To get on a list - 50% deposit

[Flyoverguy]

My local AD tells me that to get on the list for a blue dial Sky-dweller I put half down then "wait and see".

Needless to say I did not do that. But WTH? Is this normal now?

[tottallyoff]

that's not a model that they would be stuck with if you back out. So why are they asking for such a deposit?

[tyler1980]

i would never pay a deposit w/o a delivery date, period.

[Eric-London]

Originally Posted by tyler1980

i would never pay a deposit w/o a delivery date, period.

Agreed.

Unless its for a Porsche
And even then its approx 5% (in the UK)

[nektar]

Originally Posted by Eric-London

Agreed.

Unless its for a Porsche
And even then its approx 5% (in the UK)

Exactly. They do not need much of a deposit (Porsche).

To me , it is kind of funny that people are getting so desperate to buy a piece of expensive ss jewelry.

[travisb]

I've never had to pay a deposit even when I'm the one who offered to make one.

[t65tampa]

Originally Posted by Eric-London

Agreed.

Unless its for a Porsche
And even then its approx 5% (in the UK)

Just read about a local Porsche dealer who had their marketing manager abscond with millions of dollars of Porsche GT3 deposits for cars that never existed!

I suppose a deposit for a watch I really wanted wouldn't bother me that much. Probably weeds out the flippers and waiting list time wasters. I'd want to have some assurance as far as time frame was concerned and have the deposit refundable.

[Easy E]

Originally Posted by Eric-London

Agreed.

Unless its for a Porsche
And even then its approx 5% (in the UK)

I’m not sure I really understand the difference. Both relatively expensive, both hard to get. Why one and not the other?

[acpulse]

Originally Posted by tyler1980

i would never pay a deposit w/o a delivery date, period.

Yes but frankly, you're first in the queue and are going to get what you want anyway. The majority of people can't even get put on a waitlist at all for popular models.

Deposit lists on certain models would surely thin the herd (given some of the responses here). I would be glad to put 50% down. If I have the money to waste on full msrp, 50% isn't hurting me. That kind of money isn't ruining investment opportunites either.

[tyler1980]

Originally Posted by acpulse

Yes but frankly, you're first in the queue and are going to get what you want anyway. The majority of people can't even get put on a waitlist at all for popular models.

Deposit lists on certain models would surely thin the herd (given some of the responses here). I would be glad to put 50% down. If I have the money to waste on full msrp, 50% isn't hurting me. That kind of money isn't ruining investment opportunites either.

im fine with hypothetically AD's taking money for the first few slots on the WL. If the WL has 100 names, 1-5 always have a deposit down. When you get to #5 then you get called to A. Make sure you are still interested and B pay your deposit. Once you are that high the AD has some sort of realistic idea when the watch is coming.

If you have had a deposit down for over 2 years for a Daytona C at this point, that is just ridiculous.

My AD doesnt accept deposits anyway, from anyone.

[acpulse]

Originally Posted by tyler1980

im fine with hypothetically AD's taking money for the first few slots on the WL. If the WL has 100 names, 1-5 always have a deposit down. When you get to #5 then you get called to A. Make sure you are still interested and B pay your deposit. Once you are that high the AD has some sort of realistic idea when the watch is coming.

If you have had a deposit down for over 2 years for a Daytona C at this point, that is just ridiculous.

My AD doesnt accept deposits anyway, from anyone.

Either way they set it up, not much is going to happen when the AD is only getting single digit numbers of a watch per year. For example, if I want an LV and can't even get on a waitlist (which itself doesn't even have a reasonable or guaranteed wait time), how do I know I'd ever get it before they cull the watch? I bought it grey by the by.

My city in Australia has two AD's, so that's not many watches being delivered. When you consider one Australian luxury watch trading group on Facebook has over 10,000 members and climbing, it doesn't look rosy.

Are you looking to sell Tyler? How about I give you 50% of the BLRO and you can give it to me in 2 years.

[uniqueMR]

Originally Posted by tyler1980

i would never pay a deposit w/o a delivery date, period.

100% agreed.
I placed 20% deposit for LV and BLNR with delivery date of within 6 months. And received within 2 months. My AD rocks :) Relationship counts.

[brandrea]

Originally Posted by tyler1980

i would never pay a deposit w/o a delivery date, period.

I totally agree.

[Rolex Essex]

Originally Posted by tyler1980

i would never pay a deposit w/o a delivery date, period.

Same here however for 50% deposit I would expect the watch to arrive in a couple of months time.

[beshannon]

Originally Posted by Flyoverguy

My local AD tells me that to get on the list for a blue dial Sky-dweller I put half down then "wait and see".

Needless to say I did not do that. But WTH? Is this normal now?

IMHO nothing is normal now about buying a piece of jewelry

[shaunylw]

Originally Posted by beshannon

IMHO nothing is normal now about buying a piece of jewelry

Exactly!

[4vCoupe]

I was told the same for the Daytona. Paying 50% would put me at the end of their list which was still 8 ppl. I’m assuming those 8 ppl paid the 50%.


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[Deep18]

Yeah no chance I’d pay that large of a deposit especially without a delivery date.

[Yodel]

ludicrous!

[Flyoverguy]

It just makes me never want to do business with them again. But they are a major player in this region.

This just drives me towards greys

[tyler1980]

Originally Posted by Flyoverguy

It just makes me never want to do business with them again. But they are a major player in this region.

This just drives me towards greys

just playing devils advocate here but maybe the deposit is to deter flippers/multiple WL-ers.

I would never pay a deposit because i buy everything from my AD and they know me... however if they dont know you and dont know that you are not on 50 different WL, this might be a way to make sure you aren't. Its a lot of money to tie up yes, but its even more money to tie up if you are on 50 other waitlists.

[josephvman]

+1

I can’t believe it took nine posts to get to such an obvious answer...

Originally Posted by tyler1980

just playing devils advocate here but maybe the deposit is to deter flippers/multiple WL-ers.

I would never pay a deposit because i buy everything from my AD and they know me... however if they dont know you and dont know that you are not on 50 different WL, this might be a way to make sure you aren't. Its a lot of money to tie up yes, but its even more money to tie up if you are on 50 other waitlists.

[SSGMT]

I was asked to pay 100% for my James Cameron Deep Sea a couple of months ago, I paid it and the watch came in fairly quickly. Now the AD has said that they have changed their policy to be roughly 20%, which will assure that you get the next one that they receive. They made the change to their policy due to push-back from their clientele, they said too many folks were questioning paying 100% for a watch that had no set date to come in.

[SirPolarBear]

My ad no longer does wait lists but deposit lists due to demand.. With that said, I placed $4k down for my 116610LV while being told/shown the current list, being placed 3rd.

I could have put more or less down but they first asked for 50%. They got rid of the wait list model as they could maintain a steady deposit list with committed buyers.

Every AD is different.

[yxc145]

Originally Posted by Flyoverguy

My local AD tells me that to get on the list for a blue dial Sky-dweller I put half down then "wait and see".

Needless to say I did not do that. But WTH? Is this normal now?

why not? if you intend to buy and it is refundable. The worse is that they don't even want to put you on the list.

[beshannon]

Originally Posted by yxc145

why not? if you intend to buy and it is refundable. The worse is that they don't even want to put you on the list.

Because

There is no definite time for delivery
There is no penalty for failure to deliver

And most important I have far better things to do with liquid cash rather than try to hold a place in a fictional line for a piece of jewelry.

[yxc145]

Originally Posted by beshannon

Because

There is no definite time for delivery
There is no penalty for failure to deliver

And most important I have far better things to do with liquid cash rather than try to hold a place in a fictional line for a piece of jewelry.

I understand. Unfortunately, that's the way current Rolex market is. My dealer who got my BLNR, Sub-LV, Sky-D, BLRO told me the same thing. He didn't ask for 50% deposit because he knows me, but he put it up front that he cannot guarantee when he can deliver and if I want the watch, I just have to be patient and wait.
So, 10% or 100%, it really depends on if you need the money and if you can wait.

[rogerlu]

My local ORJ doesn't take deposits to get on the wait list. He said, "When the watch comes and you don't like it, we will just call the next person in line. Big deal."

[cbiggs]

Look, as was stated earlier, nothing makes sense right now...

My story...
I had someone (potentially the same person you're referring to) ask me to pay in full. They guaranteed the piece in my hands within 90 days. I went through with it because they were completely happy to refund if they were not able to deliver on their promise. Needless to say, they did not deliver... Funny enough, while waiting on the first AD, another AD reached out to me with what I was looking for and I happily purchased from AD #2 who is now my #1!

I think the hope is that people will put the deposit down and then forget about it. When the watch comes in, the AD will deliver. I just have a hard time tying up a deposit of 50% or more without some light at the end of the tunnel...

[DoctorA]

This came up in other threads before!
Let’s do the math.......... $7700 X 100 customers willing to fall for that scam = $770,000
A model where people are willing to wait a year or so to get it means they turn that money in their business and end up keeping people on a leash, delivering 4-5 watches a year and maybe a few would get tired and take their money back, to be replaced by the next person..... and so on!!!!!

And sure, they need to do that because s Blue SD is a very hard watch to sell!!!!