Start A Luxury Watch Business - Business Ideas
Please note that the data provided in this article are estimates and may vary depending on various factors, and should not be considered as perfect or definitive.
Luxury watch businesses specialize in selling handmade watches that feature significantly high-end materials. The luxury watches are very complex and have lots of complications, while they are made using in-house movements.
According to statistics, revenue in the luxury watches segments amounts to $47.92 Billion in 2022. Analysts expect the market to grow annually by 2.69% over the next years. In relation to total population figures, luxury watch businesses generate a per person revenue of $6.29.
Starting a luxury watch business is a great business idea for those passionate about style, fashion, and jewelry. You can sell luxury watches online from your own store built on an eCommerce platform such as shopify, on third-party marketplaces such as Amazon, and eBay, or at a local storefront.
Starting a luxury watch business requires a great deal of effort, dedication, and most importantly passion.
If you're interested in how to sell luxury watch, or selling luxury watch online, you can use this page as a guide for everything you'll need to know.
Key Stats
Startup Costs
| Min Startup Costs | Max Startup Costs | |
|---|---|---|
|
Office Space Expenses |
$0 |
$7,000 |
|
Employee & Freelancer Expenses |
$151 |
$352 |
|
Website Costs |
$223 |
$7,215 |
|
Business Formation Fees |
$600 |
$4,700 |
|
Equipment & Supply Expenses |
$63 |
$200 |
|
Retail Business Expenses |
$1,250 |
$11,650 |
|
Inventory Expenses |
$350 |
$14,750 |
|
Advertising & Marketing Costs |
$75 |
$4,786 |
|
Software Expenses |
$150 |
$2,420 |
|
Total Startup Costs |
$2,862 |
$53,073 |
Successful Businesses
| Business | URL | Rank | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Crown & Caliber |
crownandcaliber.com |
36,013 |
|
|
Patek Philippe Geneve |
patek.com |
48,044 |
|
|
Swiss luxury watches |
iwc.com |
78,835 |
|
|
JCK |
jckonline.com |
79,002 |
|
|
tudorwatch |
tudorwatch.com |
89,307 |
|
|
WatchMaxx |
watchmaxx.com |
97,688 |
|
|
Exquisite Timepieces |
exquisitetimepieces.com |
102,639 |
|
|
Jaeger-LeCoultre |
jaeger-lecoultre.com |
109,553 |
|
|
The Hour Glass Official |
thehourglass.com |
131,253 |
|
|
Paul Rich Group LLC |
paul-rich.com |
141,572 |
|
|
Luxury Watches on Chrono24 |
chrono24.in |
159,610 |
Pros & Cons
| Pros | Description |
|---|---|
|
Flexibility |
You can put as much time into the business as you'd like. If you like the work and have some initial experience, you can start small and manage all aspects of the business on your own. |
|
Rewarding work |
Starting a luxury watch business can be really rewarding work. After all, you are solving an immediate issue for your customer and you're working on something you truly care about. |
|
Scalable |
With businesses and processes changing daily, there will always be demand for new features, products and services for your business. Additionally, there are several different business models and pricing tiers you can implement that will allow you to reach all types of customers. |
|
Meaningful business connections |
You never know who you will meet as a luxury watch business. This could be the start of an incredible business opportunity! |
|
High customer retention rates |
Once a customer invests in your product, they've invested their time and energy to utilize your product/service which is highly valuable to them. Typically, your product or service becomes indispensable to your customer. |
|
Easy to encourage "impulse buy" |
In the luxury watch business, you have a much higher chance of encouraging your customers to buy on impulse - you can easily alter the price, placement, packaging, and promotional value to influence the decision of your buyer. |
| Cons | Description |
|---|---|
|
Motivation of employees |
If you plan to have a sales/content team on board, finding creative ways to motivate them can be a challenge. It's important that you're able to offer great incentives and a good work environment for your employees. |
|
Longer Sales Process |
A luxury watch business can be a big time and money investment for your customer, so it's important you plan and predict a longer conversion funnel and stay in communication with potential customers. |
|
Low margins |
The gross margins for your luxury watch business are typically around 45%, which can make it more challenging to incur new expenses and maintain profitability. |
|
High employee turnover |
In the luxury watch business, employee turnover is often high, which can be quite costly and time consuming for your business. It's important to try and avoid this as much as possible by offering competitive pay, benefits, and a positive work environment. |
|
Taxes |
As a luxury watch business, you typically pay self-employment taxes which can be quite high. It's important to understand what you will be paying in taxes each year so you can determine if the work you're taking on is worth it. |
|
Niche Market |
A niche business is not necessarily a bad thing, in fact, it can be the key to your success. However, it can be more challenging and time consuming to find the perfect niche market and target audience. |
Marketing Ideas
-
1
Affiliate Program
Affiliate marketing is a great way to bring in a new revenue stream, especially when you don't sell products or services.
Simply put, an affiliate program is an agreement where a business pays another business or influencer ("the affiliate") a commission for sending traffic and/or sales their way.
The affiliate typically gets a unique link where clicks and conversions can be tracked.
-
2
Partnerships
A partnership is a formal agreement between two or more entities to oversee business operations and share profits and liabilities.
Creating strategic partnerships with an existing business can be a huge win for a startup.
This is considering that a partnership creates a new slate of future options for your startup.
On the other side, pursuit of partnerships could suck up a ton of time, and bunch of resources, and fail to materialize.
Therefore, entrepreneurs need to do proper research and evaluate the possibilities of achieving success through partnerships.
-
3
Social Media Advertising
Social media advertising is the use of social media platforms to connect with your audience with the objective to build your brand, increase sales, and drive website traffic.
According to Oberlo, approximately 48% of the global population use social media, and the number is ever-growing.
Therefore, social media allows brands access to cost-effective advertising by enabling them to interact with a large audience.
Hey! 👋 I'm Pat Walls, the founder of Starter Story.
Get our 5-minute email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
- 4,818 founder case studies
- Access to our founder directory
- Live events, courses and recordings
- 8,628 business ideas
- $1M in software savings
"An amazing network of founders that truly want to help each other grow their business."