Reason for shortage !

[Dr H A]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pnpdMSaFW5A

[Randy63]

Thanks for posting this.

[Lol-x]

Interesting, this happens everywhere by Authorised Rolex Dealers but they pretend it doesn't.
Of course it does, the AD's need to turn over the slower moving precious metal watches, which they can't otherwise easily sell, so they use the highly desirable stainless steel watches as bargaining chips to ensure they have turnover.

Rolex tries to stop it by making the end consumer the victim and refusing or making it difficult for consumers to utilise the factory warranty.

[Fleetlord]

Thanks for posting this..

The HK dealers couldn't be bothered with selling SS Sports Rolex at msrp to the general public...it's way too much work for little profit.

Sell them in bulk to the greys. They can make more on the hawt pieces and move some other references as well.

Then they can focus on their large, well healed clientele who want custom PM and gemstone references. MORE MONEY LESS HASSLE. No lists. No silly tourists to deal with and their nagging over a SS Sub. Let the Greys handle that rat race...

Perhaps the AD keep a few SS Daytona or Subs around in case the big customers want a decent gift to give their gardener or swimming pool attendant, but otherwise sell them in bulk and get them out of the store...

[garyk]

Obviously from before the Virus?!

[Hollie_Rollie]

No surprise here, we all knew all along this is what the ADs were doing. I’d still take a Pepsi if my AD called but I’m no longer stopping by to check in or calling/texting my salesman. Prices are dropping fast on the grey market and once Rolex opens back up I have a feeling they’ll be calling me

[jazznpool]

Originally Posted by Dr H A

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pnpdMSaFW5A

Thanks for posting. I saw that two new Rolex watches I bought from a grey dealer were sourced from the same dealer in Canada. ADs regularly selling to grey dealers has been an open secret. I have long thought that corporate Rolex is keenly aware of the situation and ultimately doesn't care. Politically, Rolex may might say otherwise though. I'm keenly interested in following the downward pricing trends for the various popular models over the next year or so.

[77T]

I noted that the plastic boxes have color pictures in them.



Seems more like a restaurant menu with photo’s of the dishes for sale.

I don’t see any news - ADs I’ve been to will offer a PM bundle to get the harder SS models.

The vlogger/narrator seems shocked that this is happening - like the scene in Casablanca - there’s gambling going on in here...

https://youtu.be/SjbPi00k_ME


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[yoniman]

Yeah, was about to post this too. May not be true for all ADs but this particular instance shows what we already suspect.

It is true after all.

Hong Kong, here I go. Oh, wait it's still lockdown over here.


It's just all about health, happiness & family. The rest are just necessary inconvenience we have to deal with.

[Maverick_1908]

I am absolutely certain all Mayors of South Florida do this as well. And the greys that buy them are well known. Diamonds East in Boca, Watch Trading Co in Miami etc.


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[Nixshah]

I dream of the day where I can walk into any local AD and walk out with my desired Rolex model.

What the OP posted is something we all have known or suspected for sometime; however, it never fails to get my blood boiling. Maybe in time, things will change.

[Ihatecheese]

The HK grey dealers round some parts of TST, MK can be very dubious. Speaking canto or mandarin is a must so you understand what's actually going on. It's not a channel I used when living there.

[sgwatchguy]

Originally Posted by Dr H A

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pnpdMSaFW5A

Thanks for posting this. Kudos to the person with the scoop.




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[alex.cicollo]

This is disgusting :(


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[Kliminator]

I mean this is pretty much well known fact for a pretty long time now right. I guess in this particular case it's just highlighting that it is a huge AD over in HK that is participating in this practice. Not just a smaller AD.

[tvandevelde]

Shocked! (sarcasm). Just about every gray dealer on YouTube tells you how they buy their stock. Had the world been open for business, a lot of those would have traded many more gray hands rather than just being put up for sale down the street.

All you have to do is pay your $300 IWJG membership fee. Walk into a trade show and swim with the sharks. 80% of the business is B2B.

[*M5]

Sad but true.....I wonder what happens to the watches from other countries where grey retailers are non-existent or very small operations. Speaking from experience, it is the case in my province in Canada. There's still no Rolex to be had at the AD though....

[peterpl]

LOL

old old news man. This has been happening since the Rolex hype 2-3 years ago. Every single person that is into watches or knows anything about Rolex knows this.

ADs selling directly to grays and sharing the profits - $$$ talks and bullshit walks.

[gregouille]

Thanks for sharing!

[Batmannr1]

It happens all around the globe, also here at the ADs in Holland. Greys getting a in demand SS timepiece as a deal sweetener when buying up the non-moving watch stock.
The scale of this parallel AD-grey market in Hong Kong seems only to be so huge and apparent.

[hamachikanashiro]

Originally Posted by garyk

Obviously from before the Virus?!

nope just this week (easter monday)

interestingly i was just at those grey dealers last week! now i know where they get their stock, and it will make me not buy from them.


funny enough, i wonder how profitable this is really for the grey (they have inventory, overhead cost etc)?

Wonder if this is really positive from a Rolex HQ perspective (both in sales and brand image).

Also does this happen in Singapore (I heard that all steel sport models there need to be approved / whatsapp images to Rolex HQ?)

[Quamby]

It's nothing new. Hongkong is the largest export market for Swiss watches and it's only natural that you see so many Hongkong grey dealers dealing in all Swiss brands.

Like everywhere, Hongkong Grey dealers get their stock from local AD's and they either pay top dollar for sought after models or they take them models with hard-to-sell models in bundles. Some Greys have established relationships with AD's in North America and Europe. It is a known fact that some Hongkong Greys are operated by friends and relatives of local AD proprietors.

Many Hongkong AD's sell to Greys in Japan, Singapore, and Malaysia. You can find lots of Hongkong-sourced brand new hot Rolex models in Nakano Broadway.

Of course Rolex knows about it, the Managing Director of Rolex Hongkong used to be the Head of Export Markets at HQ.

[ninjin]

For any local HK person into Rolex watches, this video is nothing new.

It has always been like this in HK.

Only with the advent of online sales and international shipping, has the world woken up to the Rolex market in HK.

My cousin bought a HK '888' serial Batman in 2018 at 12.30pm from a grey dealer. Warranty card was the dated same day from one of the HK AD's. Can't get fresher grey stock than that!

[Podmornica]

Yeah, none of us is surprised. What surprises me is that there are still some suckers out there willing to pay 124,000 HKD ~ $16.000 for BLRO in this climate as seen in the photos.

[Xerxes77]

Thank you for sharing.
I think this is not new to any watch enthusiast.
But this is the proof.

[Tavli3]

What's surprising is how so in your face this is. Greys buying watches then selling them down the street still in their coffins! Goes to show you Rolex has no real intention of stopping this as the inflated prices boosts the image and desirability of their product.

They do use this as an excuse to shut down ADs that they feel are no longer worthy of their franchise.

So when this grey bought all these watches in one shot whose name were on the warranty card or do the greys have a Rolex tablet to swipe the warranty cards too? Wouldn't doubt it.

[Switch]

Originally Posted by hamachikanashiro

nope just this week (easter monday)

interestingly i was just at those grey dealers last week! now i know where they get their stock, and it will make me not buy from them.


funny enough, i wonder how profitable this is really for the grey (they have inventory, overhead cost etc)?

Wonder if this is really positive from a Rolex HQ perspective (both in sales and brand image).

Also does this happen in Singapore (I heard that all steel sport models there need to be approved / whatsapp images to Rolex HQ?)

Unless the business has an actual shop front that only sells new 2nd hand rolex watches, overhead running costs is minimal as the business either has other operations paying for the expenses or its a work from home deal. The only issue would be physical space constraint to hold many watches in inventory, but even then that's not really an issue if you have access to space in mainland china and/or have a high inventory turnover in the mainland market. Aside from the lockdown, movement between hk and china is fairly easy even with hand carried goods.

[Nairn1980]

yup. no surprises here sadly.

[Highlatitude]

My experience of Rolex shopping in HK is that a large proportion of the stock being sold as new comes with a European AD’s warranty card. Lots of ADs think that if it is shipped abroad it’s less likely to be traced back to them. The reality is that any time Rolex want to, they can trawl through the greys and see who is supplying them. Rolex just don’t care enough to do it. This is the reason that Rolex have taken a huge drop in reputation. People are tired of their not caring about customers and they are completely tired of the ADs and their attitude.

Buying a Rolex is the opposite of a luxury experience, it is often seedy and humiliating.

[watchwatcher]

Originally Posted by garyk

Obviously from before the Virus?!

That's what I was thinking, too, but the guy clearly mentions 'Easter' in the video, so that seemed odd. Hmmm....