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11 October 2021, 12:04 AM | #1 |
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How do resellers get new watches
I have a friend in Central Asia who is an authorized dealer for several high end brands and over dinner I asked him, on a confidential basis, where the watches they receive go.
I stress this is just one dealer and the results may be quite different for others, but here it is: Sold to long term customers who collect watches and infrequently sell them. 30%. Sold to resellers, usually in a package with less collectible watches. 20% Sold to “friends” of the company, who purchase (often as gifts) large volumes of goods of various kinds (jewelry etc). They are often then sold to resellers, frequently in the US and Europe. 40% Sold to new customers who appear to be solid future buyers. 10% Sold to tourists or other non-locals 0% |
11 October 2021, 12:20 AM | #2 |
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I've bought quite a few pieces via grey dealers in Southeast Asia, and I have struck up some conversations among quite a few owners of these grey dealers - large and small - on how they get their goods.
Obviously it is to be taken with a grain of salt as no resellers will reveal all of their business know-hows, but from what I've gathered, most of the resellers said the majority of their stocks come from: 1. Runners - these are anonymous friends/networks of people who they employed/partnered up to shop at various ADs/Boutiques (both domestically and internationally) that pose as regular customers but with enough spend history to generate their VIP status. 2. Flippers 3. Bundling from ADs by buying a whole batch of less-desired models in order to get one popular model. 4. Regular customers who wish to sell/trade their pieces.
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11 October 2021, 12:21 AM | #3 |
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I think the moral of your story is that every AD knowingly sells some percentage of their inventory to resellers. I don’t blame them. I would too. It’s a business at the end of the day.
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11 October 2021, 12:52 AM | #4 | |
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How did you arrive at ‘every AD’ from that one story? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
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11 October 2021, 01:17 AM | #5 |
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11 October 2021, 01:37 AM | #6 |
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Sounds about right. It's how businesses stay in business. I would imagine that not much Rolex inventory needs to be sold sideways in the present market.
The only part that doesn't stack up is the confidential part. Since your friend is doing nothing illegal and has disclosed no commercially sensitive information, there is no need for confidentially. Once people start inserting that into a sentence they can say anything they like. |
11 October 2021, 02:46 AM | #7 |
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"I asked him, on a confidential basis"....
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11 October 2021, 02:56 AM | #8 |
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I would say that your "Central Asia" friend is not typical of the Dealers in the US, or of a solid business model.
Most Dealers who take in trades or buy outright, clean-up or service those used watches, then put them out for sale either at that shop or another within their company structure. The point is to make a profit, and any trade-in is simply part of the transaction. Not all Dealers will take a trade-in if they don't have the infrastructure to recover costs of doing this.
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11 October 2021, 02:56 AM | #9 | |
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11 October 2021, 03:51 AM | #10 |
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They exchange tacos for them. Everyone loves tacos. Dirty secret of the watch business.
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11 October 2021, 04:40 AM | #11 |
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I could have been clearer. I told him what I would pass along. I also imagine a dealer would not want to be identified by name to manufacturers who may not condone (at least publicly) their approach.
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11 October 2021, 04:45 AM | #12 | |
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11 October 2021, 04:49 AM | #13 |
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11 October 2021, 04:58 AM | #14 |
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Agreed. Not typical at all. Selling directly to a grey is the rare exception (which Rolex, PP, RM, and AP are working tirelessly to prevent)… not the rule.
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11 October 2021, 07:37 AM | #15 |
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Grey channel is fed by either AD or end customers. What other source there could be?
Does it matter, more important is any brand trying to fix it. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
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