Just another AD waiting list story

[xriddle]

Originally Posted by ghassett98

Since 9/2019, I've gotten a 116610, 126710 BLNR, and 126600 from my AD. No previous purchase history, no bundling.

Rub it in why don't you! Any tips?

[DC116710LN]

OP - I share your frustration but unfortunately, every party in this ecosystem is acting in the expected way of maximizing their own self interests. Rolex is preserving scarcity and brand equity, AD's are maximizing profits, and consumers are pursuing the highest "value" items. It's easy for one participant to cast blame on another but unless you're willing to sacrifice your own self interests (by, for example, pursuing other brands which surely have watches to fit your writs), you can't reasonably blame others for not sacrificing theirs.

[WatchNutcase]

Originally Posted by xriddle

My first-hand experience with one of the ADs in my area, which i won't name, was via a colleague who's social circle and activities have him bumping shoulders with an AD decision-maker. A few nights of exclusive, posh party run-ins during Grand Prix weekend with said manager and he got a BLRO Pepsi within 2 weeks. Not even a Rolex fan. No mythical list. The watch was on a local classified site within days at 10K over sticker. I had visited the same AD multiple times, spoke to the same "manager" looking for a Pepsi or Hulk but apparently I was not important enough or part of the right social circles to merit a callback. I guess being a socialite vs shy and introverted can help in landing that coveted piece.

This is 100% accurate, the list is non-sense. They give the watches to buyers who they think will benefit them, these people don't wait past 2 weeks for the watch. Some ADs are much worse than others, I wont be shy and will say Birks in Montreal is the worst one yet. The sales rep at Birks wouldn't even show me any Rolex, instead he would walk me over to the Cartier counter. After dangling the carrot for about 6 months he then came clean and told me there is now no chance of me acquiring one of the Sports models from him, not even an air-king or Milgauss. He said I need to buy something else from Birks to even have a small chance. If you encounter this simply leave the store and never return because other ADs will come through for you without needing purchase history.

I've since travelled outside of Quebec and have had much better success, updates have been recorded on the blog. Two Submariners in the span of 2 weeks with no wait, one for me and one for my brother.

[RolexintheNorth]

Originally Posted by WatchNutcase

This is 100% accurate, the list is non-sense. They give the watches to buyers who they think will benefit them, these people don't wait past 2 weeks for the watch. Some ADs are much worse than others, I wont be shy and will say Birks in Montreal is the worst one yet. The sales rep at Birks wouldn't even show me any Rolex, instead he would walk me over to the Cartier counter. After dangling the carrot for about 6 months he then came clean and told me there is now no chance of me acquiring one of the Sports models from him, not even an air-king or Milgauss. He said I need to buy something else from Birks to even have a small chance. If you encounter this simply leave the store and never return because other ADs will come through for you without needing purchase history.

I've since travelled outside of Quebec and have had much better success, updates have been recorded on the blog. Two Submariners in the span of 2 weeks with no wait, one for me and one for my brother.

Can't agree more re Birks. Have been to 5+ ADs in ON and Qc in the last 12 months or so, Birks in MTL is by far the worst. 3-4 weeks ago I was in MTL visiting some friends so decided to visit local ADs to check out how bad the inventory was. I had no prior purchase in any MTL AD. The first stop was CdV. Friendly staff, good selection of SS DJ41s, some TT sports models and offered me an SS YMII and Air King which I turned down. The SA shared her contact info to keep in touch with me. Then the Birks. The atmosphere there was COLD. After completing some COVID19 "checklist" orally, I was told to stay at the reception to be escorted to the Rolex section. Yes, I was not allowed to walk to the Rolex display myself. I asked for an Explorer II, was told no sports model, no SS DJ41s or OP39s, only TT DJs and smaller OPs. However I saw a staff sizing a brand new GMT for a couple just around the corner. The SA told me it's all because of low supply and even DJ41s got sold very fast. No waitlists, not interested in taking my contact info. BTW, I wore T shirt, pants and had a Submariner on my wrist that day. Sorry Birks, you lost my business forever.

[PSTW]

Originally Posted by DG123

The theme of your blog is that you want to buy an SS Daytona from an AD at MSRP.. I presume this is because you like the idea of buying a watch at MSRP that immediately is worth double what you paid for it.
You also wrote that a GMT or Submariner would be acceptable . These two watches are also worth more than MSRP, so again , like the SS Daytona, I presume your interest in these models is because you want to buy and have no financial risk.
The AD's you visited did offer you professional models including Air-King, Milgauss, and Explorer, however you declined to buy one of those (presumably because they did not offer the immediate financial appreciation of the Daytona, GMT, or Sub).
I would respect your blog story more if you had stated that the true reason for your 6 month search of AD's was to buy a watch with no financial risk to yourself.

Yikes.... I don’t know a single grown man who doesn’t love having his own motivations explained to him by a complete stranger based on next to no insight!

Bravo sir. Bravo.

[PSTW]

Originally Posted by DG123

All I'm saying is that the only Rolex watches you want to buy happen to be the 3 models which currently have an aftermarket value higher than the AD's MSRP.
I am not saying you are a flipper, only that you like the idea of buying a new watch from an AD and walking out the door knowing the watch is worth more than you paid for it.
It's not just you. This forum has posts everyday from guys complaining about not being able to buy an SS Daytona, GMT, or Sub from an AD at MSRP. And I believe the reason for this is guys want to buy something that is worth more than they pay.

That’s completely ridiculous. The reason people want to buy at retail price is because only fools let their pants be pulled down over the price of a watch!

Is it really that complicated? Who pays more that doesn’t need to? The problem is in the promise and it isn’t being fulfilled.

[PSTW]

Originally Posted by Johnpierpontmorgan

People in that camp are typically folks that wanna buy obtain something and feel assured that their watches appreciate immediately when they get their hands on one. Seriously, most of them have that mentality and so all opted to want the highly demanded items. I purchase all my Rolex in grey market, I Want them, so I will pay for it

If they are all about horology, please go look at glashutte and grand seiko or jlc. They have a lot of stocks sitting on shelves in the AD. Open champagne for Them if they acquire many pieces.

But they don’t have the balls to absorb the depreciation once they step out of the glashutte/omega/longines/ jlc AD


Craving for that AD experience!!!?? Yeah

Please go ahead and pay full sticker price for pieces That depreciate 30% such as omega
I’m sure most of these brands AD salesman love to serve you


If you are buying two tone or full gold Rolex that has depreciation, I’m sure the sales person would love your business in ROLEX AD. So don’t come and post that the service sux.



People who post these bs are really self entitled and immature loser

What a bitter rant. Had you had a bad day?

The brands you’re discussing offer discounts on pretty much everything. This 30% hit you’re offering up can, more or less, be negotiated out Not an assumption, experience.

I fail to fathom how anyone not defending a poor decision could fail to understand why it is that normal people, those who have more sense than money (not the other way around) could be unimpressed at the prospect of paying a ‘fool and money tax’ at a grey dealer when they have every reason, based on Rolex’s marketing, to be able to walk into a dealer and make an order.

It isn’t entitlement or stupidity, it is exactly the opposite.

[ExpensiveLabels]

I wonder how the pandemic has affected waiting list times as of recently? Anybody care to chime in?

[Roadglide 2016]

Interesting read, thanks for posting this. I'm still wearing my Submariner two tone, Serti dial that I purchase new in 2004. Been out of the market since that time.

Recently I got the itch to buy a new Rolex, the 50th Anniversary Sea-Dweller caught my eye on the Rolex website. Stopped by my local AD to inquire and they said it was allocated, and "Good Luck." I wasn't aware what has been going on in the market during the past couple of years.

I just don't understand how the AD cannot obtain this watch but an online grey market dealer said he could get me the watch in two weeks, but at a $3,000 premium.

I would really like to have the Sea-Dweller, but not interested in paying a premium.

[Handey0465]

Originally Posted by Roadglide 2016

Interesting read, thanks for posting this. I'm still wearing my Submariner two tone, Serti dial that I purchase new in 2004. Been out of the market since that time.

Recently I got the itch to buy a new Rolex, the 50th Anniversary Sea-Dweller caught my eye on the Rolex website. Stopped by my local AD to inquire and they said it was allocated, and "Good Luck." I wasn't aware what has been going on in the market during the past couple of years.

I just don't understand how the AD cannot obtain this watch but an online grey market dealer said he could get me the watch in two weeks, but at a $3,000 premium.

I would really like to have the Sea-Dweller, but not interested in paying a premium.

The AD can’t supply it because they sell directly to the grey dealer or sell to a VIP flipper who then sells to a grey.

[Snake Plissken]

Not going to read all the comments but I did read the article in the OP. Fwiw I work in marketing for luxury brands.

This sucks and it's frustrating but it's by no means a unique phenomenon in the luxury world. Ferrari does the exact same thing with their hot models. Hermes does this with the Birkin bag. Of course in the watch world Patek and AP also do this for their SS sports models.

It's important to remember that for all of these companies, their biggest asset is their brand itself. And what they understand very well is that the most important thing for a luxury brand to have is exclusivity. This is especially true in the Instagram era, where people have a mass avenue to project their status and image which builds hype for the brands. Even non-luxury brands like Supreme and Yeezy are prime examples of how powerful this is.

A lot of people seem to think that withholding production to generate exclusivity is "bad for business", but I don't believe this is true. The effect the exclusivity has on elevating the brand as a whole undoubtedly leads to a much higher sales of lesser demanded models as people get pulled into the brand by the "halo" products. And it allows the brand to keep prices high.

I would argue that if you've attained the level of status as a brand that Rolex has this is ultimately something you have to do. Decreasing exclusivity will dilute the brand, and it is much, much more difficult to reverse the loss of a top brand's value than to simply maintain or increase it. When you're just another luxury watch brand, you have to spend a lot more on marketing and price your products much more competitively to stay in business. When you're Rolex, you can do almost no marketing, charge way more than your competitors, and people will still be selling out your stores for years. It's hard to imagine a brand like Omega or TAG Heuer ever being able to reach that level of status from where they are now.

So, yeah this sucks for many of us, but if Rolex know what's good for them, I don't think it's going to change in the foreseeable future. Better save up for that DD before you get that Daytona ;)

[Phahrenheit]

Actually, can i ask something?
Even if you are willing to buy some non sports model from the AD, you are not guaranteed that you will get steel sports model eventually, right?
I feel OP is lucky enough to get the 114060.

[kaiserphoenix]

Originally Posted by ExpensiveLabels

I wonder how the pandemic has affected waiting list times as of recently? Anybody care to chime in?

Increased the wait times basically, prices have even become higher unfortunately....I feel there are even more rich people now than before + people not spending on holidays, eating out etc, now just buying something else, like a Rolex.