Many members do not appreciate negative posts in their sales thread. Even if they are objective and polite they are often misinterpreted and seen as thread-crapping.
I would also love to see more lively sales threads but it is very difficult to draw the line and the general sense has been to mostly only go this road in case of false advertising or possible scams.
Yea I'm sure you're right about this, no one will ever accept a negative comment that will affect his sale. Maybe a pm to the OP advising him to change something (wrong info, overpricing, better description..) would be the alternative.

2. If you truly are interested in a watch, try to find a member that you trust and know exceeds your knowledge by far. Approach that person via PM and you will be surprised how helpful and nice the crazy-nerd-members are. Do not be shy to admit what you don't know!
I actually did that, some were really helpful and you can see in my original post that I mentioned this as a pro to the forum. I also PM'ed the modder of the watch asking him about this exact build and if he recommends buying it. I understand he might be bias, but still a third party opinion could be better than asking the OP about it.

P.S. Going your own franken route can be exhausting but also a story worth telling. You should try!
I am really considering this, I have been tempted to do this since I joined here. My only problem is the actual assembly of the parts (not sure how hard it is - been reading about this lately). There isn't any near watch smith who can help with this and if there is it would be expensive here. I do prefer if I'm getting my own franken done to do the assembly myself, I don't wana source the parts and send them to a watch-smith in a different continent (too much time, higher cost/risk with all the shipping/insurance, and it kills the fun a bit). I will be researching about the subject more, but also I don't want my first project to be a 1.5-2k project (Most prob I'll mess things up in the beginning - and I don't have that much free time to practice on a separate watch).

I will ask a question though. How do you know you were the first to PM? Did the seller tell you you were first, but they decided to sell to someone else, or were you just the first to say "PM'd" in the sales thread? Often times sellers post their watches to several boards at the same time. If the seller didn't come out and tell you, it's possible you weren't really first. Obviously, it's also possible the seller just didn't want to sell to you.
Actually, it's a bit of a funny story. Few weeks ago, I was on tapatalk and I saw this post of a vintage rolex the exact moment that was posted. The watch was really nice, very gen-like (IMO), great condition, but I couldn't see the price. So I directly turned on my computer and checked the thread, although I expected a higher price, it was really a catch to have. Exactly what I am looking for, in a very competitive price. I PM'ed the OP maybe 5 minutes after he posted it. I did not post anything (didn't wana draw attention to the thread haha). He didn't reply at first although he was online, I somehow knew he 's waiting for other members, knowing that he had a very good piece to sell. The positive comments were flowing in the thread. Anw in the next 30 minutes I PM'ed him 2-3 times. After maybe 1 hour, a more present member posted that he will take it. So the OP responded to that post, after also a while, telling him to send a pm if he's really interested and he replied to me telling me there is one buyer before you. I knew it was not true but I now understand this issue. I then PM'ed the OP 3-4 times, telling him that I really want this watch and I will pay in any kind of payment (I REALLY wanted the watch). So after a while he posted that the watch was sold to that specific buyer. So I am pretty sure, that this was the case.

The one good thing that came out of this is hopefully the watch you did want was described well enough that you can find another one. Not only can you continue to watch the M2M sales board, but you can also post WTB requests on all the rep boards to see if someone else has one. As I said earlier, it's great that you are doing research. A lot of people don't do that when looking to build frankens and it gets them in trouble because they buy the wrong thing, or can't tell when a seller has added some "fluff" to their descriptions.
Yea well you're right about that. I am gradually building experience about what I exactly want so I can act fast when I see a corresponding thread. I did try the WTB section but it's not really very helpful, I doubt many members check there. When it's out of the "What's New?", It's out of the vision..


There is no difficulty at all. Member arrives, looks for or gets pointed to the TD list. Chooses a TD. Chooses a watch. Pays the watch. Gets the watch. Walks away.
Exactly like that - itīs a fast, easy and clean procedure, exactly like going into a watch-shop, choosing a model and walking away.
I am clearly talking about the difficulty of new members buying from M2Ms and NOT from TDs! Obviously it is a simple process to buy directly from TDs.

The thing is newcomers later start with: Oh, but I bought version 2 and didnīt know there was a better version 5.1; I bought from maker A.) but the one I wanted is from maker B.) and to avoid this You have to read beforehand, just like with everything else, a photo-camera or a laptop for instance.
If you read my post carefully, you will notice that I did say the same thing about this issue. Personally I'm sure I did more research than anyone else before the purchase of a first rep, I'm even tracing things on auto-cad and comparing to the gen (taking into consideration the exact model - I know there's a lot of variations and different series), that's why maybe I'm finding it more difficult.

"Not every member can spend time reading/posting just to be able to buy a watch here."

Yes, that is exactly what he should do, if he wants to buy the best model of...., the finest movement with...., the most detailed...., itīs history, what versions there are....

Again, please read carefully the whole post if you want to criticize. I was NOT talking about reading/posting from a research point of view. I was just saying that because sellers from M2Ms prefer someone with a high post count, probably a VIP, and preferably with a feedback score, people need to spend some good time, maybe months to build their profile to be eligible for buying in M2Ms (especially good deals with high demands) regardless whether you are a watch veteran or a noob.

for instance Your signature, You can just go and order a TC 16610 V6 and thatīs it, 2 or 3 months later You have it and You have a fine watch at a fair price.
Well thanks, I did not know I could do that. I did email TC maybe the first day on the forum. From reading very few posts, I somehow got the impression that TC is offering one of the best finished 16610 rep.
However, I preferred to get a franken and waited to see if I can do that. I had a flexible budget, did not want to wait 2 months to get my watch, and I really hate the curved cadell insert (but now it's hopefully changed to the new insert). But now after almost a month, I'm getting tired of waiting and wasting some deals, the TC insert might be already changed so I think I will reconsider ordering a TC V6

You have not dealt with noobs and fail to see that a majority of Noobs, in total insecurity, seek free consulting from longer standing members about everything, without doing any own research. Itīs a 100 posts bombardment like: is this the best model available? is the bracelet resizable? can You resize the bracelet for me? would You please open the caseback and take a shot so that other members can confirm it really is an Asian ETA; which dealer is it from? can You send me the link of the dealer? I looked on the dealers site and it is $220 cheaper - why? I wanted to pay with WU, but now I want to pay with Paypal; Can You pack it? Would You please unpack it and take another shot of the caseback? What are the flaws? What are the flaws compared to....? Is it exactly like gen? Why is it not like gen? Itīs too expensive if itīs not like gen; how do You set the time? Do You wind it? Can You tell me how to reset the Chronograph? Is the movement reliable? Why did You put a Clarks crystal in? I read the Sternkreuz is better; do You think a gen crystal would fit? Why canīt You tell me if it does fit? Do You know who could tell me if it fits? Is it waterproof? Do You have proof it is waterproof?
I e-mailed You one hour ago and You did not answer ........
I sent You 9 e-mails and You do not respond (in the last 90 minutes)
I donīt want it anymore, sell it to somebody else, Bye

and thatīs why it is not a very good idea to guide somebody through the first purchase when You are a seller, unless You have the time and patience for it or didnīt really want to sell it in the first place. We are just simple, easy, good-natured and helpful watch-enthusiasts who want to get on with their hobby, just leave that first-timer hassle to the TDīs, they rationally just answer in a single phrase when the questions get too many: go buy a gen!
I don't know what are you going through or who you are dealing with. Personally, I do my part of research and I'm more or less straight forward when I PM someone. If some members are giving you hard time or this is becoming too stressful, then this is your problem, I can't help you with that. I am still trying to understand the relevance of your post. You took some phrases from my post and replied based on your interpretation while I was tackling completely different issues.