For most UK sellers the answer is a trade-off between speed and money: a local dealer or Watchfinder pays within days at a trade price, Chrono24 and eBay get you closer to retail but you carry the listing, the wait and the shipping risk, and auction gets the widest audience at the highest cost - Fellows takes 15% plus VAT, £10 a lot and 1.5% loss cover, and pays fifteen working days after the sale. Subdial sits between, buying outright or consigning on a sliding commission. There is no single best place; there is a best place for this watch, this week, given how much you need the money and how much risk you will carry yourself.

The channels compared for a UK seller

Fees as published by each channel as of August 2026. The "£5,000 watch" column applies the published fee to a £5,000 sale price; where a figure is not published, it says so.

Channel What the seller pays On a £5,000 watch Speed to cash Risk carried by seller
Local dealer, outright Nothing; the dealer's margin is in the offer Offer not published; below retail by the dealer's margin and risk Same day to a few days Low - you hand over the watch, you get paid
Watchfinder & Co (outright or part-exchange) Nothing stated; a servicing fee may be deducted from the final offer after inspection Offer not published Estimate within 48 hours, free insured collection, BACS in 2-3 days after you accept Low
Subdial Buys outright at a "buy it now" figure, or consigns; commission for consignment reported in 2023 at 12% falling to 6% by member tier £600 at 12%, £300 at 6%, on the 2023 terms Outright: days. Consignment: until it sells Low to moderate - the watch sits with Subdial
Chrono24, private seller 6.5% commission retained from the escrow payout; listing is free £325, net £4,675 Listing to sale varies from days to months; payout after the buyer's inspection period Moderate - you ship to the buyer; returns and disputes are yours
eBay, private seller No final value fee; the buyer pays a Buyer Protection fee added to your price (£0.10 plus 7% to £20, 4% from £20 to £300, 2% from £300 to £4,000); Authenticity Guarantee via Stoll & Co. at £1,500 and over, free £0 to you; the buyer sees £5,086.70 Auction 7 days or Buy It Now; payout after delivery Moderate - but at £1,500-plus the watch goes to the authenticator, not straight to the buyer
eBay, business seller 12.9% up to £750 per item, 3% above, plus £0.40 per order and a 0.35% regulatory fee, all ex VAT £242.15 ex VAT, net £4,757.85 As above As above, plus consumer-law returns
Fellows (auction) 15% seller's commission plus VAT, £10 marketing fee plus VAT per lot, 1.5% loss/liability charge plus VAT On a £5,000 hammer: £1,002 including VAT, net £3,998 Payment fifteen working days after the sale Low once consigned; the price risk is the estimate and the reserve
Bonhams (auction) Seller's commission negotiable, agreed in writing before the sale; buyer pays 28% premium on the first £40,000 of hammer plus VAT on the premium Not published Sale calendar plus settlement Low once consigned
Sotheby's (auction) "Bespoke" seller's terms since February 2025; buyer's premium 28% on hammer under £1.5 million since 13 February 2026 Not published Sale calendar plus settlement Low once consigned
Vinted Nothing; the buyer pays a Buyer Protection fee and may add a £10 Item Verification on eligible designer listings at £85 and over £0 Until it sells High for a valuable watch - no watch-specialist authentication, buyer-side protection designed for clothing
Facebook Marketplace Nothing £0 Until it sells High - no escrow, no protection, cash and meet-ups

The buyer's premium at auction is not your fee, but it is your problem: a bidder who values the watch at £5,000 all-in bids about £3,750 at Bonhams, because 28% plus VAT on the premium sits on top. The hammer you are paid from is that lower number.

Which channel pays the most?

In gross terms, a private sale at retail to a consumer - eBay as a private seller, where you pay nothing, or Chrono24 at 6.5%. On the £5,000 example the eBay private seller keeps £5,000 and the Chrono24 seller £4,675. The catch is that the eBay buyer is paying £5,086.70, because the Buyer Protection fee is shown inside the price, so your listing competes on the inclusive figure; the fee is yours to absorb in a slightly lower price or the buyer's to refuse.

Auction can beat both on the right watch - a rare reference, a full vintage set, a provenance - because the room contains the people who will pay more than a marketplace median. On an ordinary modern steel sports watch, it rarely does once 15% plus VAT and the buyer's premium come out. Fellows' own calculator will give you the net on any hammer figure; run it before you consign.

Dealers and Watchfinder pay least in headline terms, by design: they are buying your time, your risk and your uncertainty. The honest comparison is not their offer against a Chrono24 asking price; it is their offer against what you would net on Chrono24 after commission, after the weeks the listing takes, after the price cut you make in week six, and after the one buyer in twenty who returns it.

Which channel is fastest?

Dealer and Watchfinder. A dealer who wants the watch will pay on the spot. Watchfinder's published process is an estimate within 48 hours, a free insured collection or a drop at a boutique, an inspection, a final offer (less any servicing fee), and BACS in two to three days if you accept. Subdial's outright "buy it now" offer is on the same timescale.

Everything else waits for a buyer. Chrono24 and eBay can be quick for a fairly priced, well-photographed reference with papers and slow for anything without; auction runs to the sale calendar and pays fifteen working days after the hammer at Fellows. If you need the money this month, the trade buyers are the channel, and you should get three offers rather than one.

What are the risks, and who carries them?

Shipping and payment. On Chrono24 you post to the buyer and are paid through escrow after the buyer's inspection window; on eBay at £1,500 and over you post to Stoll & Co., who inspect and forward, which removes the "buyer swaps the watch and returns a fake" risk that used to define selling watches online. Below £1,500 on eBay, and on Vinted and Facebook, the watch goes straight to the buyer and the protection is whatever the platform's dispute process gives you. Insure the parcel at full value, photograph the serial and the packing, and use a signed-for, tracked service; a watch that does not arrive is a dispute you will probably lose without that file.

Misdescription. Describe honestly: replaced parts, polished case, missing links, service history unknown. Under-description is a return; over-description is a dispute you lose.

Title. If you are selling, this is the buyer's problem; if you are buying from a private seller to resell, it is yours - see how to check if a watch is stolen.

Price risk at auction. Set a reserve you can live with. An unsold lot costs fees at some houses and a public record of not selling, which follows the watch.

Selling as a business on private terms. If you are trading - buying to sell on - you are a business seller, and eBay's and Chrono24's private-seller terms are not yours to use. As a business you pay the business fees and owe distance-selling rights, including the 14-day cancellation period. We compare those two channels for dealers in Chrono24 vs eBay for selling watches, and the dealer package costs in what Chrono24 costs a dealer.

Do I pay tax when I sell my watch?

For a private individual selling a personal watch, usually not. HMRC's Capital Gains Tax manual treats clocks and watches as machinery, machinery is always a wasting asset with a predictable life of 50 years or less, and HMRC's helpsheet HS293 says any gain on a personal possession that is a wasting asset is exempt from Capital Gains Tax - unless you have, or could have, claimed capital allowances on it, which means business use. Income Tax is a different test: if you are buying watches to sell on, that is trading income, whatever the platform calls you, and the platform reports your sales to HMRC under the digital platform rules. If you are VAT registered and dealing, the second-hand margin scheme applies.

How do I decide for one particular watch?

Four questions:

  1. How fast do I need the money? This month: dealer, Watchfinder, Subdial outright. This year: anything.
  2. Is it ordinary or special? Modern steel sports watch with papers: Chrono24, eBay at £1,500-plus with Authenticity Guarantee, or trade. Rare, vintage, full set, provenance: talk to Fellows, Bonhams or Sotheby's before you list it anywhere, because an auction record is worth more than a quick sale.
  3. How much work and risk will I carry? Photographs, listing, messages, shipping, returns. If the answer is none, sell to trade and accept the price.
  4. What is it actually worth? Not the highest Chrono24 asking price - the last five sold results, adjusted for your condition and papers. That is the number each channel's fee comes off, and how to price a pre-owned watch sets out how to find it.

Then get three numbers: a trade offer, a Fellows calculator net at a realistic hammer, and your Chrono24 or eBay net at a realistic price. The gap between them is the price of speed and certainty. Sometimes it is worth paying.

What we could not verify

  • Dealer and Watchfinder offer levels. Not published; they depend on the watch and the day. Watchfinder's servicing-fee deduction is stated in its help pages but not quantified.
  • Subdial's current commission tiers. The 12% to 6% member-tier structure was reported by WatchPro in August 2023; Subdial's site did not publish a current fee schedule when we checked.
  • Bonhams' and Sotheby's seller's commission. Negotiated; both say so. Get it in writing.
  • Vinted's Buyer Protection fee bands. A fixed fee plus a percentage; Vinted's live price list is the only current source.
  • Whether Chrono24's private seller commission applies identically on chrono24.co.uk and other country sites. The UK FAQ says 6.5%; check the listing terms you accept.

Sources

This is general information, not financial or tax advice, and it is not a quotation. Marketplace and auction fees change without notice. Verify every figure against the channel's own terms on the day you sell, and take tax questions to an accountant.

Milleso is for the trade side of this: a dealer's stock list that feeds Chrono24, eBay and a Shopify or WooCommerce site from one record, pauses the listings when a watch leaves the building, and keeps each channel's fees against the piece so the net, not the asking price, is what you see.