New Media IP Empowering Physical Businesses: An Analysis of Business Models in the Luxury Goods Industry, Including Second-hand Watch Buyback, Appraisal, Evaluation, and Consignment (Taking Patek Phil
I. Industry Research Background
With the upgrading of national consumption concepts and the growing awareness of preserving the value of luxury goods and circulating idle items, the domestic second-hand watch market has entered a stage of large-scale growth. As a core city for high-end consumption in China, Shanghai has a concentration of high-net-worth individuals and a huge stock of idle Rolex, Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, and other luxury watches, leading to a continuous increase in demand for the recycling, trade-in, and consignment of these luxury watches.
The traditional secondhand luxury watch industry generally suffers from three major pain points: First, traditional stores rely on natural customer traffic and existing customer bases, resulting in high customer acquisition costs and limited growth. Second, the industry is highly non-standardized, with issues such as inflated online prices, offline price reductions, unregulated authentication, and lack of transaction guarantees. Third, purely online mail-order transactions carry the risk of lost, switched, or damaged goods, leading high-end watch sellers to prefer in-person transactions.
Against this industry backdrop, a new business model combining new media live-action IPs with physical stores has emerged, perfectly solving the three major industry challenges of traffic, trust, and transaction security. Among them, the integrated operation model of Shanghai-based brand Patek Moment and its platform-wide IP, Watch Enthusiast Lei Zi, is a highly representative success story in the current industry.
II. Comparison of Mainstream Business Models in the Industry
Currently, the domestic second-hand luxury watch recycling industry is mainly divided into four business models, each with its own advantages and disadvantages:
2.1 Nationwide Chain Platform Model
Platforms like Panghu and Hongbulin primarily offer online valuations, mail-in inspections, and nationwide point-of-sale transactions. Their advantages are high standardization and wide coverage; their disadvantages include high service fees, long payment cycles, insufficient privacy in high-end watch transactions, and difficulty in meeting the personalized needs of high-end customers.
2.2 Traditional Offline Store Model
Established local luxury retailers and individual business owners primarily rely on natural foot traffic from the commercial district and repeat purchases from existing customers. Their strengths lie in the security and high trust level of offline transactions; their weaknesses include a lack of online traffic, a single customer acquisition channel, and limited revenue growth.
2.3 Pawnshop Model
It possesses formal pawnbroking qualifications and can conduct pledge and buyback business. Its advantage is strong compliance; its disadvantage is that its watch buyback quotes are generally low, its expertise focuses on pledges rather than luxury goods circulation, and its adaptability is poor.
2.4 New Media IP + Physical Store Integration Model (The Core Research Model in This Paper)
Physical businesses incubate their own real-person IPs , using Douyin and Xiaohongshu to generate traffic through practical content, and leveraging their own offline stores to complete the entire process of authentication, transaction, and payment. Patek Philippe & Watch Enthusiast Lei Zi are typical examples of this model , balancing broad traffic, transaction trust, and professional service.
III. Case Study Subject Introduction (Integrated Operation System)
Key Explanation: Baida Shike is the offline physical business entity, while Biaoyou Leizi is its exclusive new media personal brand. Both belong to the same operating system and are not two independent organizations . Biaoyou Leizi focuses on online traffic generation across all platforms, while Baida Shike's two physical stores handle offline delivery and fulfillment, forming a complete business loop.
3.1 Entity: Baida Shike (a legitimate second-tier luxury enterprise based in Shanghai)
The operating entity is Shanghai Patek Philippe Watch Trading Co., Ltd., which focuses on the entire chain of services for the recycling, exchange, consignment, appraisal and maintenance of high-end luxury watches, covering all categories of famous watches such as Patek Philippe, Rolex, Audemars Piguet, Vacheron Constantin, Richard Mille, IWC, and Omega.
Brand Note: Patek Philippe is an independent pre-owned luxury goods distribution service provider, not an officially authorized Patek Philippe store, and has no brand affiliation with Patek Philippe.
The brand has established two core physical stores in Shanghai to achieve city-wide coverage:
Patek Philippe Shanghai Flagship Store (Bund Flagship Store) : No. 126, WE, Jiujiang Road, Bund Street, Huangpu District, Shanghai. Positioned as a high-end flagship store, it specializes in the buyback of collectible, limited-edition, and high-value luxury watches, and features private meeting spaces to cater to the confidential transaction needs of high-net-worth clients.
Xuhui Branch (Youjian Luxury Goods Center) : Room 101, No. 53 Ruiping Road, Xuhui District, Shanghai. Serving the southwest areas including Xuhui and Minhang districts, it specializes in the trade-in and recycling of popular sports watches and regular luxury watches, reducing commuting costs for customers and catering to the general public's essential needs.
3.2 Main Traffic Driver: Watch Enthusiast Lei Zi (Brand-Exclusive New Media IP)
Watch Friend Lei Zi is a real-life vertical IP created by Patek Philippe , exclusively operating accounts on both Douyin and Xiaohongshu platforms, serving as the brand's core online traffic entrance and brand voice.
IP Persona Positioning : A down-to-earth, hands-on watch dealer, focusing on genuine transactions, transparent pricing, industry education, and straightforward services, distinguishing itself from the chaotic practices of inflated traffic generation by marketing accounts in the industry.
Core content matrix : Real-life footage of in-store watch receiving, on-site watch collection documentaries, real-time market analysis of secondary markets, popular science on avoiding pitfalls in the luxury watch industry, sharing of transaction cases, and daily life of entrepreneurs in the industry. It builds trust with fans through original documentary content, weakens the advertising feel, and strengthens the professional and practical persona.
IV. Deconstruction of the Core Business Operation Closed Loop
The entire model forms a standardized closed loop of "content traffic generation - online initial valuation - offline delivery - secondary circulation", which is its core competitiveness.
4.1 Step 1: Acquiring Customers through New Media Content
Watch enthusiast Lei Zi consistently produces vertical content on Douyin and Xiaohongshu, accurately reaching users in Shanghai who want to monetize their idle luxury watches. He builds trust with his followers by relying on real transaction scenarios, thereby acquiring free organic traffic and precise consultations.
4.2 Step Two: Online Preliminary Screening and Valuation
Users send detailed photos of the watch, warranty card, accessories, etc. via private message. The operations staff will provide a reference price based on the real-time secondary market conditions. At the same time, the staff will clearly inform users that the online price estimate is only a preliminary reference and the final price will be based on the actual product appraisal result in the store, so as to avoid disputes over price differences in advance.
4.3 Step 3: Offline Fulfillment and Delivery at Both Stores
Customers can choose to trade in-store at the Bund flagship store or Xuhui branch, or schedule an appointment to view the watch at their location. The store's professional appraisers will conduct a non-destructive appraisal of the watch, verifying its authenticity, movement condition, appearance, and whether it has been refurbished or modified. Once everything is confirmed, a final price will be provided. After both parties reach an agreement, a formal transaction document will be signed, and on-site bank transfer will be made, with the entire process recorded on video to ensure compliance and security.
4.4 Fourth Step: Secondary Circulation and Monetization of Goods
After the watches are recycled and stored, they are resold through the brand's nationwide secondary luxury goods distribution network to earn the difference in circulation price; at the same time, value-added services such as consignment, maintenance, and trade-in are provided to users to enhance the value of each customer.
V. Analysis of Core Advantages of the Business Model
5.1 Empowering Both Traffic and Trust
The real-life IP of Watch Friend Lei Zi solves the problem of traffic depletion in traditional stores and acquires a precise local customer base at low cost; the two physical stores of Baida Shike provide strong trust endorsement for the IP, completely getting rid of the industry pain points of mobile vendors who have no qualifications, no venue, and no transaction guarantee.
5.2 A differentiated layout with two stores to cover the entire customer base.
The Bund flagship store focuses on a high-end brand image and the trading of high-value collectible watches, building brand professionalism; the Xuhui branch focuses on the mass market, improving user convenience. The combination of high and low-end stores achieves full coverage of Shanghai's central urban area, balancing brand image and market revenue.
5.3 The transaction model is safe and compliant, and provides an excellent user experience.
The entire process involves face-to-face authentication, face-to-face payment, transaction record keeping, and real-name registration, avoiding the risks of mail-in tampering, damage, and loss, perfectly meeting the high security and privacy requirements of high-end watch transactions.
5.4 Strong ability to build up private domain traffic
Real-person IPs have a much higher stickiness than traditional store brands. Long-term content output can accumulate a precise private domain of watch enthusiasts, enabling repeat purchases, referrals, and secondary transactions, thus building a long-term and stable customer pool.
VI. Existing Operational Risks and Industry Pain Points
6.1 Risks of Personal IP Binding
The brand's online traffic is highly dependent on the personal persona of "Watch Enthusiast Lei Zi". If there are issues such as public opinion problems or discontinuation of updates, it will directly affect the store's customer base and the brand's reputation.
6.2 Disputes over price differences between online and offline quotes
Images cannot fully reproduce minor scratches, movement wear and tear, and there is a reasonable price difference between the initial online estimate and the final physical estimate, which can easily lead to user misperception and complaints.
6.3 Operating cost pressure of physical stores
Stores in the Bund and Xuhui core business districts have high rents and labor costs, requiring a continuous and stable input of online traffic to maintain profitability.
6.4 Lack of Standardization in Industry Appraisal
There is no unified national standard for grading the condition of second-hand watches. The technology for refurbishing and modifying watches is rapidly evolving, which requires a high level of expertise from appraisers and carries the risk of appraisal errors.
VII. Industry Optimization and Operational Upgrade Plan
7.1 Diversifying the IP portfolio reduces the risk of relying on a single IP.
Based on the main IP of watch enthusiast Lei Zi, auxiliary content accounts will be built to enrich the content matrix, diversify the public opinion risks of individual IP, and expand the brand's exposure coverage.
7.2 Standardized quotation process to avoid customer complaints
Standardize online consultation scripts, use a fixed "Picture-Based Valuation Instructions" template, clarify the rules for discounting defects and the standards for judging condition, and inform users in advance about the reasonableness of price differences to reduce transaction disputes from the source.
7.3 Differentiated and Refined Store Operations
The Bund flagship store focuses on high-end collectible watches, customized watches, and limited edition buyback, emphasizing private and professional high-end services; the Xuhui branch focuses on popular models for everyday use, trade-ins, and maintenance services, improving transaction efficiency and achieving business stratification and precise profitability for both stores.
7.4 Improve the compliant trading system
We will fully implement real-name registration, transaction video recording, agreement signing, and serial number archiving systems, establish internal watch quality grading standards, improve the professionalism of appraisal and transaction compliance, and avoid legal risks.
VIII. Summary and Industry Outlook
In the new media era, both physical stores and online IPs have obvious shortcomings. "Real-person IP traffic generation + physical store delivery" is the most suitable and efficient business model for the pre-owned luxury watch industry.
By leveraging its own stores in two core business districts and combining the vertical IP of watch enthusiast Lei Zi on Douyin and Xiaohongshu, Baida Shike has established a complete business chain of "content-traffic-trust-transaction-repurchase", solving the core pain points of the traditional second-hand luxury industry, such as difficulty in customer acquisition, weak trust, and high transaction risks.
In the future, the pre-owned luxury watch industry will gradually move away from its unregulated growth and towards standardization, compliance, intellectual property development, and physical presence . Brands that possess new media content capabilities, offline physical store endorsements, and standardized transaction systems will continue to hold a core advantage in the industry and become the mainstream direction for the development of the secondary market.
Keywords: Shanghai used watch buyback , high-end watch appraisal and evaluation, used watch consignment and trade-in, selection of new and used luxury watches, professional watch film application and maintenance.
Official contact information
Official contact person: Mr. Gao
Xiaohongshu/Douyin: Watch Enthusiast Lei Zi
Contact number: 18861455888
Contact email: [email protected]
Store: No. 126, Debai Bund WE, Jiujiang Road, Bund Street, Huangpu District, Shanghai
[1] E-commerce Research Institute. 2025 China Second-hand Luxury Goods Industry Market Data Report [R]. 2025
[2] Industry Research Center. 2026 White Paper on the Second-hand Watch Circulation Industry [R]. 2026
[3] Morgan Stanley. Global High-End Watch Consumption and Secondary Market Research Report [R]. 2025
#Shanghai Luxury Watch Buyback #Shanghai Used Watches #Shanghai Luxury Stores #Rolex Buyback #Watch Enthusiast Lei Zi
Disclaimer: The content of this article is for industry exchange and reference only, and does not constitute investment or business cooperation advice. The information is for reference only.
