# Buying Dodgy Seikos On Ebay ....



## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

I know some folks on here like to slate eBay :thumbsdown: but it really can be the place to pick up 'bargains' - sometimes. 

Particularly with 7A38's, I've found - especially when the seller doesn't know what they're selling. 

Sometimes, it pays to 'take a flyer' on a poorly described / photographed watch - especially if the price is right. :naughty:

Here's a couple of the worst examples I've seen over the last 12 months, or so:

This was, IIRC, described as simply 'Seiko chronograph':










I thought it was a 7A38-7289 - turned out to be a very tidy (similar) 7A38-728A ....

.... which is now one of my daily beater / wearers. It cost me all of *30 Quid* ! 

This one was a (potentially expensive) mistake:










Fairly recogniseable as a 7A38-7270, despite the poor photo (two others were just as bad).

Turned out to have various cosmetic / chrono' issues, due to neglect / internal battery corrosion.

Because of the (fair market ballpark) price I'd paid, I returned it to the seller, and got a full refund. :sweatdrop:


----------



## gregory (Feb 13, 2009)

Agreed... the worse the photography on there... the better chance people have of staying away and you can get a great bargain.

I just snared a cosmetically lovely Arctura on there... but after ages and ages of gently trying to coerce the charge, I had to give it up as a bad job and return it, no charge there and it wasn't having it. Nobody was to know that, and almost a great purchase.

I also picked up a great f300 Omega Seamaster from the States for a great price.. it was advertised as needing work, but the photograph was terrible!

When it arrived it was an absolute minter!!

The worse the pic, the better the gamble I think at times.


----------



## mrteatime (Oct 25, 2006)

had a fair few mingers from the bay......but, to be fair, ive also had a few that have been minters, and ive paid very little money.....

the last few mingers have been dogs from the phillipines  and one had 4 different model bits just in the movt (which didnt work) the xtal was glued in, and the case back was also glued.....as was the dial, which was glued to the movt.......

however, i did pick up a minter 6309 7040 a couple of months ago that was meant to be modded....but i cant bring myself to do it as it is in really good shape.....

ive got one of jasonlfc5's 6309's here....and the case is in as good a nick as ive seen any.....not polished, and it still has most of its original finish to it, and the lines are as crisp as they should be....a really nice example....also paulboy has a good one that has has a really good case.....so there are a few bargains to be had........


----------



## jaslfc5 (Jan 2, 2007)

aahh the fuzzy picture ebay lottery.ive taken a punt on a few of those and so far it has balanced out the bad ones have been paid for by the good ones.

shame i do like those seiko chrono's ive had a few but they are too small at the moment i will get some more in the future.


----------



## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

gregory said:


> Agreed... the worse the photography on there... the better chance people have of staying away and you can get a great bargain.
> 
> The worse the pic, the better the gamble I think at times.


What made me think about this again, very recently was this example:

eBay listing titled simply as '*Seiko Quarz*' 










See: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260564679399 (auction just ended, a few minutes ago)

It appears (though only just) to be a gold-tone 7A38-7000, if I'm not mistaken. :blink:

Despite having a couple of nice examples of this particular variant myself already ....

I *was* going to have a low-ball punt at it. But apart from the seller having zero feedback







....

A couple more Zero / One feedback bidders got involved - probably shill bidding by 'his friends' :angry:

Would have been interesting to see how good the watch actually was 'in the metal'. Guess I'll never know.


----------



## Mutley (Apr 17, 2007)

jaslfc5 said:


> aahh the fuzzy picture ebay lottery.


Yep, it all adds to the fun & usually not many bidders










For some reason I was the only bidder on this


----------



## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

mutley said:


> jaslfc5 said:
> 
> 
> > aahh the fuzzy picture ebay lottery.
> ...


So what is it ?? :huh:

Nice to see there are a few other 'fuzzy photo' gamblers out there, BTW ! :blush2:


----------



## capnblack (Mar 11, 2010)

I've recently had a go at a couple of Seikos listed in the Philippines. Haven't ended up winning one yet, but there seems to be some very good (looking) Seiko divers coming in from there which have been modded, with green, yellow and other coloured faces. Has anyone any experience of these modded watches coming from that part of the world?


----------



## Mutley (Apr 17, 2007)

SEIKO7A38Fan said:


> mutley said:
> 
> 
> > jaslfc5 said:
> ...


Doh, an after pic might of helped :blush:


----------



## kevkojak (May 14, 2009)

I picked up a cracker for Â£32 a couple of weeks ago. Description was 'gold face seiko chrono'. Very fuzzy pic but I have the yellow 100m chronograph and took a punt that this was the matching orange dial one.

Not quite that lucky, but did end up with a gorgeous burnt-orange colour metallic dial 50m chronograph which i'm chuffed with. Quick buff on the polishing wheel and a new battery and it could have been bought yesterday from a dealer!

My problem with e.bay sellers is when you see a great looking 'vintage' seiko from a Singapore or Phillipines site (just examples... i'm not pre-judging!), then when you glance over the sellers page there are a dozen or so identical 'vintage' models for sale spread over a couple of weeks. Am I being too harsh or are these sellers/items all about as genuine as my red dial 'Bolex' submariner???


----------



## capnblack (Mar 11, 2010)

I must admit, I did find it a little suspicious when I looked at the other items for sale. I would be most interested to hear from anyone who has purchased a watch from these sources. They definitely LOOK the business.


----------



## capnblack (Mar 11, 2010)

And ..... I've just noticed that my post count is (or now, was) 13. Not that I am superstitious. Now it's 14. (Fingers crossed).


----------



## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

SEIKO7A38Fan said:


> What made me think about this again, very recently was this example:
> 
> eBay listing titled simply as '*Seiko Quarz*'
> 
> ...


Seems I was probably correct in my assumption.









Watch was re-listed earlier today on a new item number, with the same cr*ppy photo  ....

.... starting bidding at 1.00 Euro again, but with the option of a 'Buy-it-Now' price of 60 Euros. :schmoll:

Whoops ! Some rotten so-and-so just put a low-ball bid in and killed the Buy-it-Now option. :naughty:


----------



## johnbaz (Jan 30, 2005)

I bought around 2KG of broken watches from fleabay, mostly qtz rubbish but there were a couple of nice manual wind Sekondas and this...










Paid about Â£12 for the lot :thumbsup:

John 

*EDIT*- Oooops, sorry, i thought i was in the vintage forum :blush2: :blush2:


----------



## gavinjayanand (Nov 25, 2008)

@capnblack

The early Seiko models were very popular in most parts of Asia during the 70s. My grandfather had a whole bunch when he was collecting. They were much cheaper than Swiss or English brands back then. I've bought a watch from Singaporean dealers whilst in Singapore, and they are very reputable. Those on ebay are ususally in-store dealers whom have embraced the internet, so you should be quite safe.


----------



## capnblack (Mar 11, 2010)

gavinjayanand said:


> @capnblack
> 
> The early Seiko models were very popular in most parts of Asia during the 70s. My grandfather had a whole bunch when he was collecting. They were much cheaper than Swiss or English brands back then. I've bought a watch from Singaporean dealers whilst in Singapore, and they are very reputable. Those on ebay are ususally in-store dealers whom have embraced the internet, so you should be quite safe.


Many thanks for that. I was wondering. It's along way to Singapore!


----------



## rutteger (Apr 11, 2009)

Always good fun to browse badly listed auctions. Had quite a few g-shocks from poor ebay auctions. Some have been bin fodder but mostly I'm well ahead, had some cracking models for peanuts. Now to start looking for Seikos too


----------



## gavinjayanand (Nov 25, 2008)

Glad I could help. I'm sure you don't need an amateur like myself telling you this, but do always look at the watch dealer, and Google the name if it's a shop. They may have a website, reassuring you even further prior to purchase. :thumbsup:


----------



## capnblack (Mar 11, 2010)

Thanks again for the advice. I am now on the look out for a 7A38 - Have been speaking with a nice bloke who is very knowledgeable about these. I am off to Tenerife tomorrow, so I expect the Looky Looky men will be after selling me an original Rolex for about 10 Euros.


----------



## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

SEIKO7A38Fan said:


> Particularly with 7A38's, I've found ....
> 
> Sometimes, it pays to 'take a flyer' on a poorly described / photographed watch - especially if the price is right. :naughty:


I was beginning to get withdrawal symptoms. It had been *a whole month* since I last bought a 7A38 off eBay ! :sadwalk:

So when this came up last week, fairly recognisable as a 7A38-7280, I thought it might be worth a low-ish punt. 












gregory said:


> Agreed... the worse the photography on there... the better chance people have of staying away and you can get a great bargain. .... The worse the pic, the better the gamble I think at times.


A few people spotted it â€" there were 5 other bidders besides myself, but it seemed nobody wanted to go too high. :lookaround:

I put in a 'throwaway' bid towards the end of Â£45.67, and got it for less than Â£45, including the recorded postage. 

Iâ€™d already got two of these: one I use as a daily wearer / beater, the other almost a 'minter' in my collection.

But besides those, I still had a salesman 'sample case' and a N.O.S. B1627S bracelet, needing a movement.

Plan was to rob this watch of it's dial face / movement, and slot it straight into the above 'empty watch'.

Picked it up from the Post Office this afternoon. It's got a few issues â€" needs a new crystal, etc. ....

But otherwise it's far too nice to break up for parts. In fact, it's got quite a lot of potential. :thumbsup:


----------

