Just curious if anybody has used www.bidz.com for brand name and jewellery auctions before? I'm wondering what sort of experiences you have had through the website, payment and delivery. Things seem all very reasonably priced compared to ebay and other sites. Has anyone ever had any customs issues with things you've bought from the site? If anybody could please give some insight, that would be great. Thanks =)
Anyone used Bidz.com before?
kimba88 on 20/05/2012 - 20:45
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I help moderate another websites, and bidz.com always produces the most amount of spam. Not sure i'd trust this company
Hi.Yep i,ve bought several things off Bidz….and lived to regret a fair bit of it.I bid on (and won ) a couple of diamond rings some time ago,and recently (due to serious financial problems )wanted to sell one.I tried Ebay,some jewellery auction houses,a jewellery buyer or two and just put an ad up in the lunchroom at my husbands work.No offers came up,so i tried one more jewellery buyer who appraised it.Now,on every item you get from Bidz,it has the RRP for the item (mine had one valued at $800 and the other $1700 ).When it came to be appraised,it was valued at……$111 (and that was only for the gold,they said the stones were WORTHLESS.)So my advice would be this - if you want a gift for someone,with no intention of selling later…go for it.BUT if re- selling later is on the cards KEEP AWAY.I don,t know about the whole spamming thing from this site,but i do know that you get an email telling you whats on offer for ages after you,ve last used the site.
Oh wow! I was looking at buying a Tonino Lamborghini watch as a gift. I'm unsure on whether the watch prices are decent. Did you find you had to pay extra fees on top? It looks like there are two options of delivery.. one at $17 or so and the other at $46. Is there any difference between the two delivery options? Do all boxes and jewellery come delivery in good brand new condition? I'm a little hesitant from reviews and your comment. Thanks
Hi.The more expensive items (rings with diamonds,upmarket watches etc ) come beautifully boxed.As for other stuff….ummmmm,picture some bubble wrap and a padded bag and that,s it..but they all do come in new condition.From memory,the only other fees came from the bank in the form of conversion rates,plus of course postage (of which i don,t remember the prices,or why there is so much difference the between cheaper and expensive options…maybe one is an express service? )Honestly,if you really like the watch,and postage doesn,t set you back more than the watch…go for it.If your,re looking to maybe get some stones to sell later…..DON,T.
I'm fairly sure all the brand name stuff is fake. I bought something on there once, it came beautifully presented in fancy boxes/bags etc… Later when I thought more about into it, I found that they (the very famous jewellery Brand) had never made that specific item (shape/colour/gems etc). Therefore, must be fake!
Yes I have, and there are several things I ma not happy with for this web site.
There jewellery is valued way over what its really worth, I couldnt give it away on Ebay. It usually doesnt look anything like as good as the pictures show. Some do come on boxes but the majority I got came in manilla envelopes, or snmall plastic bags.
The major problem for me personally the way its run, I became almost addicted!! Ended up buying all the rubbish I have no use for and cost me loads. Definately stay away from this sight, its a croc.Does anyone know if Import Duties and Taxes are charged? I dont want to get slugged by them if im already paying a high enough price on a tonino lamborghini watch. Or, if anyone has bought a tonino lamborghini watch, how was the quality.. is it as bad as the quality of jewellery people have been buying?
Or, can anyone recommend where i can buy a genuine tonino lamborghini watch?
I like my watches and I have bought a Maurice LaCroix watch off Bidz before. None of the Brand name stuff I have bought was fake. I am pretty sure these guys sell off overstocks and returned stock at a discount (like Sierra Trading Post and 6PM etc). I think some of their jewellery comes from Chinese wholesalers etc.
In terms of the watches. I would have no hesitation in buying from them, most of their stock is 'Grey Market' which means it is legitimate, genuine stuff but as it is not being sold through an authorised dealership the manufacturer's warranty is void. You still get the warranty book etc in the box but the factory reps wont warrant your watch. I think Bidz give their own warranty for some of the watches. The watch I bought came with price tags etc so I assume it was overstock.
Grey market watches are very common and many folks prefer to buy grey market as the prices are normally good. Not sure I would risk $100K on a Grey market Patek or a Vacheron Constantin though. My big problem with Bidz is that the watches that I am interested in, the genuine swiss collectable watches like the Rolex, Corum, Graham, Zenith that they have on auction arent that cheap. I reckon I could find cheaper places to get those watches online if I wanted any of them.
You only get charged import duties if the value of your parcel is $1K or more. If you are paying $1K for a Tonino Lamborghini watch, unless the case is pure 18K gold or the movement is a swiss auto, you are being ripped off!
My other big issue and this is probably not an issue to non Watch tragics is that they dont list the type of movement in the watch. They say 'Swiss Automatic' but then have watches with Chinese movements like Rotary etc Pay no attention to their price comparison and % off figures. Much of the time the price comparison is based on 'Modnique' which is their sister site. If you are looking for a price comparison, get the model number of the watch from their description and google it. Many of their watches are the mass market Invicta/red line/Swiss Legend chinese made watches and you will get a comparison from the usual watch websites or ShopNBC etc
If you like one of the watches they have there (and I havent seen those lamborghini watches anywhere else) then I wouldnt have any problems if it was me. Do be aware though that there are certain watch brands around (cough…Invicta…cough) that are always 'on sale'. They are always 80% off because their RRP is always stupid. Have a look at www.onedaywatch.com for watch bargains if you are interested in looking around.
You only pay durty on parcels with a value greater than $1k. Unless your Lamborghini has a swiss auto movement (ETA, Valjoux or Sellita etc) or the case is pure gold or it is full of diamonds etc then it shouldnt be worth anywhere near $1K. Despite the impressive name and the Bidz marketing, Tonino Lamborghini is not a highly sought after brand amongst watch collectors.
Thanks for your reply! That's very helpful :-) I really don't know if I should go for a tonino now as a gift.
I'm not sure what kind of watch you are after but, going by the types of Tonino Lamborghini designs on Bidz, I could recommend a couple of alternatives. Most of the watches on Bidz and most watches for sale anywhere are Quartz watches, they have a small battery inside to power them. These movements are generally cheap to make and extremely accurate until the battery goes flat.
Another type of movement is an 'Automatic'. This is a small mechanical machine inside the watch with little gears and wheels that uses the motion of your arm to keep the watch 'wound up'. Automatics are more complicated to make and therefore cost more normally that Quartz watches. Most watch collectors keep Automatic watches and certain brands and movements are worth extremely large amounts of $$ (in the hundreds of thousands).
The most famous automatic movements are made in switzerland but there are other versions made in Japan and China. The Swiss movements are generally the most expensive and the Chinese the cheapest. Bidz does have a Lamborghini with an ETA (swiss) movement under the 'Swiss Automatic' category. If I was buying one of them that would be the one I would go for.
If you are looking for something similar from a more mainstream brand that may have some collectability value or at least resale value in the future, I would recommend a 'Hamilton' Jazzmaster or a Tissot 'Visodate'. I bought my Hamilton on eBay for about $300 I think brand new from an authorised dealer in Asia. Be very careful of watches on eBay though.
Thank you again! Very helpful! Looks like Bidz.com are no longer stocking Tonino lamborghini watches? Cant find them anywhere now. Wheres the best place to buy cheap watches then? Or a genuine dealer on ebay? I'm also interested in Tissot's. I'll be honest, i've never heard of Hamilton, but they look nice =)
Swatch, yes the guys that make the cheap plastic watches own the biggest watch group in the world. When the Quartz watches I described emerged, most of the famous old watch companies either went broke or got into trouble. Swatch and a couple of others went around and bought up a load of famous brands. This lead to the situation we have now where most of the watch companies are part of a few big groups of companies. Hamilton are owned by Swatch along with Omega and a few other brands. The good thing about this is that Hamilton have access to parts (like an ETA automatic movement) and service through the Swatch network.
I bought my Hammy from a seller on eBay called Timeparadise, they are still selling on eBay but they didnt have too much on offer at the moment. Folks over on the watchuseek.com (online forum for watch addicts) at the moment are raving about a US based dealer called Ashtar Trading.
Deals that looked good on their site:
http://www.ashtartrading.com/collections/hamilton/products/h…
http://www.ashtartrading.com/collections/hamilton/products/h…
I've never bought from these guys but somebody on a thread there has and said it all worked out well. I dont know how much postage to Aust would be. He posted up pics of the result here:
http://forums.watchuseek.com/f357/ashtar-trading-new-ish-onl…
Other Grey Market sites that get a good mention are www.jomashop.com and www.ashford.com but there are literally hundreds of watch shops online.
As an aside, the most expensive watch I've bought was a current model Omega Aqua Terra. The local Omega Boutique in Melbourne is selling them for over $7K. I bought mine mail order from an Authorized Dealer that runs a Bricks and Mortar jewellery shop in the US for less than half of that. There are loads of dodgy copy watches around so you have to be careful. I was referred to the Omega guy via the Watchuseek boards.
Thanks.. you are most helpful! I'm a little confused.. which is better.. swiss automatic or swiss movement? I had a look at the links and they look great!
Sorry to take so long to get back to you. I've been travelling with work. Swiss make both Quartz (Ronda) and Automatic (ETA and Selita as well as specific 'in-house' manufacture) movements. I personally prefer Swiss Autos and generally automatics are more expensive. Quartz is more accurate and cheaper but needs batteries replaced, automatic is less accurate, doesnt need batteries but occasionally needs a service. Most watch people like/collect automatics (or mechanical watches at least, I dont think Bidz sell handwound watches etc). My recommendation would be Swiss Auto.
I have found also with Bidz that many of their watches get relisted. I have put the one I like in my 'watched' items and gone back a week later to see what it either sold or was passed in for. If they have a few of these you can get a picture of what they normally sell for. On a couple of occasions I have made ridiculous bids like $2 etc and when the auction was over they sent me an email saying the auction failed to reach the reserve price. They then gave me an invite to buy the watch for the reserve price. I did it once and it went OK. I guess you run the risk that if there is only 1 that somebody will outbid you.
No problems! Thanks for the info! :-)
NEVER ever use these sites, due to the fact, you never know if there a auto bid system from the site, also alot of people use it, at the end it's a waste of time and money.
i almost bought once, then after reading many review, i prefer not to bid