I'm selling a wristwatch, price around £800, and tips to avoid the "empty box" scam from buyers.

[windsordavies]

On watch forums there are quite a few stories of watches being sold and when received the recipient claiming that the box was empty then ebay siding with the buyer and the seller loses the watch and the money. I have sold a few watches over the years but this is by far the most expensive so hoping for some tips to mitigate the danger of this happening. Also as a further question I have posted in the past using Royal Mail Next Day before 1PM which covers up to £500 but I see they also do an additional cover up to £2500 but as I've never used this option could someone tell me if this is something I can arrange at the time of posting or is it something I have to set up before hand. 

Thanks

[papso22]

The only seller protection available is for item not received when the seller sends by the right option for the value. For the watch that would be special delivery signed for.

And that's as far as seller protection goes, there is no way at all to prevent, or protect yourself against, the empty box scam, or any claim that the item is not as described, or the return of a brick, piece of wood, or a piece of tat.  Ebay will do nothing to protect you.

The advice, as always, is don't sell anything on ebay that you can't afford to lose.