Unfortunately, the stories that we see about scams involving people who use Craigslist for jewelry are becoming more and more common. This past week, a particular story about a stolen Rolex watch in Tampa Bay caught our attention.
Here’s what happened:
A man wanted to sell his 2012 Rolex Submariner and listed it on Craigslist. He was contacted by a potential buyer, and they set up a meeting at a local golf club to discuss a sale. The potential buyer walked outside with the watch and came back inside and declined to buy the watch.
The catch? The potential buyer was actually a thief with a very convincing fake. The would-be buyer swapped out the real Submariner and handed the seller the counterfeit. Just like that, a watch valued at around $6,900 was gone.
While Craigslist can be very valuable tool to sell or buy items, there are just a lot of people out there with bad intentions – especially when it comes to valuables. While you can protect yourself from counterfeit watches by self-educating with articles like this, it’s never foolproof.
Fake Rolex watches from China in particular are becoming more and more convincing, which makes Craigslist encounters like the one above increasing more likely.
There’s another reason you should avoid Craigslist for jewelry – It can be dangerous.
According to this Huffington Post article, there have been at least 45 “Craigslist killings” since 2009. While this isn’t something we would normally discuss on our blog, we believe that it’s in the best interest of our customers to be aware of the potential danger associated with classified ad jewelry sales.
In our opinion, it’s never worth putting yourself in harms way to sell or watches and other fine jewelry. Even if it is not through Jonathan’s, we highly recommend that you always do business with a legitimate jeweler.
There are a few reasons why it’s better to work with a jeweler:
1) Experience
We know the jewelry market better than anyone, and have built our brand by offering a fair prices for your items in a safe environment. While some people feel that they can get a marginally higher price by selling themselves, it should be considered if the extra risk is actually worth a few dollars.
2) You won’t purchase stolen items
Jonathan’s works hand in hand with the Houston Police Department to prevent jewelry theft every day. We have an open dialogue with law enforcement and have helped prevent many cases of jewelry theft over the last 25 years. You can be assured that the item you purchase is legitimate and exactly what we say it is.
3) Safety
It’s pretty simple. It’s just flat out safer to work with a reputable jeweler that has a physical location. Our building is extremely secure and much safer than anywhere that you would meet with someone from craigslist (be sure to bring your photo ID when you check in at the front desk when you schedule an appointment).
And the end of the day, we just want you to be careful out there.
If you are interested in selling jewelry or a fine watch, give us a call (713) 977-9885 or schedule an appointment online here. To see the latest jewelry trends and watch reviews, like our page on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. We love taking pictures of our personal watches! Take a look on our Instagram pages below:
