Taking a watch on consignment

Consignment is attractive because it adds stock without spending your capital. It's also the arrangement most likely to end in an argument, because the watch on your shelf belongs to someone else, the money only appears later, and both sides remember the terms differently. Everything depends on agreeing terms clearly and writing them down.

Agree the terms first

Before the watch changes hands, settle:

• The payout structure. Either a commission percentage of the sale, or a fixed amount to the owner with you keeping anything above it. The consignment payout article covers working out the number.
• The asking price, and who can agree a reduction, and by how much.
• The term, meaning how long you hold the watch before it's returned or the terms are renegotiated.
• Who pays for what: service, prep, photography, shipping, and fees.
• When the owner gets paid after a sale completes, allowing for any return window.
• Returns. If a buyer returns the watch, what happens to a payout already made.
• Insurance and risk while you hold it.

The paperwork kit generates a consignment agreement covering these points, and a lawyer should review your standard terms before you rely on them.

Document the intake

Treat a consignment intake at least as carefully as a purchase:

• Record the watch: reference, serial, condition, and what's included.
• Photograph everything, including the serial and accessories, with the owner present if possible.
• Confirm the owner's identity and that the watch is theirs to sell and free of any loan or claim against it.
• Check the watch as you would any other, including a stolen-watch database check, as the pre-purchase checklist sets out. Selling a stolen watch is your problem too, whoever owns it.
• Have both sides sign the agreement and the condition record.

Insurance and custody

Someone else's watch in your safe is still your responsibility if it's lost or damaged. Policies built for jewelry businesses are designed around merchandise on premises, in transit, and at events.^[1] A jewelers block policy is described as covering a business's stock including memo goods and customers' own pieces.^[2] Don't assume your policy does. Ask your insurer directly, in writing, whether consigned goods are covered, for how much, and under what storage conditions. The insurance article covers the wider picture.

Store consigned watches as carefully as your own, and keep them clearly identified as belonging to someone else.

Selling it properly

A consigned watch deserves the same work as your own stock: proper photos, a full description, and an honest condition report. Owners notice when their watch is listed carelessly, and word travels.

Be straight with buyers about what you're selling. You don't have to say who owns it, but your description, warranty, and returns terms should be clear, since the buyer is dealing with you.

Keep the owner informed

Most consignment disputes are really communication failures. A short update at agreed intervals, covering viewings, offers, and what the market is saying, keeps an owner patient. If you think the price needs to come down, explain why, with evidence, and get agreement in writing before changing it.

Pay out on time

When the watch sells, pay the owner exactly what was agreed, when it was agreed, and send a statement showing the sale price, the deductions, and the payout. Keep consignment money straight in your records, since it isn't yours, and the bookkeeping article covers keeping it separate from your own sales.

Paying promptly is the single thing that turns one consignment into a repeat source of stock.

When to say no

• The owner's price expectation is unrealistic and won't move.
• The watch's ownership or history isn't clear.
• The owner wants to keep showing it elsewhere while you hold it.
• The terms they want leave you doing all the work for too little.

The outright versus consignment article compares the two ways of getting a watch on your shelf.

Pricing a consignment payout covers the number you promise the owner.