Buying or selling a pre-owned watch or bag means taking someone's word for a lot. These guides cover the checks that actually tell you something, what a chip or a code can and can't prove, and where the rules are heading.
Buying a pre-owned watch
- How to check if a watch is stolen before you buyFive checks to run before paying for a pre-owned watch, what a clean stolen-watch search really means, and how tap-to-verify watches change the process.
- Buying a pre-owned luxury watch: 10 questions to ask the sellerThe 10 questions to ask a seller before buying a pre-owned luxury watch, from box and papers to service history, and the answers that should stop the sale.
Selling and protecting what you own
- How to sell a luxury watch privately without getting scammedSelling a luxury watch privately? The common scams, how to take payment safely, what paperwork to hand over, and how to transfer a Shado-registered watch.
- What to do if your luxury watch is stolenWatch stolen? What to do first: police report, insurer, stolen-watch registers, dealers, and how to block resale of a Shado-registered watch.
Handbags
Technology and regulation
- NFC vs QR code authentication: can tags be cloned?QR codes, NFC tags and embedded modules compared: which can be copied, which can be moved to a fake, and what each one actually proves about a luxury item.
- Digital product passports for watches and handbagsWhat a digital product passport is, whether the EU requires one for watches or handbags yet, and what a passport can and can't prove about a luxury piece.
Want to see how a tap-to-verify check works on a real piece? See how Shado works.