Patek Philippe

whit
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I will try to give a little insight to this problem and the dynamics

that may cause the issues everyone is talking about.

As an AD, you sign a contract agreeing to a host of things but the two big no-no's are transshipping or selling to an unauthorized dealer.  If you don't abide by the contract , Patek can terminate the contract and you lose your AD status.

I had a situation where a pretty well known television personality wanted to buy a watch, his best friend called and I talked to this individual for several hours over the course of a couple of days and made arrangements for him to view the entire line at HSWA.  Once he had made his decision, he called and wanted to know the price, which he already knew, and I told him the price.  Within hours, there were several inquiries from other dealers about the availability of this specific reference number.  He was shopping for the lowest price.  After this episode, I decided not sell outside my demographic area, any inquiries I received from that point forward were referred back to the AD within their demographic area.  By the way, we did end up selling the piece after the person at HSWA told the other dealers to leave this one alone (which I was very appreciative). 

It used to be in the olden days, if I needed a piece, I would call the office and if available, would get it. If not, I would place an order.  At that time sold pieces had priority over stock pieces.  Recently though, that situation seems to have changed.  In order for you to get anything for stock, it had to be ordered (back ordered) requiring the AD to project his future needs.  Meaning, if you needed six 5119's annually, they needed to be on order or else there was a strong possibility that you would not get the piece(s) you needed because you would be X places behind those ahead of you on the order list. Special orders? There was a list for that as well and sometimes you would be a year or more away.

The problem I encountered was that I was getting pieces that I had ordered, but not the pre-sold special ordered watches.  That causes huge problems if you're in a smaller demographic area because you simply can't sell the watches that quickly (without misbehaving).  And believe me, there is a time clock ticking.  So what happens when a dealer gets a lot of watches in and can't sell them fast enough to cover the bill? ( I'll let you guess)  And, if you're late, you can't order a buckle... nothing, until the balance is cleared, then it starts all over again.  Unless the dealer has very deep pockets and can keep accepting the inventory that may sit for a while, you have to balance what you can do and hope and pray that you get those special pieces for clients so you can keep going forward.  My attitude was that I just wasn't to sell a watch any way possible simply to cover a bill, even if it meant I was backed up and couldn't get anything (philosophically, good; business-wise, not good).  I still have my own ethical and moral standards dealing with a brand like Patek regardless of business even though I am no longer an AD.

Look at the number of AD's advertising on the net, magazines, etc. trying to capture business from anybody, anywhere. How can they possibly know who they are selling?  It's about movement of money.

When dealing with clients, I always imagined Philippe Stern standing nearby knowing that the product and client were being treated the way he would want it to be, to the highest level.  Unfortunately, money speaks far louder than words and good intentions, so I ended up selling many, many watches without ever collecting a dime.  Now at the end of the year, who do you love? Someone who tries to do it right  or someone who spends a boatload of money with you?

I believe the reality of this is pretty obvious.