![]() The inner workings of the Rolex company are cloaked in mystery, much like the complicated movements of its watches, which are invisible to the wearer. And could I buy my wife a watch there before her birthday in May? “Then grey market dealers buy them all up and sell them at a premium.” What was this grey market, I wondered. “Rolex produces a million watches a year,” wrote one follower. I scrolled through Rolex’s Instagram account and found the comments section festering in conspiracy. The store looked like a gang of ram raiders had just left and, when I found the same thing at other boutiques, something didn’t feel right. They didn’t have any Rolex watches at all. They didn’t have any Oyster Perpetuals, he said with a shrug. Only buy a watch from a gray market seller if the watch is indeed original with all serial numbers intact so, after the warranty period, ADs and manufacturers will then service it without any major issues.At Ben Bridge Jeweler in a mall in Thousand Oaks, California, I found only empty cabinets and an apologetic salesperson. So, I got a slight discount on the watch purchase but ended up on the short end of the stick. At that point, neither an AD nor TAG-Heuer will touch the watch for ANY kind of service. I don't believe they still do that but, at the time, they were classic gray market. My problem is that they sold the 6000 after removing the serial number which I did not know they were going to do and I unfortunately discovered it way too late to return it. So they will repair or replace during the warranty period which is actually pretty good customer service. did that when I bought my first 6000 Chronograph back in the mid-90s. So the consumer suffers.Ĭlick to expand.Some of them have their own watchmakers who service the watches during the warranty period. They should be able to cut a sweet deal but they risk losing AD status and inventory. ![]() I'm sure watches are not quite the same but there's probably some truth to the comparison. Needless to say, the cost of the components is always a lot less than you pay retail for the item. ![]() They arrive at a value for those components in the product which shows the difference between the actual cost and MSRP. There are various magazines and internet sites that present a tear-down of a product such as an iPhone. So they all make a good deal of profit and we, the consumers, simply just pay too much for whatever. So, yes, a manufacturer probably sells to a distributor at a price and the distributor doubles the price and sells it to the AD who doubles the price to the MSRP and sells it at that price to us according to their AD agreement. The AD can be penalized with less product in the future or dropped as an AD.Īs a consumer, I believe that is simply price fixing and the manufacturer controlling the price where they should not be allowed to but it seems the market does what the market wants without regards to honesty, fairness and free enterprise. Click to expand.ADs apparently sign agreements with manufacturers to sell the product at a set price, typically MSRP, and, if they deviate from that price, the manufacturers consider that "diluting the brand" and it's a no-no.
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