I get the impression that Rolex is slowly turning into a Buyer's market!!

[0037ksm]

I would love to buy another Rolex but the ADs I've talked to have not been motivated to make it happen. So, I keep buying IWCs; a Portuguese Chrono and an Aquatimer in the past 3 months. Still looking and hoping for the right Rolex watch and deal, however.

[HL65]

Definite buyers market JJ! There are ridiculous buys out there for certain!! That holds not only true for Rolex of course but also other high end luxury brands like Patek and Lange as well.

[cool-canuck]

Considering the US economy is in terrible shape i'd say there's a buyers market in the US. Saw 15% discounts off MSRP in the caribbean last year, although some might argue the economy has gotten better since then. Canada is doing relatively well compared to our southern neighbour.

[zidaneong]

Originally Posted by exxondus

Here in Asia, sales are still pretty strong. Not only for Rolex, but for many other higher or mid range brands as well. We even see many grey dealers taking advantage of the lower Euro (in the pass few months) to bring in watches to sell locally at a lower price.

In my view, get the rolex that you want now rather than later. All the speculation of price going to drop, etc are nothing more than mere speculation. Last year, there wasnt a price increase in Singapore by Rolex due to the bad economy. This tells me that they know what they are doing and the recent increase is probably in anticipation of the growing economy in Asia. I doubt they blindly increase just for the sake of increasing annually. The spending power of China and India is really really incredible!!! You have to see to believe! And those rich guys really like exclusitivity. If Rolex continues to allow any one to afford one, they will be affected by this part of the growing market in future.

From what it seems to be, Rolex is probably trying to push it out of reach for the general public in the long run. This creates a notion of exclusitivity and attracts the uber rich. Same as how PAM managed to in the initial stages but as production gets more, the base models start to become less attractive.

To begin with, Rolex (or luxury goods for that matter) was never meant to be within reach for the average joe. This becomes more evident when the income gap widens in many parts of the world. Harsh as it seems, but the same goes for Mercs, BMW, PP, AP, VC, LV and many other brands of luxury goods.

x2. That's the current market trend in the Asia region. :)

[MILFAN]

Guess what JJ, I have been looking to buy a Exp-II but they increased the prices in NL. I think its ridiculous.
How come you cannot sell yours.

Cheers
M

Originally Posted by JJ Irani

No more for me.......in fact, I've been trying to sell my Exp-II since 4 months now without any success!!

[slcbbrown]

Definitely drifting toward a buyer's market. I think patient buyers will stay in the driver's seat for another year or two, at least. And, it's all about the economy.

One thing to keep in mind, in a buyer's market the seller doesn't set the price-- the buyers do. Rolex can raise MSRP all it wants, if they don't cut production, the price increase won't hold. I think you'll start to hear TRF members crowing about how they beat their AD down from MSRP. All this will mean is that the AD has had to cut the latest increase out of the price.

If the new pricing won't hold, the AD's will beat Rolex or cut orders.

[duffman]

The more potential for a better deal the happier I am. The last rolex I got was a couple of thousand off retail here. So I am happy

[rxonmymind]

Just ran into this thread, but a quick & dirty observation.

Went through the local mall here in Sacramento and there are some 4-6 jewlery shops. You know the franchises. Well, only ONE has Rolex & NONE of them carries Omega. Omega pulled out of every one of them. Shuting down the distribution channels. Ditto Rolex. I pulled into a Jewler with the Rolex clock out front in a small town outside of Sacramento & Rolex opted to not re-sign with said jewler. Now there could be any number of reasons for that but it's telling that these companies are being proactive in restricting the product of their respective goods. Global economy indeed. Cheers.

[Tunacan26]

Omega is going 100% boutiques. No more "AD's."