Sell Your Watch Canberra Offers in 24 Hours, Paid by Osko

Where the handover can happen, and why the ACT says so in writing

Most second-hand dealing statutes tie a dealer to the premises named on its licence and leave the edges to argument. The ACT wrote the answer down. Section 10(1) of the Second-hand Dealers Act 1906 (ACT) does tie a licensed dealer to the premises stated in the licence, but section 10(2) removes any doubt that the dealer does not commit that offence only because it buys second-hand goods somewhere else. The Act's own worked examples are a dealer buying at a trash and treasure market, and a dealer going to a person's home to look at a piano advertised for sale and buying it there.

Which is a long way of saying that a handover arranged at a time and place that suits you is contemplated by the legislation itself, rather than being a favour or a workaround. In practice the physical examination is done in Canberra by a certified watchmaker, and the appointment is arranged once your details come through.

Canberra keeps the same clock as Sydney and Melbourne all year, daylight saving included, so there is no window to hit and no gap to plan around.

The ACT is the one place that names watches in the legislation

Second-hand dealing here runs on the Second-hand Dealers Act 1906 (ACT), an Act 120 years old and still in force, together with the Second-hand Dealers Regulation 2002 (ACT). The Act's dictionary defines second-hand goods as second-hand goods of a kind prescribed under the regulations, and defines licensed as licensed under the Traders (Licensing) Act 2016 (ACT), so the conduct rules and the licensing power sit in two different statutes.

Schedule 1 of the Regulation is the list of prescribed goods, and item 4 is a single word: watches. Item 1 is jewellery that includes gemstones or precious metals. Most jurisdictions leave a wristwatch to be argued in under a general definition of used goods. The ACT put it on a list.

Two provisions to know:

• Five working days. Section 8(2) stops a licensed dealer selling or otherwise disposing of the goods, and requires them kept in the condition in which they were received, for five working days after the dealer buys them, unless a shorter period is prescribed.
• Identification is optional here. Section 16A says a licensed dealer may ask you to show identification. A power, not a duty, which is the reverse of the position in Victoria and Tasmania. A Canberra buyer who does not ask who you are is not necessarily doing anything wrong, but the paper trail that protects you is thinner, so ask for a written record of the sale.

Section 10(3) requires a licensed dealer to produce the licence on demand by a police officer at the premises stated in the licence. It gives you no equivalent right, so ask anyway, and check the ABN. Buy Your Watch's own registration is Victorian, SHD-0017882, and it is not an ACT licence. General information about ACT law, not legal advice.