Preowned watch specialist Watchfinder & Co. has announced that it will be expanding its offering with the launch of a marketplace in 2023. The rollout will begin in the UK in the spring, followed by its key international markets which include the US, France, Germany and Switzerland.
Watchfinder’s marketplace plans to provide customers with access to an even wider selection of pre-owned luxury watches without compromising the high standards the business has built up over the last 20 years.
The marketplace will welcome a handpicked selection of well-respected and highly regarded watch retailers, who share Watchfinder’s core values and stringent standards, to sell their luxury pre-owned stock on Watchfinder’s marketplace. And, just like every Watchfinder & Co. timepiece, all marketplace stock will also be meticulously inspected and authenticated by Watchfinder’s team of expert watchmakers in their independent service centres – accredited by 19 of the world’s leading watch manufacturers. For added assurance, and setting an industry standard, all marketplace stock will also come with a 24 month Watchfinder warranty.
Marketplace customers will also benefit from access to Watchfinder’s in-house watch experts, their aftersales team, their portfolio of financial solutions and their bespoke part exchange services meaning they will be able to trade in one or more of their existing watches and put its value towards their marketplace purchase.
“Providing our customers with access to the widest selection of great quality pre-owned time pieces has always been our number one priority and launching our own marketplace allows us to bring even more choice to our customers whilst still maintaining the highest standards when it comes to product quality and customer experience” Arjen van de Vall, CEO of Watchfinder & Co.
From current bestsellers and cult classics through to vintage and limited-edition pieces, Watchfinder already has thousands of watches, from more than 70 different luxury brands, all available online and via their network of private showrooms and boutiques across the UK, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Switzerland and the US.
In 2002 Watchfinder & Co. created the definitive pre-owned watch buying experience in the UK. That success, and the future potential of the business, was recognised in May 2018 when they were acquired by Richemont. Watchfinder’s new marketplace will allow sellers to take advantage of everything Watchfinder has built up over the last 20 years – their customer base, brand reputation and infrastructure. One key example being that marketplace sellers will be able to access Watchfinder’s accredited service centres for watch certification.
Watchfinder & Co. has partnered with Mirakl, the industry’s first and most advanced enterprise marketplace SaaS platform, to power the new marketplace. Mirakl is the tech partner of choice behind other successful marketplaces including Macy’s, Inc., Galeries Lafayette, YOOX and Urban Outfitters. Speaking on the new partnership Sophie Marchessou, executive vice president of customer success B2C at Mirakl said, “In launching this new platform, Watchfinder & Co. recognises the value of the marketplace model to help them tap into a growing market for pre-owned luxury watches. The new platform enables the business to curate a wider, but still meticulously high-quality selection of products for their customers, while offering sellers a unique opportunity to sell to a well-established base of customers whose loyalty Watchfinder & Co. has carefully nurtured over the last two decades.”
