Patek Philippe

We were shopping @ Costco in St Louis yesterday. The store has a YG 24 for sale. Open papers on the warranty card. My wife feels that this cheapens the brand and so do I.

The 24 is a dime a dozen piece... to me, it makes no difference where that watch is purchased, as long it is authentic... it is usually quartz, etc, who cares? If a 5070P were in the case, well, different story. The 24 is there because it is such a pedest... 

If I'm a female customer that just purchased a 24 from and AD and sees the same watch at Costco, I'd care. My wife and sister in law certainly did, and they both wear a 24.

AD's discount that watch VERY heavily... probably more than Costco! On our watch-journeys, we have all seen a watch we bought for sale, cheaper, somewhere... either at an AD, the gray market... This message has been edited by Mostel on 2011-05-30 16:10:35

I seem to recall that this came up a few years ago and further research by a few individuals suggested that Costco was not an authorized dealer, implying that the warranty would not stand. I don't know for sure if this is firmly the case but a quick check... 

I am continually amazed when members of this forum still believe that Patek cares at all about this sort of thing... If Patek really wanted to control their products, they would do something about the rampant gray marketing of their watches... of which th... 

I agree! It seems like it would be easy to cut off the gray sellers if they wanted to (via the ADs that support them).

If I saw a ref. that I wanted at a price I was willing to pay I'd get one. Though I doubt you'll see very hard to get models.

Publicly all the big names bemoan the gray market, privately they all need it & use it to shift stock. You are right it would be relatively easy for any of the low volume/high value manufacturers to cut off the gray market, as I say it will never happ... 

Do you have to sign up for their membership in order to purchase the watch? Also if you purchase say 500lbs of dog food can I get a discount?