More difficult to negotiate at the Geneva Salon/AD?

[EWarren]

Hello!

I am helping a family member with his Patek purchase (by doing research on the movements, features, price, etc). After narrowing down his options, he set his eyes on either 5227 or 5146, but since he lives outside of the U.S. he has several options on where to buy the watch.

At this point I must mention that he is a rather poor negotiator, especially if the salesperson speaks his language (Mandarin) - he once walked into a car dealership in the U.S., hollering "I want this, I want this" in Chinese while pointing at the car he wanted, thinking nobody would understand him, then a Chinese speaking salesperson approached to gave him a lot of compliments. 15 minutes later he happily paid the full MSRP and overruled my objection (I was the designated translator / shield to protect him from his impulsive decisions).

With local currencies in mind, he may buy it in Hong Kong (I wont be there, and I am afraid that he will be sweet-talked into a bad deal), the U.S. (my preference), or Geneva (he wants to make it special by buying it at the Salon and have a photo taken so he can show his friends, and I can make this work by taking a detour on my next work-trip to Europe and go to Geneva for a day to help him).

He can be very stubborn and impulsive but I want to make sure he gets the best price for his watches. My question being: is it harder to negotiate at the Geneva Salon than ADs elsewhere? Thanks to information from the forum, I will aim to get a 10% discount off the Calatrava and 15% discount off the Complication. I was told by some watch enthusiasts that the bigger and more touristy the location is (I would imagine the Salon to be very big and touristy), the less one can negotiate for price because they can move inventory more quickly.

Thanks!

[Sam Philip]

You can't negotiate at the Geneva or any Patek Salon. They will not give you any discount.

[1688]

You are truly mistaken if you believe you can walk into a Patek Salon and negotiate your way to a discount on their watches. It is probably best not to embarrass yourself and save your airfare by going to a local dealer and asking for a discount.
Even in China, the Patek Salons will not discuss discounts especially with first time customers. They may give you some "gifts" for your loyalty but that is after making several purchases...and I'm not talking about Calatrava level watches, you need to be buying Grand Complications and etc. to even have a chance at getting a gift!

[GB-man]

To my knowledge you can’t negotiate there. If he wants the experience let him have it. My two cents anyways!

[SW1]

Oh grief...but ask for discount on 5711A as well....let us know how it goes!!!

[SW1]

My purchades from London salon have always included free strap, first service free and the leather travel case. Of coyrse the jnvouce is beautifuly written out (at full price) in wonderful calligraphy

[EWarren]

Great, thank you all for the feedback!

[jon_jon]

Probably easiest to buy in HK.

[Chiboy]

Originally Posted by SW1

My purchades from London salon have always included free strap, first service free and the leather travel case. Of coyrse the jnvouce is beautifuly written out (at full price) in wonderful calligraphy

That seems like a very nice concession, especially if it's not on a super expensive piece!

[77T]

If price is paramount, maybe he should look at a Tudor.

Otherwise...
Maybe he should deputize you to find his heart’s desire here from a trusted TRF seller.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[benlee]

I can just imagine the scenario of going into the Patek Salon in Geneva and demanding a discount.

[ap1]

I’d say slim to none

[tyler1980]

Originally Posted by Sam Philip

You can't negotiate at the Geneva or any Patek Salon. They will not give you any discount.

this. They have nice booze selection though so you will feel better about paying retail.

[AK797]

Sounds like this guy has more chance of coming out of there having paid over retail.

[Tomas Eriksson]

Originally Posted by AK797

Sounds like this guy has more chance of coming out of there having paid over retail.

Agree

[tyler1980]

the other misconception in my eyes of the salons is they have no better stock of normal watches than AD's even though most assume they do or should. Grand comps and the like yes, but anything else i just dont see the advantage as far as availability. For sure that is the case in London.

I guess you get some other freebies being a salon purchaser but in the end i would rather have the watch. Non hard to get pieces, just get a discount at an AD.

For example, they had a waitlist on a 5170P about 6 months ago at the same time 2-3 AD's had them in the window just a few blocks away. They have one now though.