Buying a watch is about three things. How much you like the watch by itself, how good the watch looks on your wrist, and the price. Without friendly accord among these three factors, you are never going to feel fully comfortable in buying a watch. Buying a watch on the internet can appeal to at least two of these considerations. You’ll know what a watch looks like, and you’ll know you are usually getting a good price, but how can you ever tell that the watch looks good on your wrist? This is a real concern, but watch stores online usually have you covered and they also offer great deals most of the time (learn more here).
Like myself, you may have a “new watch ritual.” The tender unboxing of the watch, fitting the watch to your wrist (especially if the bracelet requires removing links), and then… posing time. Yes, that time in each watch lover’s life where we strike watch wearing poses in front of the mirror. Probably akin to what women do while spending far too long in dressing rooms at department stores, we stand in our bedrooms or bathrooms gauging (or merely appreciating) how the watch looks on us. If anything but “damn you look good” is expressed in your mind, you probably have some element of buyer’s remorse.
For this above reason, buying a watch online can be stressful, or out of the question completely. The sentiment is, that if you buy a watch you don’t like, you are out a great deal of money. It is a reasonable concern, but most watch stores and sellers have taken this into consideration. You will find that the majority of watch stores online have very good return policies. In fact, a good deal of them allow you to return a watch, within a certain amount of time, no questions asked. A few might even cover the costs of shipping. They do this, because online watch vendors realize that having competitive prices alone, is often not enough to encourage many people to engage is such high cost transactions over the internet.
Needless to say, you should never feel uncomfortable about putting using your credit card to use on line either. The vast majority of watch vendors, or any other store for that matter will never even see your credit card information. They use what are called credit card processing gateways on their websites. Basically, they work with third party credit card processors who are just as safe, if not more safe that using your credit card in a store. When you go online to enter your credit card information, it is actually through the third party processor, and not even with the store itself. They merely receive payment from the processor (minus the processor’s fees of course). Of course some stores will still take your information personally, but it is easy to know when because processors force vendors to have logos, and all sorts of indicators showing that the transaction is safe. If you are in doubt, you can always ask the vendor.
Going back to return policies at watch stores, you have to remember that they have you in mind. Wanting your business, and ensuring your continued patronization of their business is of the utmost importance. Most brick and mortar watch stores survive this way. Providing satisfactory customer service allows them to capture repeat business. That is their mainstay; namely, us watch lovers who keep coming back for more.
So the next time you are hesitant about buying a watch online, worry less. The system has been polished with the discriminating watch lover in mind. Most stores you buy from will be safe and allow for easy returns if you don’t like the watch. At this point I should name the slight exception to this crowd which is eBay. Now, first let me say that I do almost all of my watch buying via eBay. I love eBay, and it is the best place to get the lowest prices and more unique selection. eBay however is a different beast, and you cannot always return something you don’t like. When buying a watch on eBay, try to know what you are getting into by asking questions to the seller. Next, use PayPal when possible as it provides a good deal of customer protection when a watch is not delivered as advertised. eBay is a wonderful resource for watch buying, and should never be overlooked, but do your homework if you feel any discomfort over the purchase.
Good luck with all your next watch purposes, and let ablogtowatch.com know if you have any questions before purchasing watches online.
