Instagram grays hoarding ss

[L_S_SHOE]

New to the forum so go easy on me, but after reading this thread I can't help but wonder: why do ADs exist at all? I get why they might have existed 30 yrs ago and especially in the early days, as the brand was getting started, but not now. Rolex's product need not be "sold," these watches sell themselves.

If it's true that ADs are going behind Rolex's back and selling to the Grays, then the ADs are benefiting at the expense of potential costumers, and at the expense of Rolex itself. And, if Rolex has to give watches to ADs at a discount, then Rolex is loosing revenue. All this sounds bad for consumers and bad for Rolex, the only two entities that matter. Rolex, as a company, should want to put watches on the wrists of every customer who wants one. I think the ADs are getting in the way. I can't come up with a reason for their continued existence.

There's no reason Rolex can't sell exclusively through there own stores. Think Tiffany's and David Yurman. Both brands are hugely popular. Ask my wife. You might say that Rolex can't afford to put stores in every city that currently has an AD, and you'd be right. But let's face it, those ADs in all those cities are empty anyway. If I'm going to spend 10k on a watch, I wouldn't mind driving to a decent-sized city to do it. At least I'd know I was buying the real thing, from Rolex, and I wasn't getting screwed by an predatory AD/Gray market dealer. I think consumers would appreciate it.

[The1019]

There’s no craziness only crazy people most of the world couldn’t and don’t care - only those already caught up in silly madness think there is a craze.

Dontfeedthegreed Dontfeedtheneed

[ALF61]

Originally Posted by peterpl

Very valid and good points. The thing with all this mess is its already damaged the brand quite a lot with regard to the old timers that have loved the brand for a long time most if not all of them are fed up with the brand (I know many that are especially in the watch clubs that I frequent). And Rolex are risking it now losing all the new followers if the market does correct itself.

Will be interesting what happens over the next few months. I'm particularly interested in the Asia and HK market. Its going to be hit hard imho with all that mess happening there.

All they have to do is invent some sort of difficulty in the production process and shut down indefinitely and all the watches would instantly skyrocket.

[steeevvvooo]

Originally Posted by L_S_SHOE

Rolex, as a company, should want to put watches on the wrists of every customer who wants one.

The problem is that if they were able to do that much of the "demand" would evaporate! A large chunk of the apparent demand is only there BECAUSE they are hard to get at list price...

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[locutus49]

Correct, and that post misses the underlying thesis of luxury goods: expensive and hard to get (exclusive). Luxury goods are not meant for the masses. I know that does not sound very egalitarian, but then luxury is not by nature egalitarian.

Originally Posted by steeevvvooo

The problem is that if they were able to do that much of the "demand" would evaporate! A large chunk of the apparent demand is only there BECAUSE they are hard to get at list price...

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[semi-ambivalent]

Originally Posted by 1William

A lot of people will come apart when the can only get a percentage of what they paid.

Flipping their "dream watch".

[daOnlyBG]

Originally Posted by L_S_SHOE

New to the forum so go easy on me, but after reading this thread I can't help but wonder: why do ADs exist at all?
...
There's no reason Rolex can't sell exclusively through there own stores.

First of all, welcome to the forums.

Second of all, there is a big, big reason Rolex can't sell exclusively through their own stores: they don't exist. They can't exist, because Rolex is technically a non-profit organization (at least, by Swiss standards). If they were to open up their own stores, their entire corporate structure would require a massive overhaul. If you're passing by a shop that says "Rolex" on it and nothing else, you're seeing a boutique that is technically owned by another corporation altogether.

That's why they need ADs.

[WatchLurv]

Originally Posted by ALF61

The first thing that would happen is the greys will start offering less and less to the ADs, or their marvelous high soup clients, for the hot watches, up to a point where they will no longer buy at all. And before lowering prices much they will stop buying. Then, when everyone notices no one wants to buy those hot pieces the ADs will start calling everyone on the wait lists. If you should see the watches on the display cases it would be terrible news and would signal that the shortage is over and the watches are not selling. At this point, it would be very likely also that the ADs might take notice that some of the wait lists clients might back off because they might be very well informed that the greys will not buy the watches they wanted to flip. So who would be left ?

Meanwhile, what you see in the photos may very well be the working inventory that a grey needs in order to get the business moving like they want and we might be erroneously speculating that the business model is not working.

So I wonder what will Rolex do in order to keep up with the mystique and interest of their hot watches ? they are such masters at marketing.

Go back to 2014 and tell me how grays operated please.

[jstan9]

Originally Posted by gleiden

The thoughts that cross my mind are:

1) Glad I bought my Hulk at retail in 2013
2) The most Hulks I've seen at one place is 10 (store in HK) - this is double that.
3) I've been watching a Hulk in a local gray that has been on the market for the past 3 months at $15K USD. I'd be nervous if I had 20 of these. Mind you, these people have very deep pockets.
4) It's sad that these aren't on people's wrists.

#4. That is the sad part.

[Tha Baron]

Originally Posted by daOnlyBG

First of all, welcome to the forums.

Second of all, there is a big, big reason Rolex can't sell exclusively through their own stores: they don't exist. They can't exist, because Rolex is technically a non-profit organization (at least, by Swiss standards). If they were to open up their own stores, their entire corporate structure would require a massive overhaul. If you're passing by a shop that says "Rolex" on it and nothing else, you're seeing a boutique that is technically owned by another corporation altogether.

That's why they need ADs.

Rolex is taking a profit... a big one... regardless of their relationship to the ADs. You might be confused with charitable foundation that donates its profits to charity vs. a company that sells stuff at cost. Truth is nobody really knows but we know for certain Rolex is printing money and will continue to do so.

[J.P.Jones]

Originally Posted by L_S_SHOE

There's no reason Rolex can't sell exclusively through there own stores. Think Tiffany's and David Yurman. Both brands are hugely popular. Ask my wife. You might say that Rolex can't afford to put stores in every city that currently has an AD, and you'd be right. But let's face it, those ADs in all those cities are empty anyway. If I'm going to spend 10k on a watch, I wouldn't mind driving to a decent-sized city to do it. At least I'd know I was buying the real thing, from Rolex, and I wasn't getting screwed by an predatory AD/Gray market dealer. I think consumers would appreciate it.

Good question. For instance, Omega sells direct on their website, at their boutiques, and through the ADs. Why Rolex doesn't do that...ask them. I'd like to know too. Only Rolex can confirm that.

[Tavli3]

Originally Posted by J.P.Jones

Good question. For instance, Omega sells direct on their website, at their boutiques, and through the ADs. Why Rolex doesn't do that...ask them. I'd like to know too. Only Rolex can confirm that.

Omega is a joke!! They are a bunch of knuckleheads. They try to sell watches at their boutiques at full list when they are selling everywhere else for 25-30% off. They release the 50th moon landing speedmaster after the date of the moon landing. I guess no one at Omega realized the moon landing was 7/21/69.
They still have not delivered all the watches. 6969 pieces of a so called limited edition. I paid in full for one in January as of 2 weeks ago still have not gotten the watch and when I couldn’t get a firm delivery date I cancelled the watch and got a refund. They had the biggest OR opportunity and botched it completely. They even screwed up by not introducing the watch during Basel. Lol.

Not getting the watch worked out just fine because the next day my wonderful AD texted me they had a Hulk for me. Couldn’t be happier!!

Love my vintage speedy but I’m done with Omega as a brand. Rolex only!! Even though the current supply situation can be frustrating at least Rolex is run by very sharp people as opposed to the polar opposite at Omega.


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[Tavli3]

Originally Posted by Tavli3

Omega is a joke!! They are a bunch of knuckleheads. They try to sell watches at their boutiques at full list when they are selling everywhere else for 25-30% off. They release the 50th moon landing speedmaster after the date of the moon landing. I guess no one at Omega realized the moon landing was 7/21/69.
They still have not delivered all the watches. 6969 pieces of a so called limited edition. I paid in full for one in January as of 2 weeks ago still have not gotten the watch and when I couldn’t get a firm delivery date I cancelled the watch and got a refund. They had the biggest OR opportunity and botched it completely. They even screwed up by not introducing the watch during Basel. Lol.

Not getting the watch worked out just fine because the next day my wonderful AD texted me they had a Hulk for me. Couldn’t be happier!!

Love my vintage speedy but I’m done with Omega as a brand. Rolex only!! Even though the current supply situation can be frustrating at least Rolex is run by very sharp people as opposed to the polar opposite at Omega.


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PS: You can rest assured one million percent that Rolex will not follow in Omegas footsteps in any way shape or form!!


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[samuel019]

Here is my point/opinion. Its people/businesses/etc like this that are ruining our hobby. Bash me if you want about strategy/marketing/brilliance etc but lets ALL stop and think for a second.

Remember when you go on TRF and find whatever model you wanted and save thousands? Whether it was David, Tony, Patrick, Than they always had what we wanted and a good deal was to be had. Were they hoarding and ruining the market? Nope.

Now we have all these hoarders that are gobbling up everything and probably even having an impact on what OUR big sellers here on TRF can even get.

Just go to the classifieds and search any model number.

Go back a few pages, typically around the end of 2018 and back versus now and its almost laughable. 2k back of list to waaaaaaay over list.

Call it what you want or bash me for hating the Greys that hoard but I think there is a level to it. If a Grey wants to buy a few pieces and flip for a profit then more power to you but to gobble up everything is different.

Most importantly what it has done is it has made our hobby not fun anymore when it comes to getting a new piece. Its just not. Its ok who has what for the least amount over MSRP. Maybe we have all been spoiled in the past and this is the new norm but I hate it.

[Flyoverguy]

3/4 of TRF heads would explode if all these Rolex SS models dropped back to MSRP or below in the secondary market after the last few crazy years.

[L_S_SHOE]

On principal, I can’t pay over msrp for a watch still in production. Paying more is agreeing to be taken advantage of.

The watches are out there, at msrp. Patience. I do believe this madness will pass.


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