Why I build websites for watch dealers
Ezra Gonzalez · Updated · 3 min readShort answer: I taught myself to build websites 11+ years ago because I couldn’t afford to hire anyone. Here’s how that turned into 70+ websites for watch dealers — and why it matters for yours.
It started because I couldn’t afford help
I didn’t go to school for this. 11+ years ago I wanted to run a business, and I couldn’t afford to hire someone to build the website, run the ads or set up the systems. So I learned to do it myself — fast, and by necessity.
That habit never left. I still build every site myself, and I still think about it the way an owner does: what does this cost, what does it bring in, and does it save me time?
What funnels taught me about big decisions
My real training came from building sales funnels for real estate companies and consultants. Those pages had one job: take a stranger who has never heard of you and walk them all the way to a $10,000 coaching package.
A real estate company I co-founded did $150,000 in sales off a single 1.5-hour webinar, using my funnel and sales presentation. Doing that over and over taught me the psychology of a big purchase — what a person needs to see, in what order, before they trust you with serious money. That turns out to be exactly the problem a watch dealer has.
The first dealer site
A watch dealer friend asked me to help with his website, so I built it. He had the inventory and the reputation, but nothing a stranger could look at before sending a wire — and nothing anyone could link to when they referred him.
It’s hard to sell a $20,000 watch when nobody can tell you’re legit. And it’s hard to get referred when nobody can send a link.
From 1 dealer site to 70+
His site started getting noticed by Watch Trading Academy members, and suddenly everyone wanted to work with me. I finished my first year with 20 dealer sites. I’ve since had months where I built 8 for watch dealers alone, and I’m past 70 now — every one of them by referral.
The sites have evolved enormously since that first build. Every one teaches me something about how buyers shop, and that goes straight into the next: better inventory pages, faster listing, cleaner inquiries and tighter integrations.
Built for dealers who run it solo
Most of the dealers I work with are one-man shows. You’re sourcing, photographing, answering buyers and shipping — you don’t have time to babysit a website. So every site I build is designed to do as much of the work for you as possible, with as little upkeep as possible:
- Inventory that lists in about a minute from your phone — or automatically, with my Claude or ChatGPT listing skill.
- Your tools connected. Integrations are what I’m best at: your CRM, WatchTrack or Elefta, and whatever else you run, wired into the site so there’s almost nothing added to your day.
- Inquiries that arrive ready to answer, with the exact watch attached.
I can handle that volume as one person because I understand the strategy and the psychology, and I have the right tools in place for every step.
Why not build it yourself?
You can. Anyone can build a website now. But count the time: learning the builder, writing the policies, figuring out inventory fields, or asking an AI to build it and then working out how to get it onto Shopify, Squarespace or WordPress. For most dealers, that time costs more than they’d make selling 1 watch — and the result still has to earn a stranger’s trust.
What 70+ dealer sites taught me
I’m obsessed with data. Every site I’ve built is another look at what buyers actually do: which pages they check before they inquire, what makes them leave, and what makes a referral turn into a sale. Nobody gets that from building 1 or 2 dealer sites.
That’s what you’re really paying for. Not a template — the experience of 70+ builds in this exact trade, applied to yours. If you can picture it, I can almost certainly build it.
I build for myself, too
Building is what I love — it’s creative and it’s fun, so I don’t only do it for clients. These are real businesses I own or lead, running on systems I built:
Owner · Co-founderSolveSleepApnea.com A national sleep medicine network that matches patients with the right treatment.
Co-founder · Family businessLuxuryCustomJeweler.com Custom engagement rings from my family’s private studio in San Diego.
Director of Marketing & AdvertisingBuon Cibo An Italian deli and catering kitchen in San Diego. Its success led me to co-found my own restaurant consulting company.
My consultingEzraGonzalez.com Where I build websites, marketing and automation for businesses outside the watch world.Don’t take my word for it
I don’t collect testimonials and I never ask clients for reviews. The watch world is small — you probably already know someone who’s worked with me. Ask around in your trading groups, then text me what you sell.