How it works
- 1Enter what the watch costThe all-in figure, because that's the money actually tied up.
- 2Enter the daysYour expected turn, or the statutory hold where one applies in your city.
- 3Enter what your money costsA borrowing rate if you finance, or what the capital would earn elsewhere if you don't.
A holding period is a cost, not a date
Every day a watch sits in the safe, the money inside it is doing nothing else. If you borrowed to buy it, that shows up as interest. If you didn't, it shows up as the return you gave up by not buying the next watch. Either way it is real, and it compounds across a year of turns in a way a single deal never reveals.
This matters most where the wait isn't yours to choose. Several cities impose a statutory hold before you may resell — and the clock often starts at the police report rather than the purchase, so a late filing pushes the sale date out with it. Check your city in the compliance guides and price the wait before you agree a buy.
Why the annualised figure is the one to watch
A hold cost looks trivial on a single watch and serious on a year of them. The annualised rate is the same drag expressed as if you held that watch all year, which makes it comparable to your margin and to what the capital could earn elsewhere. A slow-moving piece with a thin margin can quietly cost more to hold than it earns to sell.
Use it alongside the inventory aging calculator to see which stock is actually expensive, and what carrying cost does to a watch business for the longer argument.
Common questions
What rate should I use for my cost of capital?
If you finance inventory, use your borrowing rate. If you use your own money, use what that money would reasonably earn in its next best use — for most dealers that is the return on the next watch they would have bought instead.
Should I include insurance?
Yes, if you carry it on stock. Enter the annual premium as a percentage of insured value and it accrues across the days you hold, the same way capital does.
Does a statutory holding period change what I should pay?
It changes what the deal costs you, which is the same thing. A longer forced hold means more days of carry before you can realise anything, so it belongs in your buy price rather than as a surprise afterwards.
Why is there no fee data on this page?
Because none of the inputs are published rates. Your cost of capital, your insurance, and your overhead are your own numbers, so there is nothing here to source — unlike the channel calculators, which use published marketplace rates.
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