Buying grey market

[calatravato]

I’m fine with the gray market, and I’ve gone that route too. For hot pieces, MSRP is generally a mirage, unless you’ve done a ton of business with an AD. In that case, you probably paid a premium for a lot of pieces that could be had on the gray market. I’d imagine it all evens out in the end anyway.

[mattmonay]

Someone stated so eloquently yesterday, "don't hate the player, hate the game." That may be true, but some folks (myself included) aren't about to sit on the sidelines when they have something in their sights. Gotta pay to play!

[JacksonRain]

Originally Posted by cerendigit

Sorry to be blunt, but your question is stupid.

Very uncalled for. And very rude.

I would say up to 15% above

[clb521]

The amount I would pay on a watch would depend on which watch I wanted to buy. a black SS sub is not worth much if any over MSRP. Hulks and Batmans are going to cost more than MSRP and if I wanted to buy one right not I either decide to pay the premium or wait. Daytonas are always going to be way over MSRP so nothing you can do.

End of the day I will pay what I feel is an acceptable price for the watch based on how much I want it.

[daOnlyBG]

Originally Posted by cerendigit

Sorry to be blunt, but your question is stupid.

I think "blunt" and "stupid" should have been swapped.

Originally Posted by DoxaDavid

You are going to get a lot of different answers friend because it is going to be different for everyone.

To be fair, I think that's what OP was interested in seeing, how the wide variety of responses is distributed. Makes for an interesting poll.

Originally Posted by tanask211

I might pay another 10% extra for a new piece in grey. But by doing so, it just encourages such trend to carry on.

The grey market's been around long before the stainless steel craze began. Something started it off, and it wasn't grey market dealers taking advantage of arbitrage.

[cajerseyboy]

I don’t look at it as a number $ over MSRP. look at it as paying current market value. Especially if you can’t get one at MSRP from an AD. Paying ss Daytona market value is a lot better financially speaking then buying new Breitling at MSRP.


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[Bigsoftee]

Originally Posted by cerendigit

Sorry to be blunt, but your question is stupid.

Why? Pointless and rude. Sad really you feel the need to make such comments.

[Bigsoftee]

I was always anti grey, either getting discount or paying a premium as I wanted to support the local guy with his shop. However, in the current climate I would not hesitate to go grey, as I dont want to play games to get a watch. As for how much depends on how much I put a value on the piece. In principle i guess around 50%

[FinWatch]

If it would be a keeper for me, I would pay the current market price to get the watch without these silly AD-games. DavidSW is the best in business.


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[ks653]

Probably 10% higher to account for taxes of a new watch from an AD, primarily to not encourage gray market selling. Just my opinion though.

[Binky1]

Originally Posted by EEpro

$9,999

Because there's no damn way I'm getting it from an AD and I don't have time to kiss ass and pretend to be friends with a retail worker.

Like your style! To the point and made me smile.

[Singslinger]

Zero, but that's because I know my AD will eventually come through for me as she has for the Hulk, SD43 and Daytona over the past 3 years.

However, I also understand that for some who might not have a similar AD relationship, paying a hefty premium to get what they want is not an issue and that's also fine.

[brucethemanlee]

Zero


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[exador]

20% (when you’ve been told by your AD that there’s a 10 year wait)

[1William]

It would depend on the watch and how much I wanted it. If you can not get the watch at retail then can you get the watch at current market value or better? I pay over and don't miss a beat the same way I paid under when the Grey's would discount. The cost is a big factor but ownership and wear is bigger.

[m j b]

My first inclination is "zero" but after reading some of the thoughtful posts here (aside from that nasty mean person, you know who you are and you should go hang out at the Seiko forum) if I reaaaaaaaaaaaaaallllly wanted a particular model and could get it from a grey or even a gray market seller, then the premium that would cover the sales tax (or VAT for you Euro folks) over MSRP would be acceptable. Otherwise, no, I'm not paying it.

I was able to avoid sales tax on my last grey/gray purchase, which came from Sweden (I'm in the USA) although I did pay about $65 in customs duties. It was not a Rolex though, and I can't say what it was except to say that it's quite Speedy. And I got it for thousands under MSRP.

[Harry-57]

The threshold amount for me is the amount I want it. Assuming I have satisfied myself that there is no chance of obtaining it through the AD network.

I will automatically reject something I consider as being not worth the outlay or unjustifiable, pretty much without consciously thinking about it. It will just get blanked and my thinking will move on. The point at which I cross this line is not something I can easily put a number on. It will depend on the primary driver - how much I want it.

I bought my 116610LV on the grey market for a price which I considered reasonable, given the givens. I would have loved to buy through an AD. That was just under 2 years ago. I wouldn't even consider one at today's grey prices. I loved the BLRO when it was launched. The list was years long at my AD by the time I contacted them. No other AD would give me the time of day. How much do I want one? Not enough to pay a penny over MSRP.

[AntoMeRolexPassion]

Euro 0,00

I hate grey...

[BroncoOne]

I've bought Grey market once to get a BLNR, which my AD ended up getting for me at MSRP a month later so I'd probably not pay the premium at Grey market again.

JMHO. Everyone financial situation is different. The premium I paid has no noticeable bearing on my life but still, it's cash.

[Rexplorer214270]

Originally Posted by cerendigit

Sorry to be blunt, but your question is stupid.

Thank you to everyone that stood up for me with this question. It stemmed from a conversation, I had with the SA at the my AD and I thought it would be interesting to see the various responses.

[beshannon]

Originally Posted by rexplorer214270

what is the threshold amount you would pay in the grey market over msrp?

$0.00

[SDREW22]

You only live once. If you want it, get it.

[ZeGerman11]

My immediate thought is, if I REALLY want something then I’d pay whatever it cost. Obviously that isn’t the case though because I REALLY want a BLRO and I still haven’t cracked open my wallet.

I paid about $1000 over MSRP for my GMT LN, but that was pretty painless. Once you account for MSRP + tax, I really only paid a couple hundred over. Irrelevant given the quoted one year delivery time.

So I guess my answer falls somewhere between $1,000 over and “to be determined” (but less than $8k or whatever the BLRO premium currently is).

[samson66]

I went ~$1K over for my SD43 late in the year it was released. That seemed reasonable to me for their trouble and the lack of my trouble. They have since gone way above that so I don't have any regrets.

So I would say a couple grand would probably be my limit

[cdubg21]

Would rather work/wait for it a bit and get at MSRP than pay a premium from a gray to have what I want now. I know many refuse to put in any time/effort with AD’s on principle alone, but to me it’s all part of the journey.

[LigerBelair]

Zero, primarily because during this shortage I've been able to purchase 4 ss models at msrp (one was actually below MSRP). All of which were purchased from ADs I didn't have a relationship with beforehand. If I can't get a given watch at MSRP then I'll wait or go without.

[RolyMoly]

I’d pay whatever it was worth to me. If I was Gaga over a DaytonaC, I’d pay $20k.

You could get very mechanical about this though:

Let’s say you value your time at $200 per hour and are going to spend 10 hours over the year going to Rolex stores looking for a BLNR and spending another 20 hours over the course of a year reading articles and pouring over forum classifieds for a good deal on it. Well, that’s $6k worth of your time. So if you got one for $3k over list, you actually won.

[Mystro]

I would pay what I thought that particular watch was worth to me. I have been in the game long enough to trust my gut.

[Want_bourbon]

I've never had to buy grey, but I think if there were a watch I wanted bad enough and knew I wouldn't be able to get at an AD, I'd pay what it is. That being said, I think it's absurd to see Daytonas go for 24K+, but that's because I don't want one enough. If I were a customer without history and knew there would be zero chance to get what I want from the AD, I'd bite the bullet.

To put it into flat dollar terms doesn't work as there are too many varying factors. Once tax is accounted for, a Sub is damn close to $10K where I live. Let's assume it's a six month wait, or I can get it for for $11K on DavidSW, I'd probably wait even though it's only $1K. If it's a blue sky, which is about $16.5K where I am but I know there's no chance I'm getting that one from the AD, I'd pay the premium of $8K if it's what I really want.

[BillA]

Zero plus the AD has to throw in a bottle of water.