How it works: you place the watch with a dealer or consignment service. Together you set a listing price (typically at or near current retail for the reference and condition). The dealer lists it, photographs it, markets it, handles buyer inquiries, and authenticates it for the buyer. When it sells, you receive the proceeds minus the consignment fee. Typical fees range from 15 to 25 percent of the sale price, depending on the piece value and the dealer. The timeline is the variable that changes everything. Some pieces sell in days (a Daytona 116500LN in excellent condition listed at market price will move fast). Others sit for weeks or months (a less-desirable dial variant, a reference with soft demand, a price set above market). During that period, you bear the market risk: if the pre-owned market drops 5 percent while your watch is listed, the listing price needs to drop with it or the piece does not sell. You also lose the time-value of the money, the liquidity you could have had from an outright sale. Worked example: same Submariner, listed at $14,000. Consignment fee is 20 percent. Piece sells in 6 weeks. You receive $11,200 ($14,000 minus $2,800 fee). Compare that to the $11,000 outright sale: you waited 6 weeks and netted $200 more. On a $14,000 Submariner, consignment barely wins. The math only clearly favors consignment on higher-value pieces where the retail-to-dealer spread is wider: a $145,000 Nautilus 5711 consigned at 15 percent fee and sold at $140,000 nets $119,000, versus an outright offer of perhaps $110,000 to $115,000. At that price tier, the $4,000 to $9,000 difference is worth the wait. Important: before consigning, confirm the consignment period (how long before you can recall the piece), what happens if it does not sell, and whether the consignment fee applies to a reduced price if the listing price is lowered during the period.