Two more profiteering UK eBay re-sellers have come up on my radar in recent months, so I thought it was about time I flagged up their activities. I'm going to keep this thread fairly brief, compared to some of my previous exposées.
The first is a fairly well-established dealer TimepieceVintageUK who from memory, best I can tell, started dabbling in Seiko 7A38's middle of last year. Their normal stock in trade seems to be vintage Omega Seamasters, TAG Heuer, etc.
They appear to be opportunist re-sellers. Their photographs are harshly overlit (presumably to help hiding flaws) and their descriptions are frankly O.T.T. and could possibly be AI generated. They currently have four 7A38's listed.
The 7A38-6060, asking a ludicrous £1299 and two-tone 7A38-7020 (far right) asking a laughable £499 were both listed on 24th February, so eminently traceable. The other two date back to July and September last year, so won't be easy.
The 7A38-6060, which is in almost mint condition (save for the unfortunate choice aftermarket strap) was first listed by Egyptian eBay seller oldtimemarket1 in the last week of January, initially asking a laughable £950. They subsequently re-listed it, increasing that to £999, then ended that re-listing (item # 126926818566) on 13th February, because of an alleged error in the listing. Presumably TimepieceVintageUK made them a lower offer outside eBay. In case you don't understand what I mean by 'harshly overlit photos', I suggest you compare their eBay images with those of the previous Egyptian seller's. The watch looked much better in their listings.
Although far more common, the two-tone 7A38-7020 was quite easy to track down. Not by its case-back serial number, but from the ingrained dirt in the bezel's dummy rivets, which TimepieceVintageUK hasn't bothered to clean out either. It was first listed at the beginning of November by a Scottish eBay seller artist_watch_lover, who was initially asking a laughable £450. He re-listed it weekly a total of 20 times, gradually reducing the opening bid price, before it finally sold on 13th February as a Buy-it-Now for £250 (item # 306109971146). How does TimepieceVintageUK justify asking nearly double the price ?
Two more greedy profiteering UK eBay re-sellers to avoid.
Re: Two more greedy profiteering UK eBay re-sellers to avoid.
The second UK eBay re-seller is a relative newcomer (or should I say appears to be). BelraWatches eBay ID was created on 3rd January 2025. However this is a second eBay ID created specifically for selling. This person has another eBay ID (yet to be determined), with a feedback rating of 220, which they use for buying. Readers may feel I'm being a little harsh in citing this seller, in the circumstances. But wait till you look at the margins. Their modus operandi is different in that they buy cheap, poorer condition or sometimes non-working 7A38's and give them a full service. Their listing photos include shots of the fully stripped movement. They also currently have four 7A38's listed on eBay.
The slightly odd endings to the prices are due to eBay's recently implemented 'Buyer's Protection' adder. BelraWatches are actually asking £550 for the 7A38-7100, £735 for the 7A38-7000 and £435 and £338 for the two 7A38-7180's.
The first two watches, both of which they listed yesterday, were sourced from auction listings by eBay clearance house vintagehoneypots in January. The 7A38-7100 sold on 10th January for a mere £112 after 15 bids: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/176754610603
The stainless 7A38-7000, which was listed as SPARES/REPAIRS sold for £235 on 20th January after 17 bids:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/176779598959
Both auctions were won by an encrypted bidder with a feedback of 220.
So even if you allow £200 for the 'added value' of a full service, their asking prices contain a substantial profit margin.
I haven't yet managed to trace where the two 7A38-7180's came from. I suspect the cheaper one (joke) may also be from vintagehoneypots (last year), but I can't get a serial number match. The last SPARES/REPAIR 7A38-7180 they sold in March went for a mere £79.79 (this isn't a match): https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/176881659596
The slightly odd endings to the prices are due to eBay's recently implemented 'Buyer's Protection' adder. BelraWatches are actually asking £550 for the 7A38-7100, £735 for the 7A38-7000 and £435 and £338 for the two 7A38-7180's.
The first two watches, both of which they listed yesterday, were sourced from auction listings by eBay clearance house vintagehoneypots in January. The 7A38-7100 sold on 10th January for a mere £112 after 15 bids: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/176754610603
The stainless 7A38-7000, which was listed as SPARES/REPAIRS sold for £235 on 20th January after 17 bids:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/176779598959
Both auctions were won by an encrypted bidder with a feedback of 220.
So even if you allow £200 for the 'added value' of a full service, their asking prices contain a substantial profit margin.
I haven't yet managed to trace where the two 7A38-7180's came from. I suspect the cheaper one (joke) may also be from vintagehoneypots (last year), but I can't get a serial number match. The last SPARES/REPAIR 7A38-7180 they sold in March went for a mere £79.79 (this isn't a match): https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/176881659596
Re: Two more greedy profiteering UK eBay re-sellers to avoid.
Hard to believe, but belrawatches have just managed to find a mug punter buyer for their grossly over-priced stainless 7A38-7000. £741.12. Jeez.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/297113965150
A fool and his money are soon parted.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/297113965150
A fool and his money are soon parted.