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Rakuten fakes?

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Renard
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Rakuten fakes?

Post by Renard »

First, thanks for this forum. I came here from WUS as the deals was one of my favorite threads.

I have a question about watches purchased on Rakuten. I see these % off deals but can't help wonder how you are avoiding fakes. You have to translate the descriptions just to figure out what many sellers are selling. Pics are often available but those could easily be fake. From what I can tell nearly every model of popular makers is faked, and many good enough that pics wouldn't be adequate to tell the difference. Let alone something like a Rolex sub which is scary enough to buy used from a trusted seller in the US. I would just assume everything on Rakuten is a fake. Is there a reason that might not be the case??

If this is the wrong place to post this feel free to move. Thanks for any info.
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Re: Rakuten fakes?

Post by AndroidIsAwesome »

I never really worry about it because I know the watches I buy are too obscure for any company to put time and money into making a fake of it.

But yes a Rolex would be hard for me to buy. Over time you learn who the trustworthy sellers are, and definitely check all the pictures out and even ask for more angles.
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Re: Rakuten fakes?

Post by Dub Rubb »

I *think* someone mentioned something about Japan being REALLY strict about selling fakes. I know quite a few members here have bought rolexes and Cima stars for crazy prices during the ebates sales with the watches arriving in better than expected condition.

The only expensive watch I bought from RGM would be really hard to fake (Seiko Shippo), but when I decide to pull the trigger on an explorer I or a seamaster, it will probably be through one of these sales.

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Re: Rakuten fakes?

Post by yinzburgher »

Renard wrote: Wed Feb 27, 2019 8:49 pm I would just assume everything on Rakuten is a fake. Is there a reason that might not be the case??
I'm not sure if I should be taking your statement quite so literally but to assume that every watch on Rakuten Global Market is fake would be a bit bizarre. I do think that fakes are a fairly common problem in recent years but probably much less so in the past. So I doubt most of the vintage watches on the platform are fake. They have managed to pass muster for long enough to become vintage. Most of the brand new watches that people buy on RGM are from authorized dealers. In addition to the watches, the sellers would have to fake the boxes, tags, and papers. Also, they have access to genuine branded watches as ADs so it would be incredibly stupid or incredibly brazen to have the real ones but then ship fake ones to customers. Many of these ADs have likely had well established brick and mortar stores and websites, cementing their reputation prior to selling on RGM. There are a number of pawn shops in Japan that sell on RGM. They certainly could be getting relatively high quality fakes and either knowingly or unwittingly passing them along to customers. In the past when I've translated the a handful of bad reviews it was more garden variety complaints rather than accusations of fakes from their Japanese customers. I would think you would have a much higher chance of purchasing a fake from ebay than from RGM. The likelihood of either fake listings or fake watches on RGM would likely be more on par with that of third-party sellers on Amazon. On both platforms, you have to maintain a number of reasonably satisfactory reviews to continue selling. Not like ebay where any individual scammer can sign up and start selling. I'm far from an expert on fakes but all of the watches I've purchased from Rakuten Global have been of a high quality and I've never had any reason to suspect a fake. I should say though that I don't generally buy luxury watches. My purchases have been Seiko, Hamilton, Oris, Orient Star, etc. I would say if you're considering a watch in which fakes are a concern, it is probably best to stick to ADs or only the most reputable of grey market dealers.
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Re: Rakuten fakes?

Post by watchpalooza »

I had the same thought anout prevalence of fakes on RGM after a few recent Omega and Rolex deals. Like any marketplace, there is some risk. Has anyone here had a watch bought on RGM authenticated at an AD? Thinking more the luxury watches and not Seikos, etc.
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Re: Rakuten fakes?

Post by TheJohnP »

Dub Rubb wrote: Wed Feb 27, 2019 11:15 pm I *think* someone mentioned something about Japan being REALLY strict about selling fakes. I know quite a few members here have bought rolexes and Cima stars for crazy prices during the ebates sales with the watches arriving in better than expected condition.

The only expensive watch I bought from RGM would be really hard to fake (Seiko Shippo), but when I decide to pull the trigger on an explorer I or a seamaster, it will probably be through one of these sales.

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Was this the topic?

http://www.manontime.com/viewtopic.php? ... apan#p9031
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Re: Rakuten fakes?

Post by Kirk B »

FTE wrote: Thu Feb 28, 2019 1:48 am I had the same thought anout prevalence of fakes on RGM after a few recent Omega and Rolex deals. Like any marketplace, there is some risk. Has anyone here had a watch bought on RGM authenticated at an AD? Thinking more the luxury watches and not Seikos, etc.
I have purchased two watches from RGM - $9,300 before CB for a Rolex GMT Master II ($6,800 after CB) and $3,000 before CB for an Omega Speedy sapphire sandwich ($2,400 after CB). Both deals were well, well below what I could ever dream of getting the watches for in the United States, so to me it was worth the gamble. I think if the condition of the watch was not what you expected, then you might have to fight to return it or get a credit. I think if the watch was an outright fake, then it actually would be much easier to get your money back through your credit card. I know that with my card I could submit pictures of the fake and probably have a 100% credit within minutes!

The Omega has a display caseback and it is keeping time at 3-4 sec/day. It certainly looks legit to me. The movement is gorgeous.

The Rolex had the caseback installed by a gorilla. I could NOT get it off using my standard tools. So I spent $120 and bought a really, really nice caseback removal tool on Amazon:



It's worth the investment to me as it would cost $50 to have the local dealer authenticate the watch and I like having good tools. Bottom line though is that it had an authentic Rolex movement inside and it's keeping time within 4 sec/day.

So neither of my watches were authenticated by an AD, but I've had two Rolexes done before in the past and honestly the AD does very little to verify them. I inspected everything under a loop and feel extremely confident that what I got in both of my cases were authentic. Cases, bracelets, Rolex cyclops magnification, dials, movement serial numbers, case markings, caseback markings, etc. all matched up with my other Rolexes and with pictures on the Net.

Personally... I feel safer buying a luxury watch and getting the real deal from a brick and mortar shop in Japan versus buying from an individual on eBay.
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Re: Rakuten fakes?

Post by uaconcorde »

yet to see a single fake on Rakuten Global Market, most seller on there have physical stores in Japan. They also have phone number and address listed, I've called them more than once when I have a question.

Rakuten Global Market is low risk scale, if movement looks good I don't bat another eye

I bought several high value watches already all legit
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