The bay is undoubtedly a great venue for picking up some undiscovered gems,even though they seem harder to come by these days.
The market for vintage chronos and watches seems to have exploded lately,and I haven`t been in this game for very long,but I`ve seen prices steadily increase over the last couple of years.(perhaps as a result of people like me taking an interest in these classic timepieces..?)

I guess one of the reasons it`s such a volatile and unpredictable market is that no one really knows how many of these sought after pieces exists?
The best educated among us can of course deliver a qualified guess,but since productionfigures and records seems to be somewhat sketchy at best,no one really knows.

I guess we`re all still hoping for that rare piece unearthed by some widow going through her late husbands desk drawer..
And as you mention,the excitement and gambling aspect of the auction set up is also a great part of the fun.

I`m not giving up on ebay,but my confidence in them helping me resolve a sticky situation is very close to non-existent.

If done a few deals on the forum,and its a great reassurance to deal with people who shares the same passion and interest.
I guess it all comes down to the trust element and a feeling of fellowship.

Cheers!

Marius

: It is a shame when it's your grail watch. I just missed buying one
: of mine (Carrera 1158 CHN) and only just caught the one I did -
: another buyer made an offer the same day but I had already
: transferred the money a couple of hours before! Phew! I was
: still a bit nervy until it was actually in my hands.

: I've generally had overwhelmingly positive experiences with eBay -
: over 600 transactions now, as seller and buyer, and probably
: less than five of those have gone awry. Even then, most of those
: were resolved ok, though one took over 6 months to be! When it
: does go wrong though, it seems to go very wrong and the seller
: and eBay sometimes seem to conspire against you. I still like
: it, it has things I would otherwise not be able to buy and
: that's a big attraction (and drain on the wallet) but I don't
: think it's what it used to be.

: Good luck with the ChronoTrader post - I only have the one
: experience buying from the forum and it was very positive! At
: least the people there know and care more about the watches they
: are selling than some eBay sellers...