Partnership proposal for Luxury to Cash · November 2026
A trusted UAE marketplace for luxury watches
Two pillars: KYC that checks every seller and every watch, and a marketplace where individuals, companies and shops sell safely.
The problem
Buying a pre-owned watch in the UAE still runs on blind trust
Risk 1
Stolen watches
Nothing on Dubizzle or Instagram checks a serial number against stolen-watch records before the sale.
Risk 2
Fakes and “Frankenwatches”
Copies and watches built from mixed or non-original parts are hard for buyers to spot from photos.
Risk 3
No buyer protection
Buyers pay the seller directly, often in cash. If something is wrong, the money is gone.
Good sellers lose too: honest individuals, shops and companies get lower prices because buyers price in the risk.
The market
A large, growing market with no trusted local leader
$817M
UAE pre-owned luxury watches by 2030
AED 2.9B, growing 6.9% a year (Grand View Research forecast, via Khaleej Times)
+4.9%
Second-hand watch prices in 2025
First yearly rise since 2021: demand is back (Morgan Stanley and WatchCharts, via Bloomberg)
86,000+
Millionaires living in Dubai
Plus tourists and GCC visitors who buy watches as status and investment pieces (Gulf News)
Competitors
Many places to buy, none built on verified trust
Player
What it is
Gap for UAE buyers and sellers
Chrono24
Global watch marketplace
Not local: no Arabic or WhatsApp flow, cross-border shipping
The Luxury Closet
Dubai luxury resale, all categories
Watches are a side category; limited seller choice
Dubizzle
General classifieds
Huge traffic, but fakes and no escrow or stolen checks
Instagram / WhatsApp dealers
Social selling
Trust depends on one dealer; no buyer protection
Timepiece360, WatchBox
Single dealers with online stores
Only their own stock; private owners can’t list
Christie’s, Sotheby’s Dubai
Auction houses
Top end only, slow, high fees
The idea
A watches-only marketplace where we are the trusted middle man
Who sells
Individuals, companies and shops
Anyone can post a watch, once their identity (and business, if any) is verified.
What we do
Check, hold, authenticate
We check the seller and the watch, hold the buyer’s payment in escrow, and authenticate before release.
Who buys
UAE and GCC buyers
Buyers get verified sellers, theft-checked watches and their money back if anything is wrong.
Available on the web and on iOS and Android apps. Like other e-commerce marketplaces, we hold no stock at first: we earn a commission on every sale.
KYC builds the trust. The marketplace makes the sale.
Every seller is verified. Every watch is checked for theft and authenticity. Only then is the seller paid.
Pillar 1 · Seller KYC
No one lists a watch until they pass four checks
1
Sign up
Choose: individual, company or shop
2
Identity check
UAE PASS or Emirates ID scan + selfie; passport for non-residents
3
Business check
Trade licence, owners and signatory (companies and shops)
4
Screening
Sanctions and PEP lists, payout bank account in own name
All clear → can list
Unclear → manual review by our team
Fails → rejected, reason given
Pillar 1 · Who can sell
Three seller types, each with its own checks
Seller
Identity
Business documents
Extra checks
Individual
UAE PASS or Emirates ID + selfie
None
Proof of ownership for each watch; low limits at first
Company
IDs of owners and signatory
Trade licence, MOA, owner list
Licence verified, owners screened
Shop / dealer
Same as company
Same as company + shop address
Visit or video call, first watches inspected; dealer badge
Buyers verify phone and email; full ID is required above an agreed amount (for example AED 55,000).
Pillar 1 · Watch KYC
Every watch is checked twice: is it stolen, is it real?
At listing · online
Is it stolen or suspicious?
Serial searched in The Watch Register (125,000+ lost and stolen watches)
Our own blocklist: serials reported by users, police, insurers
Duplicate serial check across all listings
Proof of ownership and the seller’s own photos
Before payout · physical
Is it genuine and original?
Watchmaker checks movement, case, dial and parts
Catches fakes and “Frankenwatches”
Serial on the watch must match the listing
Photo report shared with the buyer
Stolen match: listing and payment frozen, watch held, police and the register informed, seller suspended.
Pillar 1 · How we know a watch is stolen
No single public police database exists, so we check four sources
Main check
The Watch Register
Global database run by the Art Loss Register, London. Police, insurers and owners report thefts. Search by brand + serial; clean result gives a certificate. API for platforms.
Second opinion
StolenWatch
Smaller online stolen-watch database, $9.99 per search. Useful as a backup check on high-value watches.
Brands
Brand registers
Rolex keeps its own stolen register, but it is not open to outside checks. Brand service papers help prove history.
Our data
Own blocklist
Serials reported to us, duplicate serials across listings, and every watch already sold on the platform.
The limit: a theft that was never reported won’t show anywhere. That is why seller KYC and proof of ownership matter as much as the database check.
Pillar 2 · Marketplace
The seller is paid only after the watch passes
1
Seller lists
Verified seller posts the watch with serial, papers and photos
2
Online checks
Stolen-watch search, duplicate serial check, then listing goes live
3
Buyer pays
Money held in escrow by a licensed partner, not the seller
4
Authentication
Watch comes to the hub; expert checks it is genuine
5
Delivery
Insured courier to the buyer, who confirms within 48 hours
6
Seller paid
Escrow releases payment minus our commission
Partnership
Luxury to Cash already has what the trust layer needs
Role 1
Authentication
Certified watch experts check each sold watch, paid per check.
Role 2
Secure hub
Insured vault for watches between seller and buyer.
Role 3
Instant offer
Sellers who want cash today get a Luxury to Cash offer instead of listing.
Role 4
Verified dealer
Their own stock sold on the marketplace to a wider audience.
What Luxury to Cash gains: more sellers coming to them, a new sales channel for stock, and fees on every check. Presence in Dubai, Riyadh and London opens GCC growth.
Costs
Each seller and watch check costs only a few dirhams
Item
Service / API
Cost (published or quoted)
UAE PASS login and ID
UAE PASS developer portal
Free to integrate; build AED 20,000 to 50,000 if outsourced
Identity KYC, per person
Didit · Shufti Pro · Sumsub · uqudo
AED 1.2 · from AED 5.5 · AED 5 to 7 · quote
Business KYB, per company
Didit
From AED 7.4
Sanctions screening
Didit
AED 0.7 per check
Stolen-watch check
The Watch Register
AED 81 single; from about AED 10 in bulk
Card payments
Telr · Tap · PayTabs
2.49 to 2.85% + AED 0.5 to 1 per payment
Escrow, authentication, legal
Trustin · Luxury to Cash · law firm
Quotes needed
USD converted at 3.67. Prices from vendor pages and guides, November 2026, before negotiation.
Business model
Revenue comes mainly from commission on each sale
Stream
Who pays
Suggested starting point
Sale commission
Seller
5 to 10% per sale (lower for dealers)
Buyer protection fee
Buyer
Fixed fee per order: authentication and insured delivery
Dealer subscription
Shops and companies
Monthly plan for a shop page and more listings
Featured listings
Any seller
Pay per boost
Extra services
Buyer or seller
Servicing, valuation, clean-history certificate
No stock risk in phase 1: we earn on transactions, not inventory.
Roadmap
Website, iOS and Android apps live in month 4
Month 1
1. Setup
Lawyer and licence
KYC, escrow, payment partners
UAE PASS and Watch Register applications
Web and app designs
Months 1 to 3
2. Build in parallel
Backend and admin panel
Web marketplace
iOS and Android apps
KYC, escrow, stolen checks
Month 4
3. Test and launch
App Store and Google Play
10 to 20 founding dealers
300+ listings, first sales
Months 5 to 9
4. Grow
Open to individuals
Marketing push
AED price guide
GCC expansion
One shared backend serves the website and both apps, so all three launch together.
Next steps
What we would like to agree today
Partnership in principle with Luxury to Cash
Which roles to start with: authentication, secure hub, instant offer, verified dealer
Authentication pricing and turnaround per watch
A 3-month pilot with founding dealers once the platform is ready
On our side: legal and licence, stolen-watch database access, KYC and escrow partners, and the first build.