Questions, answered.

Sotto is built on the principle that neither party in a transaction should gain information about the other beyond what is necessary to settle the trade. Your verified identity is known to Sotto for compliance purposes — never to the seller. You are represented by a stable opaque identifier (your n° ID) throughout every interaction on the platform.

Identity verification is conducted by Sumsub, a regulated KYC provider. The process takes approximately two minutes and involves a government-issued document and a short liveness check. Sotto does not store your identity documents — they are held by Sumsub under applicable data protection frameworks. Once verified, you receive your n° ID and the verification document is no longer accessible to Sotto staff.

You can browse listings without an account. However, placing bids, listing items, or accessing concierge services requires a verified account. This is a regulatory requirement, not a product choice. Sotto operates under AML obligations in Turkey, the EU, and the UAE — all of which require identity verification for financial transactions above de minimis thresholds.

No. Sotto does not sell personal data to any third party. Data is shared only with the processors listed in our Privacy Policy — and only to the extent necessary for those processors to deliver their services. All processors are bound by Data Processing Agreements.

Your payment is held in escrow immediately. The seller ships the watch to our independent authentication partner. Once the watch is physically received and authenticated — typically within 3–5 business days — funds are released to the seller and the watch is forwarded to you. You are notified at each stage.

Open a dispute within 48 hours of delivery. A Sotto concierge — a qualified human reviewer, not an automated system — will review the listing, the authentication report, and your submission. If the discrepancy is confirmed, the item is returned to the seller and your funds are refunded in full. Sotto covers return shipping in this case.

Every transaction passes through our appointed authentication partner before funds are released. The authentication report is provided to both parties. If authentication cannot be confirmed, the transaction does not proceed and the buyer is made whole. We do not release funds for items that have not cleared authentication.

For Turkey: card payments via Iyzico (BDDK-licensed). For EU and UAE: Stripe Connect. Both processors accept major credit and debit cards. Bank transfers are available for transactions above a threshold — contact concierge for details. We do not accept cryptocurrency.

At minimum: ten photographs meeting Sotto's studio specifications, the reference and serial number, movement calibre, and a brief condition description. We strongly recommend including original box and papers, service records, and purchase receipt where available. Listings with complete provenance documentation attract significantly more serious interest.

You may set a confidential reserve price on any auction listing. If the highest bid at close does not meet the reserve, the auction ends without a sale and no fee is charged. The reserve amount is never disclosed to prospective buyers — they know only whether a reserve exists. Fixed-price listings do not use reserves.

Funds are released to your account within 1 business day of authentication confirmation. Settlement to your bank account or payment method typically takes 2–3 additional business days depending on your bank and jurisdiction.

Transaction fees are deducted from the seller's proceeds at settlement. Current rates are published on the Pricing page. Membership subscriptions unlock lower transaction fee rates, priority authentication, and dedicated concierge support. No fee is charged on listings that do not transact, on failed authentications, or on disputes resolved in favour of the buyer.

They serve entirely different purposes. Sumsub handles identity verification — it is the system that confirms you are who you say you are, for AML compliance. Stripe handles the movement of money — it is the payment processor that holds funds in escrow and routes them to sellers. The two systems do not share data with each other and are governed by separate contracts. You encounter Sumsub once, during onboarding. You encounter Stripe implicitly every time you transact.

Sotto aims to issue an initial response within 24 hours and a final determination within 5 business days. Complex cases involving physical return and re-authentication may take up to 10 business days. You will be updated at each step by your assigned concierge. Disputes are never routed to an automated queue.

Sotto's determination is final within the platform. If you believe the decision was made in error or bad faith, you may escalate to applicable consumer protection bodies in your jurisdiction. For EU users, the European Consumer Centre (ECC) network is available. For Turkish users, the Tüketici Hakem Heyeti (Consumer Arbitration Committee) applies. For UAE users, the relevant emirate Consumer Protection department applies.