How to Buy Parnis Watches for Less Than the Going Rate

In an article by Michael Weare entitled, Here are Five Famous Watches and Their Homage Alternatives, I noticed that the author included Parnis as two of his five watch alternatives: the Parnis Breitling Navitimer homage and the Parnis Marina Militare 47mm PVD 1950 Swan Neck Black Dial HandWinding Watch. Of the latter the author wrote:

Running on a Seagull 3600 hand wound movement, this 47mm look alike calls itself Marina Militare, which is essentially the Italian name for Navy. This is a quality product made with 316L stainless steel and scratch proof mineral glass available for under 250 Euros.

In the YouTube video below, the speaker, Michael DeStefano, discusses the quality of a Marina Militare in comparison to a Panerai Luminor. He gives the Parnis high marks.

I tend to agree. I own a Swiss Marina Militare and a Parnis version with a Seagull movement. 

Mr.Weare gave a price of 250 Euros for the Marina Militare and Mr. DeStefano gave a rice of $150.

At those prices, I find the Parnis watches excellent values.

Even so, I found a most legitimate way to buy a Parnis for as little as $50.

You ask how? Here's the secret for people who enjoy reading my books, articles and blogs. Please don't share this with others, since prices will spike upward.

The process:

I make bids on eBay auctions. For some reason, Chinese watch companies place some of their listings on eBay as auctions with one to 99 cent opening bids. According to the people I asked, they believe it's a way to attract new customers and is merely a marketing expense.

I've purchased a collection of almost every Parnis model for about 33% of standard pricing. I begin my creating a search with these parameters.

Search: Parnis

Listed in category:
Jewelry & Watches>Watches>Wristwatches

Sort:
Price + Shipping: lowest first

Movements:
Mechanical (Automatic)
Mechanical (Hand Winding)

Format:
Auction

If you want, you can use this link to search on eBay using the parameters above:


Search for Parnis Watches: Lowest Price Auctions


Once you find low opening price auctions, you have different ways to go about bidding.

Some people like to keep a close eye on their bidding activity even through the end of an auction. I have not found this to work for me. When I find a new listing with a $.99 opening bid, I decide what I want to pay and use an off-line bidding. See sniping below.

If you don't want to obsess about your bid, you can also use automatic bidding. For example, let's say you want to pay $50 for a watch and no more. You can place a $50 bid on the item you choose. If the opening bid is $.99, then that's what shows up on the listing until someone else challenges you.

You may have a difficult time finding eBay's explanation, so using "fair use" of copyright law, I'm quoting it below:

In auction-style listings, eBay's automatic bidding system increases your bid in increments so you’re the highest bidder until it reaches your maximum bid. It’s more convenient than manual bidding because you don't need to monitor the auction as closely. 
Here’s how it works:

• When placing your bid, you enter the highest amount you’re willing to pay for an item. This is your maximum bid and isn’t visible to other bidders or the seller. You won't necessarily pay your maximum. If no one else bids as high as your maximum, you’ll pay less.

• In some cases, the seller may set a hidden minimum price, known as a reserve, which has to be met for the item to be sold. When you bid on an item with a reserve price, if your maximum bid meets the reserve, it will automatically increase to meet that price. For example

• A seller lists an item with a starting bid of $1.00 and a reserve of $100.00. Bidder A bids $1.50. The current bid increases to $1.50 but the reserve isn't met. If nobody else places a bid, Bidder A doesn't win the item. Bidder B places a maximum bid of $150.00. The current bid increases to $100.00 to meet the reserve. If nobody else places a bid, Bidder B wins the item at the price of $100.00.

• If someone bids more than your maximum, we'll let you know in case you want to bid again

Only bid on items you intend to buy. In most cases, you can’t retract your bid. If you win, you must pay the seller. 

Sniping

I'm not a sniper, but I have found a software program to help me organize my bidding activity, so I don't have to monitor an item's activity. I use Justsnipe. I like it, because it's free, that is, you can bid on five items a week for free, Most people find that adequate.

If you want to place more bids, which I do, I pay $5 a month for the full use of their facilities.

For example, I have my eye on 44 mm Parnis Marina Militare automatic with a GMT function. This week, I have found three with low bids. I place a maximum bid on each one for $50. I also make sure they don't close at the same time.

If the bidding goes over $50 on the first one, Justsnipe alerts me by email. When the auction ends, I see that 31 bids were placed and it sold for $110.

The second one, closed at $66. That's near my price point, but I didn't change my bid, because I didn't know if the winning bidder had a $125 automatic bid sitting out there.

I won the third for $48. Sometimes, interested people get a little exhausted and just stop bidding. When that happens, bids slow and I find  opportunities to pick up a watch at a fraction of the normal price.

Try it?

I've done this since the early days of eBay. I found it fairly reliable over time. I place many bids and get lucky every once in a while.

Now you now.

Hopefully, you found some value here.