eric.vonschonberg
403
How it all works ...
Anyone who has been to lots of Patek ADs will notice that you rarely
ever see a hot Patek in their front display. The pieces they have
in their front display languish for months, but many end up
getting bought by some naive customers who think buying anything with
"Patek" on it will be a good investment. The rest are
typically sent to grey market dealers who sell the not-so-hot Patek
pieces at huge discounts, with the stamp of the actual AD! The
grey market customer ends up getting all the benefits of buying from an
AD, but at a substantial discount. Those customers don't really
get pieces with much investment potential, but they buy them at such
discounts that in a few years they are ahead.
The truly successful ADs figure out pretty quickly that by moving lots
of not-so-hot junk for Patek, they are rewarded with greater
allocations of the hot pieces. So they partner with a grey dealer
to move the junk Pateks. They are resigned to selling these junk
Pateks to the grey market dealers for little or no profit over their
cost from Patek, because it allows them to be allocated lots of
hot pieces.
But, such successful Patek ADs don't put the hot pieces in the front
display. Such pieces are already spoken for, and puting them in
the front display would just anger potential future customers who have
to be told someone else gets to buy them. If you ask most ADs to
see the really good stuff, most will not admit that they have such
stuff, because, once again, they don't want to upset you when you're
told that they will sell it to someone else.
So, how do you get the really hot stuff? You don't sign up to be
added to a list! Showing that you are willing to be added to a
list demonstrates patience, and ADs then know they can please you
LAST. Unfortunately, when something gets discontinued, lots of
the folks on the lists end up disappointed. That's what
happened with the 5970.
When a dealer mentions a list, I make it clear, that I know how the
game is played, and that if they want to be the one to sell me the hot
piece, they had better hurry up, because I'm going to buy it from the
first place that offers it to me. That's how I bought my
5970. I went into an AD, looked at a 5970 and expressed an
interest in possibly getting one. I made it clear that I was not
going to join a list of sheep, and that if they wanted to sell it to
me, they had better hurry up. Then, I further elaborated about
patience not being one of my virtues. Thet did the trick.
The next time I was in the shop, a few weeks later, I was offered a
5970, which I bought on the spot.
I like working with smart ADs who know how the game is played, and who
work hard to secure hot watches like 5970s for their impatient
clients. A few times when I've ecountered less successful ADs who
tell me that they will sell me the good stuff if I pay my dues buying
the junk. I tell them directly that they need to be using the
grey markets to unload the junk.
By the way, as others have responded, the grey markets often have the
good stuff too. They get it from people who flipt it their
way. Smart ADs know this, and when you make it clear to an AD
that you have no problem buying a hot piece from a grey dealer,
they hurry up and get you what you want quickly.
I encourage everyone to play the game and secure the hot pieces they really want, and remember life is too short for Calatravas.
Eric von Schonberg
Available on the marketplace
Real Shame
priced at retail?
More Shame
This game is going to be harder and harder to play... (if you still want to play)...
Much of what you write make great sense
not for sale ...
More and More Shame!
grey market
