[Hong Kong] Seller Eligibility Criteria To Join The Certified Watches Program

To maintain a high standard of reliability and trustworthiness within the Certified Watches program, Carousell assesses all potential partners against a set of key benchmarks.

These benchmarks (listed below) serve as the primary indicators we use to evaluate a partner's service quality, industry experience, and proven consistency.

While these benchmarks are central to our assessment, admission to and continued participation in the program remain at the sole discretion of Carousell. Carousell reserves the right to make all final decisions on a case-by-case basis, which may include approving partners who demonstrate exceptional quality even if they do not meet every benchmark listed.

1. Verified Business Identity

• Operate a physical retail store where buyers can complete purchases offline.

• [For Hong Kong]:

  • Business registration by the Inland Revenue Department (IRD). 

  • Registered as a Dealer in Precious Metals and Stones (DPMS) under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance (Cap. 615).

  • Accreditation under the “No Fakes Pledge” voluntary scheme by the Intellectual Property Department (IPD).

2. Consistency in Seller’s Standards

Our sellers will be curated basis a weighted set of qualitative and quantitative criteria including:

• The business will be required to have multi-year experience in the Luxury Watch Industry.

• Active on Carousell for at least 1 year with a minimum of 80 listings.

• No major policy violations or unresolved disputes in the last 6 months.

• Stable response rate (e.g., Replies to 95%+ of chats within 24 hours).

• Low cancellation rates of 5%.

3. Reliability Of Products Sold

• The seller’s commitment to the Reliability Checklist.

• Seller will check the full set and paperwork, verify serial and reference numbers across all components, inspect the watch physically and under magnification, and run movement, timing, and water-resistance tests to verify the watch.

4. Accurate Listings

• Listings must reflect items physically available in-store.

• Photos should be generated by the seller (i.e., owned images, and no stock images or digital mockups).

• Clear, transparent descriptions including condition, price, and any warranty details.

5. Positive Buyer Feedback

• Average rating of 4.8 or above.

• Verified reviews from completed meet-ups or in-store visits.

• Monthly Review Checks by the Marketplace Experience team with the Category Team’s support.

6. Good Community Standing

• No record of misleading claims, bait listings, or fake promotions.

• Minimal record of bad press and user reports.

  • 0 record of bad press on counterfeit/scams.

  • Less than 3 incidents about disputes/customer service in the past 5 years.

7. Maintenance & Review

• Status is reviewed every 3 months to ensure compliance.

• Sellers may lose Trusted status after repeated policy breaches or poor feedback.

• Eligible to reapply after demonstrating improved conduct and reliability.