The vintage watch marketplace
Grey Market — grymrkt.co · Effective Date: April 20, 2026
By accessing or using Grey Market (“we,” “us,” or “our”) at grymrkt.co, including all related services, features, and content (collectively, the “Platform”), you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service (“Terms”). If you do not agree, do not use the Platform.
These Terms constitute a legally binding agreement between you and Grey Market. Certain activities on the Platform, including listing a watch for sale and placing a bid, require you to accept additional agreements at the time of that action (a Seller Listing Agreement and a Buyer Bid Agreement, respectively). Those agreements are incorporated into these Terms by reference.
We may update these Terms from time to time. Continued use of the Platform after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms.
To use the Platform, you must be at least 18 years of age, a legal resident of the United States, and capable of entering into a binding legal agreement. By registering an account, you represent that you meet these requirements.
Each individual may hold only one account. Creating multiple accounts, proxy accounts, or accounts on behalf of another person without authorization is prohibited. See Section 11 (Account Enforcement) regarding the consequences of circumventing this rule.
You may register using email and password or through third-party authentication (Google). You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your login credentials and for all activity that occurs under your account.
You agree to provide accurate, current, and complete information during registration and to update it as necessary. Grey Market reserves the right to suspend or terminate accounts that contain false or outdated information.
Certain Platform features, including bidding and selling, require identity verification (“KYC”) and credit card verification. You consent to providing valid government-issued identification and payment credentials as part of this process. This verification is necessary to maintain trust and prevent fraud, proxy bidding, shill accounts, and bad actors within the community.
Grey Market may use third-party services to verify your identity and payment information. By submitting verification materials, you authorize Grey Market and its verification partners to process that information for the purposes described in these Terms and in our Privacy Policy.
You understand and agree that Grey Market retains identity-match data (such as a hashed identifier derived from your government ID, name, and date of birth) beyond the life of any individual account for the purpose of enforcing suspensions, bans, and other account-level sanctions. Retention of this identity-match data is time-bounded (currently seven (7) years after the later of account closure or last account activity, except where longer retention is required by law or by an active fraud investigation). The full retention schedule is described in Section 5 of our Privacy Policy, and this retention is a condition of using the Platform.
Grey Market is a platform that facilitates the sale and purchase of vintage, neo-vintage, and collectible watches between private collectors through curated, timed online auctions. Grey Market is not a party to transactions between buyers and sellers. We act as an intermediary providing escrow, curation, identity verification, logistical coordination, and access to an independent third-party verifier.
By listing a watch for sale, you (the “Seller”) represent and warrant that:
Grey Market manually reviews and curates every listing submission. Submission does not guarantee listing. We reserve the right to decline any submission at our sole discretion to maintain marketplace quality and prevent model oversaturation.
A Grey Market concierge will draft listing content based on your submission. You must review and approve the listing before it goes live. Your approval is your confirmation that the listing content is accurate and complete.
Failure to meet the seller obligations above may result in strikes, account suspension, or permanent ban, as described in Section 11. Additional seller obligations are set out in the Seller Listing Agreement you accept when creating a listing.
By placing a bid, you (the “Buyer”) are making a binding commitment to purchase the watch at your bid price if you are the winning bidder. Every bid authorizes Grey Market (directly or through its payment processor) to place a pre-authorization hold on your payment method for the bid amount plus the applicable buyer premium, estimated taxes, and shipping. The pre-authorization is converted into a charge when the auction closes with you as the winning bidder.
Retracting a bid is not permitted except in limited circumstances determined by Grey Market in its sole discretion (for example, an obvious typographical error reported before the auction closes).
All bidders must be identity-verified and credit card-verified members. Additional buyer obligations are set out in the Buyer Bid Agreement you accept when placing your first bid.
Auctions run for seven (7) days. Any bid placed in the final 60 seconds of an auction will extend the auction clock by 60 seconds (the “anti-snipe” window). Grey Market reserves the right to cancel, extend, or modify auctions if irregularities are detected, including suspected shill bidding, technical errors, or breaches of these Terms.
Every sale on the Platform is subject to physical inspection by an independent third-party verifier selected by Grey Market (the “Verifier”). After an auction closes and escrow is funded, the Seller ships the watch to the Verifier. The Verifier inspects the watch for authenticity and compares it against the listing description and photographs, then forwards it to the Buyer if it passes.
The Verifier’s determination on authenticity and material condition is final for purposes of transaction completion. By using the Platform, you agree that:
The Verifier is an independent contractor, not an agent of the Buyer or Seller. Grey Market makes no warranty regarding the Verifier’s determinations, but reasonable steps are taken to engage qualified verifiers.
All transactions are processed through Grey Market’s escrow service. When you place a bid, your payment method is pre-authorized for the bid amount plus the buyer premium, estimated taxes, and shipping. When the auction closes with you as the winning bidder, the pre-authorization is captured and the funds are held in escrow until released to the Seller per Section 6.5.
If the winning bidder’s pre-authorization cannot be captured at auction close (for example, insufficient funds, expired card, or issuer decline), Grey Market will notify the bidder and give them twenty-four (24) hours to provide a valid alternative payment method and complete the purchase. If the bidder does not cure within that period, the offer is automatically transferred to the next-highest bidder at their bid price, and the original winner receives a non-payment strike per Section 11.
Grey Market charges a flat Seller listing fee and a Buyer premium for completed transactions:
The Buyer premium is allocated to cover (i) the third-party Verifier’s inspection fee, (ii) payment processing and card-network fees on the transaction, (iii) fraud screening, insurance surcharges, and chargeback-reserve contributions, and (iv) Grey Market’s operating costs of coordinating the transaction on the Buyer’s behalf. The Buyer premium is non-itemized at checkout but is disclosed as a single percentage before each bid is placed. Shipping fees are allocated as follows:
Fees are non-refundable once a transaction has been completed. If a transaction is canceled because the watch fails Verifier inspection, the Buyer is refunded in full for all fees and shipping paid, Grey Market absorbs the Verifier fee, and Grey Market pays for the return shipment from the Verifier to the Seller.
Promotional pricing periods may temporarily reduce the Seller listing fee and Buyer premium below the rates stated above. The rates that apply to a specific auction are those displayed at the time of listing creation and are recorded against the auction; rates are not changed retroactively if a promotional period later ends.
The Verifier physically inspects the watch and confirms authenticity and material condition before it ships to the Buyer. Because pre-delivery authentication has already occurred, the Buyer’s post-delivery inspection rights are narrowly limited to issues arising on the final leg of shipment from the Verifier to the Buyer. The Buyer has forty-eight (48) hours from confirmed delivery (the “Inspection Window”) to notify Grey Market of:
Police report requirement for confirmed-delivery-not-received claims. If the basis for your claim is that the courier marked the shipment delivered but you did not receive it (for example, suspected theft from the delivery location), you must, within the 48-hour Inspection Window, file a police report with the appropriate local law enforcement agency and provide Grey Market with a copy of the police report (or the report number and filing agency) as part of your claim submission. Claims in this category that are not supported by a timely police report will not be eligible for remedy under Section 6.6, except where filing such a report is impossible for reasons outside your control and you promptly disclose those reasons in writing to Grey Market.
The Inspection Window does not provide a remedy for buyer’s remorse, change of mind, market-value changes between auction close and delivery, or condition, authenticity, or description disputes that were within the scope of the Verifier’s inspection and that the Verifier resolved. Claims not submitted within the Inspection Window are waived, except to the extent such waiver is prohibited by applicable law.
Seller proceeds (hammer price minus only Seller-side shipping) are released to the Seller’s payout account after the Verifier confirms the watch has passed inspection, typically within one (1) business day of Grey Market’s receipt of the Verifier’s pass determination. This release occurs before the Buyer receives the watch. This model mirrors the fund-release pattern used by other major authentication-gated marketplaces for high-value goods. Payout timing thereafter depends on the Seller’s payment processor and banking institution.
Because proceeds are released upon the Verifier’s pass determination, Buyer claims submitted within the Inspection Window in Section 6.4 do not automatically pause or reverse Seller payout. Valid Inspection-Window claims are remedied directly by Grey Market under Section 6.6. Grey Market reserves the right to claw back released Seller proceeds (in whole or in part) only in the following enumerated cases (each, a “Clawback Event”):
Clawback rights under this Section are limited to the released Seller proceeds plus any direct costs Grey Market incurs in connection with the Clawback Event (including return shipping, Verifier re-inspection, and reasonable investigation costs). Grey Market will provide written notice of a Clawback Event and a reasonable opportunity for the Seller to respond before executing a clawback, except where delay would prejudice Grey Market’s ability to recover or a legal order requires immediate action.
If the Buyer submits a valid Inspection-Window claim under Section 6.4 (for example, verified transit damage on the Verifier-to-Buyer leg), Grey Market will resolve the claim at Grey Market’s cost. At Grey Market’s election, remedies include refund of amounts paid by the Buyer, arrangement and payment of return shipment and re-inspection, repair, or replacement if available. Grey Market absorbs the return logistics and the cost of re-inspection.
Because the Verifier has already confirmed authenticity and material condition before shipment, a Buyer-initiated return or dispute on grounds already resolved by the Verifier is considered a frivolous claim. Frivolous claims result in a strike against the Buyer under Section 11.1; repeated or bad-faith frivolous claims are a severe offense under Section 11.2 and may result in immediate permanent ban.
All watches sold through the Platform must be shipped using Grey Market’s designated insured and tracked courier program. Sellers are responsible for packaging the watch securely in accordance with Grey Market’s packaging guidelines. Sellers must not ship directly to Buyers; all shipments first go to the Verifier.
Shipments are fully insured during transit. Loss or damage claims during transit will be handled through the courier’s and Grey Market’s insurance processes; Grey Market will facilitate these claims but is not itself the insurer.
Grey Market is not liable for delays caused by carriers, customs, or other third parties outside our control. Sellers must ship to the Verifier within two (2) business days of escrow funding; repeated late shipments may result in strikes per Section 11.
Grey Market offers a watch identification feature (“Identify”) that uses image analysis to provide information about a watch’s authenticity, originality, condition, and collector-relevant traits. This feature is currently in beta.
The Identify service is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute a professional appraisal, authentication certificate, or guarantee of value. It does not replace the independent Verifier inspection described in Section 5.4. Grey Market makes no warranties regarding the accuracy or completeness of Identify results. You should not rely solely on the Identify service when making purchasing decisions.
By joining the Grey Market waitlist, you are expressing interest in early access to the Platform. Waitlist position does not guarantee access, and any promotional benefits described (such as fee waivers or founding member recognition) are subject to change at our discretion prior to launch.
You agree not to engage in any of the following. Each item is tagged with its default severity classification under Section 11 (“Severe” = immediate permanent ban; “Minor” = strike under the two-strike system). Grey Market may, in its reasonable discretion, elevate a Minor offense to Severe based on pattern, scale, intent, or impact.
Grey Market operates a high-trust marketplace for high-value goods. We maintain a low tolerance for fraud, misrepresentation, and conduct that undermines marketplace integrity. Violations are addressed through the following tiered system.
Minor offenses result in a strike. Two (2) strikes within a rolling 12-month period result in permanent ban from the Platform. Minor offenses include, without limitation:
Severe offenses result in immediate permanent ban, with no prior strike required. Severe offenses include, without limitation:
Suspensions and bans imposed under these Terms attach to the individual person behind the account, not merely to the account’s email address or login credentials. Grey Market uses the identity information collected during KYC (including hashed or tokenized derivations of your government-issued ID, legal name, and date of birth) to match accounts to individuals across registrations.
If Grey Market determines, in its reasonable discretion, that a banned or suspended individual has created, re-registered, or is operating a new account (directly or indirectly, including through a proxy), Grey Market reserves the right to suspend or terminate the new account at any time, with or without prior notice, and without requiring any independent violation on the new account. Attempting to circumvent a ban is itself a severe offense under Section 11.2.
Identity-match data used for this enforcement is retained for seven (7) years after the later of (i) account closure or (ii) last account activity, except where longer retention is required by law or by an active fraud investigation. Retention of this data, and your rights with respect to it, are described in Section 5 of our Privacy Policy.
In addition to strikes, suspensions, and bans, Grey Market may at its discretion withhold payouts, reverse transactions, cancel pending auctions, pursue collection of non-payment fees, report confirmed fraud to law enforcement and industry databases, and recover costs (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising from a user’s violation of these Terms.
A user may appeal a strike or ban by contacting Grey Market in writing at the email in Section 19 within fourteen (14) days of notice. Grey Market will review the appeal in good faith, but all final determinations are at Grey Market’s sole discretion. Appeals do not pause or suspend the effect of a ban.
All content on the Platform, including text, graphics, logos, software, and design elements, is owned by Grey Market or its licensors and is protected by copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property laws.
User-submitted content (photographs, descriptions, comments) remains the property of the submitting user. By submitting content to the Platform, you grant Grey Market a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, sublicensable (solely to Grey Market’s service providers acting on its behalf) license to use, display, reproduce, modify, and distribute that content for the specific purposes set out below.
The license described above extends to the following categorized purposes:
This license survives the termination or deletion of your account and the removal of any listings, unless you explicitly submit a request to have your data and associated content removed from our systems. Removal requests for user content are honored subject to operational requirements and, where applicable, legal retention obligations.
In the event of a dispute between a Buyer and Seller regarding a transaction, Grey Market may, at its sole discretion, mediate the dispute. Our determination in such cases is final and binding as between those parties for purposes of transaction resolution on the Platform.
For disputes between you and Grey Market, you agree to first attempt to resolve the matter informally by contacting us at the email address listed below. If informal resolution fails within thirty (30) days, any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms or your use of the Platform shall be resolved through final and binding arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) under its Consumer Arbitration Rules, conducted in the State of California, and presided over by a single arbitrator. Judgment on the arbitral award may be entered in any court of competent jurisdiction.
Arbitration opt-out. You may opt out of this arbitration agreement by sending written notice, within thirty (30) days of first accepting these Terms (or within thirty (30) days of a material change to this Section that is adverse to you), to arbitration-opt-out@grymrkt.co. Your opt-out notice must include your full name, the email associated with your account, and a clear statement that you opt out of the arbitration agreement. A valid and timely opt-out means disputes between you and Grey Market will not be resolved through arbitration; all other provisions of these Terms (including the class action waiver and jury trial waiver, to the extent severable) remain in effect.
Small claims carveout. Notwithstanding the foregoing, either party may bring an individual action in small claims court for disputes within that court’s jurisdictional limit, so long as the action is brought only in an individual (non-class, non-representative) capacity.
Class action waiver. You agree that disputes will be resolved only on an individual basis. You waive any right to participate in a class action, collective action, consolidated arbitration, or representative action against Grey Market. If the class action waiver in this paragraph is found unenforceable with respect to a particular claim, only that class action waiver shall be severed as to that claim, and the class claim shall proceed in a court of competent jurisdiction while all other claims (and all other provisions of this Section 13, including the agreement to arbitrate individual claims) remain in full force and effect. The severance operates on a claim-by-claim basis and does not invalidate the arbitration provision as a whole.
Mass arbitration protocol. If twenty-five (25) or more arbitration demands of a substantially similar nature are filed against Grey Market within a sixty (60) day period by the same or coordinated counsel, the following bellwether process applies: (i) counsel for the claimants and Grey Market shall meet and confer and jointly select ten (10) bellwether cases to proceed to arbitration first; (ii) all other demands in the coordinated group are stayed, with applicable statutes of limitation tolled, pending the bellwether resolution; (iii) after the bellwether arbitrations conclude, Grey Market and claimants’ counsel shall meet and confer in good faith regarding global resolution of the remaining demands. This mass arbitration protocol applies in addition to, and does not supplant, the AAA Consumer Arbitration Rules.
Jury trial waiver. To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, you and Grey Market each waive any right to a jury trial.
To the maximum extent permitted by law, and subject to the carveouts below, Grey Market and its officers, directors, employees, and agents shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages arising out of or related to your use of the Platform.
Subject to the carveouts below, Grey Market’s aggregate liability for any claim arising from your use of the Platform shall not exceed the greatest of: (a) the total amounts you paid to Grey Market in the 12 months preceding the claim; (b) the aggregate transaction value of the specific Platform transaction(s) giving rise to the claim; or (c) five hundred U.S. dollars ($500 USD).
Carveouts. The exclusions and limitations in the two preceding paragraphs do not apply to, and nothing in these Terms limits or waives, liability for: (i) gross negligence or willful misconduct; (ii) fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; (iii) infringement of intellectual property rights; (iv) a party’s indemnification obligations under these Terms; (v) a data security breach caused by Grey Market’s failure to maintain reasonable security practices; (vi) bodily injury or death; (vii) violations of applicable consumer protection, privacy, or biometric information laws that cannot be limited by contract; or (viii) any other liability that cannot be limited or excluded under applicable law. Consumers in certain jurisdictions (including California) may have additional non-waivable rights; nothing in this Section affects those rights.
Grey Market does not guarantee the authenticity, condition, or value of any watch listed on the Platform. While we curate listings and engage an independent Verifier, ultimate responsibility for the accuracy of a listing rests with the Seller.
You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Grey Market and its affiliates from any claims, damages, losses, or expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising from your use of the Platform, your violation of these Terms, or your violation of any third party’s rights.
Grey Market may suspend or terminate your account at any time, with or without cause, and with or without notice, including as described in Section 11. Upon termination, your right to use the Platform ceases immediately. Obligations that by their nature should survive termination (including identity-based enforcement, indemnification, limitation of liability, and dispute resolution) will survive.
If you have pending transactions at the time of termination, Grey Market will make reasonable efforts to facilitate their completion or unwinding.
The Platform is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis. Grey Market disclaims all warranties, express or implied, including warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement.
We do not warrant that the Platform will be uninterrupted, error-free, or secure, or that any defects will be corrected.
These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of California, without regard to conflict of law principles.
For questions about these Terms, contact us at:
Grey Market
Email: hello@grymrkt.co
Website: grymrkt.co
These Terms of Service were last updated on April 20, 2026.