Planning to Launch website with exclusive & costly watches collection

[anshul123]

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i have been planning to launch one web site with exclusive & costly watches collection for UK... but i am not sure if people actually do buy such products online and what % shopping audience will even give it a thought.

I am planning to set it up as an Merchant offering % sales to my affiliates

Anyone doing such products.. please suggest

[csn]

Will the product be despatched from the UK or from outside?

[anshul123]

product will be dispatched from US

[csn]

Not sure how many buyers will be put off buy this but there is a possibility of buyers being clobbered with import tax and duties - which on an expensive watch could be quite expensive.

[Grizzly]

I think watches are items which would be researched online, then purchased in a shop so it can be tried on. (they often look a lot different in the flesh and on your wrist than in a promotional photograph.)

There is also the risk of ordering from abroad, and import tax as mentioned above.

I think the site could get a lot of interest, but not sure how many would actually buy.

This is just going on what I would do if I was in the market for an expensive watch!

[tomj]

or go into shop, try it on then go to shops like Watches.co.uk, buy and sell watches. Watches include Rolex, Breitling, Tag, IWC, Omega, Cartier, Panerai and more. London, UK - Watches.co.uk or Watches - Rolex, Omega, Cartier, Breitling, Tag Heuer, Gucci: Call 0845 658 8884 (UK) > Watchfinder.co.uk Ltd and buy cheaper!

[Grizzly]

The problem with buying online is people are worried of fakes.

and also see - Breitling - Instruments for professionals : Swiss chronograph watches, aeronautics partner - BREITLING | INSTRUMENTS FOR PROFESSIONALS TM

No guarantees on any watches bought online from Breitling.

The watch sites in the above post seem pretty good though!

[anshul123]

So what should be best, planning a merchant or affiliate site for them?

[crazihos]

Smingle (great member on here) told me that someone he knows set up an affiliate website focused on an expensive watch. it was number 1 for its main keywords and got plenty of traffic but it never made one sale.

People rarely buy things that are that expensive without seeing them first I guess.

Hope this helps

[tomj]

Amazon.com (us version) often has wicked deals on premium branded end of line watches. Search for Sold by Amazon for biggest discounts.

I nearly bought a IWC from them, massive saving on UK list, Dollar rate was half so who cared about import tax. Amazon guarantee too but by time i decided to buy sold out

[scifind]

I think watches are items which would be researched online, then purchased in a shop so it can be tried on. (they often look a lot different in the flesh and on your wrist than in a promotional photograph.)

Not always true, purelydiamonds does a roaring trade online and the premium price engagement rings are among their top sellers.
Key is to use the same way catalogue and internet clothing sites use - free returns within a home approval system.

There is also the risk of ordering from abroad, and import tax as mentioned above.

Yes but import prices are often much lower than UK - even taking duty and vat into the bargain. IIRC yesasia offer to pay vat and duty (or used to) on items.

[jamiecarruthers]

I have an affiliate site based on one expensive watch (RRP approx. £2k).

Despite decent amounts of targeted traffic, the conversion rate is pretty abysmal. It works out at approx. 0.2% conversion rate

[smingle]

Smingle (great member on here) told me that someone he knows set up an affiliate website focused on an expensive watch. it was number 1 for its main keywords and got plenty of traffic but it never made one sale.

People rarely buy things that are that expensive without seeing them first I guess.

Hope this helps

Hey Russ,

Nice to see my name being mentioned and advice taken on board hope business is well for you

Anshul, put yourself in the sellers position (forget if it coming from the US or UK for a moment)

Would you spend £x,xxx on a watch from a website you had never used before ?

Would you be confident that the watch would be genuine ?

Would you be confident that the watch would look as good in real life ?

Would you be happy to enter credit card details on a site which could be deemed as selling fake watches ? (ie the type of people who sell fake items, are normally involved with other things too)

If you can honestly answer yes to the above questions, then I think you are disillusioning yourself as the majority of Joe public would not be happy with all of the above.

As Crazyhos said, I have a friend who ranks very high for a certain top end make of watch and despite the number of u/v he receives, he never makes a sale. All he has created, is a brochure site for the manufacturer and never makes any money himself.

I think this can be the downfall of alot of affiliates as they do not put themselves into the real world, and they get swept away by the offer of high commision amounts on expensive items, so it seems very attractive to promote.

I have spoken to alot of affiliates and guided them in similar directions, by putting themselves into joe bloggs mindset, and they then see that the idea is not as good as it initially seems.

I have an affiliate site based on one expensive watch (RRP approx. £2k).

Despite decent amounts of targeted traffic, the conversion rate is pretty abysmal. It works out at approx. 0.2% conversion rate

This echo's my findings exactly right. I would even say (without knowing the site) that this watch would have very heavy offline marketing spent on it by the company, and hence why it does makes very small sales.

Hope this helps

[geordiboyo]

I would have to agree on comments based around, would you spend £xx,xxx on a watch online? No, but I would almost research my choice of watch online.

We have 2 watch sites: Girls watches | Childrens watches | Pink Watches | High School Musical Watch | Best Prices Online and Boys Watches | All Watches | Digital watches | My First Watch | Ben 10 Watch these are childrens watches and visitors to the site/conversion are rather good at present maybe because most watches are under £50

I think it would be tough to sell watches online over £1k, personal opinion. Good Luck

Mark