I intend to buy a watch as a gift (about $1k+, probably a lower end Tag Heuer). Any hacks or websites to get the best deal?

Hi Anon! Just like Weihan has mentioned, Chrono24 is a good platform to buy/ sell watches and get a general sense of the market prices. I used the platform to browse through the catalogue to find a watch that I liked as well. You can also try contacting @topaz_trading on Carousell if he has the model that you want. I got a watch from him at below retail prices. Hope it helps!

You can look at 2nd watches. https://www.chrono24.sg/#gref is a website to buy/sell 2nd hand watches.