You sold it as a Rolex Submariner – whether it is or isn’t, he says it’s not and you must accept the return.

You feel the watch is genuine. Do you want it back? If not just refund him in full and that will be the end of it.

Say you do want it back. Has he started a INAD dispute through eBay? If he has, go to the dispute and accept the return. If you can (and I have no idea whether you can or not) put insurance to the value of $4000 on the return postage label – and please make sure you choose the Australia Post label option. If he starts the dispute and you DON’T provide the return postage label, eBay will take the refund money from you anyway, and you will also lose the watch. If you want the watch back he must start an eBay Dispute – do not deal with him outside of eBay.

Unfortunately you did not provide a photo of the important part – where the serial number is located – so if you have got yourself a shonky buyer, and he does return a different (replica) watch, you will have no way of proving it.

If you are lucky and you get your watch back, take it to a local auction house and ask them to sell it for you. They will quickly tell you whether it is a replica or not; and if it is real, they will get the appropriate price for you. Sadly this could be a very expensive lesson for you; but do try and make your losses as small as possible. Good luck.