Hi Darren

Hope you are well.

Many thanks for the nicely considered response, all the points you raise are fair as I’d expect from you.

I think we must remember the nature of the words "guide" and "average", these are crucial to understanding and using the guide. There can never be a definitive answer to the question, how much is watch "X" worth, for that is not the nature of an "open" market. Rather there are many prices that cluster/group around the average, above and below, some further above and further below (outliers) and all of these would go to make up the "average" price for each watch. This is fairly basic valuation system "talk" and is what I have been doing for the past 15 years of my life. There will be "gaps" in the data source which then uses extrapolation to "fill" in the voids (all this is discussed on the "definitions" page) and then a panel which contains an Autavia and Carrera market expert "sense check" these.

I'd like to think what comes out the other end is a pretty accurate average of what I describe in the above paragraph, which means you will always find examples, above and below the "guide" figures and because there are many different types of "retailer" there will always be some who are able to charge a higher amount than the "guide", again just like I would expect in the car market. We should not think of it as a "bible" but rather a helpful tool to "gauge" the market. There will also be watches that are rare and a seller can demand more due to it being the only watch for sale at the time, in the car guide world, we call these "into book" models, I expect the same to be true in watches, I also cannot stress enough that it is a "loose" and "fluid" guide, there is never a strict "rigid" value, it is not the nature of most marketplaces.

I also feel pretty confident this will not stop your odd Ebay victory, it seems unlikely that our "Heuer world" microcosm is anything other than that, I’m sure there are many people who will never come across the site, and even some who do not visit OTD, although if there are occasions when some sellers get a more realistic price for a very rare execution, that could be thought of as fair do's in some respects...

I think the problem with the guides that were in existence is that both were out of date by a large degree due to the time constraints involved in updating, so I’m fairly confident this guide is much more in the correct ball park, however if there are some suggestions to make it a better fit for users I’m of course open to suggestions of how to do this, so long as they are sensible and not weighted towards one particular group more than another, perhaps some would rather to not have Dealer prices, or for them to be called something other than retail etc.

Lastly a good indication of the nature of price guide feedback can be noted by the fact I have some interesting (all polite!) emails already, roughly the same amount of people saying the guide is “slightly” too low or “slightly” too high, which again tells its own story. Whilst I understand it is easy to get caught up as a watch collector in what you paid for any given piece, that is not what the guide is for, it is to try and define an “average” price point, I sometimes pay more than what I think “average” market price is for a watch, because I WANT it, and sometimes I pay less, that expect will not change.

Hope that helps to some degree Darren.

Rich

: Firstly i have to commend Rich for taking on such a large (&
: seemingly overwhelming) task.
: Without having checked every single model listed, it does seem to
: me that the price ranges seem +/- in line with my own beleifs.

: However

: Seeing the table set up with its 6 prices for each model (
: depending on condition & seller ) does seem very defining !
: Will this now dictate both buyers & sellers expectations.
: Previously the OTD version did feel like a price guide, this has
: more of a designation of price feel to it.

: Am i just being overly touchy on this issue. Our little corner of
: the world has been a wonderful safe kindergarten to play in for
: a long time now but we have all seen the general prices of Heuer
: increasing and felt the traffic flow of new interest on the
: forum, is this the cost of popularity & awareness, a
: stricter structure such as we see on other premium watch brands
: (Rolex leaps to mind) ?

: I have been willing to pay premium prices for rarer peices but
: still enjoy the thrill of chase & my chance of "scoring
: a bargain" whether it be ebay or any other source. I only
: hope this easily located internet price guide doesn't eliminate
: those golden buy-it-now ebay moments that occasionally pop up.

: After more than 130 veiws by forum readers i would normally have
: expected a greater reaction to this new price guide. Come on
: people this forum is the right place to POLITELY express your
: feelings.

: Cheers - Darren