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to quote the Seinfeld show- “No Soup for You”
We all know about the very limited supply of steel sport rolexes. I wanted to relay the following experience. I’ll be traveling from the US to Switzerland late next month. I’ve been interested in acquiring a black ceramic GMT (116710 LN). So I wrote to Beyer to ask if I can prepay for one now and have them hold one if it comes in within the next 6-7 weeks before I arrive.
I received a very polite response saying they have a 3 year waiting list. HA HA. (This is not for a GMT or Daytona). I was invited to come in and select another model from the collection. Ummm, no thanks.
It used to be the case that it was a special thing to travel to Switzerland to buy a Rolex. I guess it’s not possible anymore, unless you are willing to forego the model of your choice.
I just don’t understand what behavior Rolex is trying to engender here among its potential customers. Most buyers will simply go to a gray dealer (I could get this exact watch with 12 hour fed ex delivery from a gray market deal I bought two watches from last week). Some may just buy an older, used piece (vintage or modern) as a substitute. Or, others may go for a different brand. Some, I suppose, may buy a Datejust or Milgauss, but it seems unlikely to me since buying exactly what they want from a gray dealer is more logical and very easy to do. (As a point of information, there are over 400 of these models available for sale on Chrono 24).
So, for Rolex this seems like a huge lost opportunity. To sell their product, give a customer a great AD experience (in Switzerland, in my case), form brand loyalty. I just don’t see how not making stock available through retail channels they have worked decades to establish does them any good.
And, what’s the point of showing watches at a show like Basel World that no one can actually buy?
to quote the Seinfeld show- “No Soup for You”
We all know about the very limited supply of steel sport rolexes. I wanted to relay the following experience. I’ll be traveling from the US to Switzerland late next month. I’ve been interested in acquiring a black ceramic GMT (116710 LN). So I wrote to Be...
I stopped playing these stupid games
If a brand doesn't want to sell me their product I spend my money somewhere else. It's their loss not mine. Just a couple of examples. A few years ago when the Panerai PAM 662 came out I refused to play the usual games of begging ADs or asking boutiques t...
Thanks for your response.
What do you think Rolex has to gain from this? Are people really buying Datejusts instead of steel sports? And is it enough to compensate for the other watches they could be selling? They spend a ton on marketing for watches you can even buy, which seems ...
I disagree...
...having lived in Japan, I find customer service there to be the best I’ve ever experienced. Service in the US is abysmal. But as a rule I think Americans are more ‘forceful’ in trying to get what they want. Of course, that doesn’t matter if watches are ...
If you knew someone would...
...’poke this’ then why generalize about Asia when clearly Japan is ‘Asian.’? And while I have not lived in Singapore, I know people who have (and have lived in Tokyo as well) and they had nothing but good things to say about the experience. Is Singapore ...
I’m not the one who started out by generalizing...
...and ‘above my capacity’? Rather patronizing. And the point I made about not sending big $ to unknown people seems to be common sense. That point being I wouldn’t send my hard-earned dollars to anyone, even in Japan, without knowing who they are. Is tha...
This is why i say AP is the new Rolex
they have filled that Rolex gap while claiming to produce only 40k/pa yet you see one on every other pedestrian wrist
For ever Rolex an AD is unable to fufil
AP is ready to step in with a RO, howelse did they achieve 1BN in revenues?!
Used to be everyone wore Rolexs in the 2000’
now go to any mall, restaurant, super market all you see in all segments genders, moms, dads, retirees wearing RO’s in one iteration or the other from the quartz diamonds to 15202’s and complications. I highly question AP’s production stats considering I ...
It is a very clever pricing strategy IMO. No buyers new and old ever get to complain about falling prices. Lack of avail of newer suppressed models bouys the demand/prices of the older...
....outstanding models and makes future price increases more assertive and more palatable to buyers. Sort of like equity buybacks. Make/Sell less units but keep up with the topline while inc bottomline. There are more than 2k ST daytonas listed at the tim...
Yes, but it is the gray marketers that are raising prices and benefiting from increased demand, not Rolex.
Rolex has raised retail prices on steel sport watches a little, but not significantly, and in amounts consistent with historical practice as far as I can tell.
Isnt that a safety cushion... If mkt cracks Rolex comes out clean without having to temper the MSRPs. The ADs avg out by pushing less desired pieces with the hotties to Grey...
...dealers who blow out that spread further to avg out themselves and make their coin. This way Rolex/AD relationship survives with ADs not sellin anything too much above/below MSRP. There is something else to think about is what determines price here?......
Sorry but I don’t understand what your contention is
If you are saying this is a strategy to protect against weak demand at some unknown time in the future then I don’t understand it. There are many ways to adjust supply to meet demand without having to lose massive revenue while the market is strong. As so...
Its their version of Ltd edition without saying so...now if they make more of wat is successful it wont be such a success. Supply side economics never works with Luxury ;)
My pt was to show how they can and have come out unscathed during downturns. How they maintain AD relationships, achieve retail price stability all while supporting the collectors community which in turn appreciates their brand value.
My feeling...there are more watches than you think. However ADs only sell to vip clients or grey dealers. That’s how grey dealers end up with these watches. Or there are enough vip clients who sell right back to grey dealers.
Pathetic situation if you are not a vip client. I guess Rolex or Patek does not want to overproduce to flood the market as these watches have a long lifetime. Do may diminish brand value after a while.
Well, I bought 2 Rolexes from a gray market dealer in the last week
One came from an Italian dealer NIB and the other from a dealer in Portugal, also NIB. So there is inventory, but authorized dealers would rather sell to gray market dealer than direct to customer. Why?
I think it's possible that ADs would rather make available a portion of their inventory..
To grey market dealers so that they can move their slow moving items as well. For example, I'll sell you 2 steel sports but you have to also buy a slow moving DJ. Dealers being dealers, they would probably not mind because they're getting the DJ at a bett...
Here I the Rolexes I got
They are gifts for our daughters who are graduating from college/university in the Spring. The Datejust with pink dial in 31mm, and the OP with black dial is 34mm. They each selected something a little different which suits their personality, which is nic...
Thanks!
Very good value I think given the quality and that they will be used everyday for the foreseeable future.
Ditto
I have the same viewpoint regarding how you get currently get treated when you inquire about stainless steel AP RO, stainless steel PP Nautilus or the FPJ chronometre bleu. From the looks of it, most members of this forum can probably afford to buy any of...
But what is Rolex thinking???
Is this the commercial behavior they want from the potential customers? The fact that you can’t visit Rolex’s home country and buy a commercially made product in their catalogue from an authorized dealer is pretty insane to me. It’s almost like they are b...
The thing is that the offer is way inferior to the demand... These Rolex are so sought after that you have nothing to do to sell them... But the wheel may turn.
I remember very well the very first years of 2000... It was the same situation. Some four or five years after, you could get them everywhere at the exception of the Daytona...
The swing to sports watches from dress pieces is a movement in itself. I blame JPM for allowing business casuals j/k . No its actually AP Royal Oak j/k/a...
The price expansion of sports model has reached at par with (surpassed at high end) their dressy siblings in precious metals. lets see how much further does this pendulum swing.
Perhaps as a not-for-profit, Rolex is happy to sell everything they make and leave it at that.
It's possible that consumers underestimate the time and the expense involved in boosting production (plus the quality control and back-end customer service and watch service). Just keeping production steady and upgrading the line to 32xx movements in a st...
If the shortage was across the board for all models this argument would make sense, but there are only shortages for steel sports
If anything, it would make sense to reposition to meet the demand for the more popular models steel sports models, but they are (purposefully) not doing that.
If everyone just boycotts the greys...
They won’t be sucking up the supply from AD. I believe there is enough supply. But the greys got them all in storage. Anyone has a strategy to discourage flipping? Maybe Rolex should revisit their guaranteed policy.
Well maybe they want to make sure all the watches on the grey market will get sold out as well?
Let’s not forget it is not a lost game for them as they have already sold the watches that are on the grey market...
A Different point of view...
Perhaps as an exercise we should walk back 18 - 24 months to when the global economic outlook was beginning to darken and fear of uncertainty and unknowns became the prevalent theme. Brexit, Populism, Trump, Tariff wars, falling Chinese GDP estimates and ...
Actually ...
My wife told me a couple of weeks ago she want to buy me a Rolex (of my choice) this year. Since i'm interested in a sports model SUB, Daytona, Pepsi .... i have a problem. I can get a free Rolex but i can't ...according to Rolex ... 8 year waiting list f...
Air King ...
.. would be a possibility but i can be VERY VERY stubborn in some cases. Since i really really like the new steel Daytona, white or black dial it doesn't matter ... but a (imaginable) 5 year waiting list ? Nope ... probably no Rolex for me then ... alread...
Today i told a client ...
.. to go and F*** himself ;-) The bloody liar wanted to come and pick up some extra stuff without paying his overdue invoice ....