The Adam Barnsley Story
Adam Barnsley started ABA in 2021, flipping and restoring watches from home. Four years on it's an international business and the first of several ventures under his ABA Partners group. This is how it happened.
Started in 2021. Still one watch at a time.
Adam Barnsley, founder of ABA Watches and ABA Partners
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2021
A bedroom and an eBay account
Adam started out buying watches, fixing them up and reselling them on eBay, working from home with no outside investment. Flipping turned into collecting, and collecting turned into a proper resale operation.
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2022-2024
Learning every part of it
He built a supplier network from scratch and taught himself the whole trade, end to end. Sourcing, pricing, authentication, packing and logistics were all designed and run by Adam himself, and everything earned went straight back in.
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2025
Going international
ABA went global through eBay's international programme, and a recurring base of overseas clients formed almost straight away. Watches now reach customers across 13 countries, trading over four major platforms.
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Today
From a flip to a group
Adam now runs ABA as a multi-platform international business, and has built it into ABA Partners - a small group spanning retail, wholesale and creative, all run to the same standard.