for his eBay listing primary image was posted on 17th June.

He has a few other 7A38's listed on Instagram, which frankly I don't have time nor inclination to investigate. But at the time of writing, he only has one other 7A38 listed on eBay - another Titanium 7A38-7130. (This isn't the same watch he was listing in 2023). The Buy-it-Now asking price is a typically greedy unrealistic £749. He first listed it back on 18th January this year and the current re-listing dates from 26th April.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204765530898


I'm still investigating this particular instance, but I've found the watch, 7A38-7130, case-back serial number 746749, when it was previously listed by a UK eBay seller in July 2023.


I've managed to find the original eBay listing item # 256129767417, but obviously that's long since disappeared into the ether. According to the few details in my eBay search notification, the previous seller was asking £475 as a Buy-it-Now (or Best Offer). The question remains, what did it eventually sell for ? Somewhat less, I suspect.

PS - I did also eventually manage to find the eBay item # 256283118068, which it sold under.

I received an email reply from the previous UK eBay seller (who was a member of the old forum). He wrote:

I think I let it go for 300 or 350 (Pounds). The buyer said that was his highest offer and considering I only paid 50 as far as I remember and it had a scratched crystal ....

Note my earlier comments about the prices these watches regularly sell for on eBay Germany.

Having made a sizeable profit himself, he also commented:

I cant see it selling for anything near his asking price ....