Got back from my AD, and I am confused..help!

[noriesrolex]

Hi.

I know exactly the watch I want, and after "shopping" and pricing on the net, reading posts on this forum, and telephoning prospective sellers, I went to my AD.

Before the AD I went into a store that immediately told me they are not authorized dealers, and their watches were beautiful. He had 3 matches for my watch and I asked to see them. Then I asked for the pricing, and I got 3 different prices. When I question this he told me that watch "A" was from 1985 and the gold content made it lighter than the other two. Fine...that was obvious. Then he told me different prices for the other two, "B" and "C". I seems that "B" was a 2005 watch whereas "C" was from 2010. He is offering a 1 year warranty on the watch, and he has a man who works on Rolex and can get parts, if necessary.

I thanked him and went to my AD.

The AD had my watch and quoted me $8200 MSRP. We talked about Rolex, and she told me that there is NO WAY anyone can date a Rolex and tell you when it was made. That threw me as I have seen date for these watches on the web sites, and the previous jeweler told me the dates of several watches that he had in stock.
When I asked about what she could do on the price, I was told that Rolex allows them NO ROOM, and that the MSRP is the price, and no AD will sell it to me for less. If I find it for less, it might have "after market parts" and that will cause me problems.

I thanked her, and walked out.

Now, I am almost positive that I have seen several posts on this forum where it was discussed that one could hope to get between 15% - 20% discount from an AD.

So, Do AD's discount...Can they discount? and can you tell the date as to when a Rolex was made? I know if it is a model with a change you can tell about when it was made but can you tell the year?

Thanks

Steve

[Like To Watch]

Give or take a year you can date a Rolex. Even with the new random number watches.

[McLovin]

Discounts from ADs do happen, although I think 15%-20% is unusual these days for SS.

[Trouble15]

Discounts will vary based on type of watch & region. As McLovin mentioned SS you're more likely to get slim to no discount where as all gold watches you're more likely to get the relative largest % discount.

http://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=8478 <-Thread for reference on dates of manufacturing.

[~JJ]

My AD will not offer discounts even w/ cash in hand and previous purchases. However, I made the mistake of going to the big chain that starts w/ a T, but I know of people who went to low volume ADs that are happy to give 5-10% off when paying w/ cash. Besides the new random serial numbers, one can look up the year the Rolex case was made, but that doesn't mean it's the year it was built or sold... I've read cases on here that have sat for multiple years... so use this as a range not absolute. Hope this helps.

[floater156]

You have to remember, the workers at ADs are typcially dumbasses. They are only retail workers after all - no different than someone who works at Macy's. I got a 20% discount on my TT DJII from my AD; however, some watches that are in higher demand they will not discount. You can get a good idea of what year a watch is from based on the serial number, although it may not be precise. It sounds like she was trying to influence you to buy from them, WHICH IS THEIR JOB! haha

[azguy]

Originally Posted by floater156

You have to remember, the workers at ADs are typcially dumbasses. They are only retail workers after all - no different than someone who works at Macy's.

seems harsh considering the economic times and the unemployment rate, people are just trying to survive and retail maybe the only option....

OP, discounts are not going to happen. Buy the watch you love and enjoy it

[rossi46]

Originally Posted by floater156

You have to remember, the workers at ADs are typcially dumbasses.

About the same as most people that work at electronics stores or car dealerships: "it's just a job."

Don't know why people take everything AD workers say as irrefutable fact. One could easily learn more about Rolex's by browsing threads on this forum for a good week, than be selling Rolex's for a year.

[HeyItsRaymond]

Why not buy from a TRF Trusted Seller and save yourself some money? That is my plan for my next purchase. I was hesitant but after lurking for a while I am confident that I can buy from certain people on here with confidence.

[steebee2]

If its a TT or all Gold you should be able to score 15-20%. SS, not so much, anthying over 0% is good, for SS I'd look right here on TRF.

[rolexnewbie1234]

I have heard from several AD's that Rolex is "tightening their leash" on discounts. I think discounts at AD's depend on many factors. It will depend on what region you are buying in, your relationship with the AD, inventory of watches, etc. You can't take any one post as a "fact" for what discount to expect. I would definitely shop around though.

[Tools]

Originally Posted by noriesrolex

Hi.

I know exactly the watch I want, and after "shopping" and pricing on the net, reading posts on this forum, and telephoning prospective sellers, I went to my AD.

Before the AD I went into a store that immediately told me they are not authorized dealers, and their watches were beautiful. He had 3 matches for my watch and I asked to see them. Then I asked for the pricing, and I got 3 different prices. When I question this he told me that watch "A" was from 1985 and the gold content made it lighter than the other two. Fine...that was obvious. Then he told me different prices for the other two, "B" and "C". I seems that "B" was a 2005 watch whereas "C" was from 2010. He is offering a 1 year warranty on the watch, and he has a man who works on Rolex and can get parts, if necessary.

I thanked him and went to my AD.

The AD had my watch and quoted me $8200 MSRP. We talked about Rolex, and she told me that there is NO WAY anyone can date a Rolex and tell you when it was made. That threw me as I have seen date for these watches on the web sites, and the previous jeweler told me the dates of several watches that he had in stock.
When I asked about what she could do on the price, I was told that Rolex allows them NO ROOM, and that the MSRP is the price, and no AD will sell it to me for less. If I find it for less, it might have "after market parts" and that will cause me problems.

I thanked her, and walked out.

Now, I am almost positive that I have seen several posts on this forum where it was discussed that one could hope to get between 15% - 20% discount from an AD.

So, Do AD's discount...Can they discount? and can you tell the date as to when a Rolex was made? I know if it is a model with a change you can tell about when it was made but can you tell the year?

Thanks

Steve

It's true.. You cannot positively date a Rolex.. The charts that we use to get an approximation are good guesses based on reported purchases and legitimate paperwork that came with original owners.. However, they are still only approximations.. albeit, good ones to use if you don't know anything else about a watch..

As to your used Dealer talking about "more gold" and so on, that is total bull.... Market prices have nothing to do with the gold content, only what the market will bear.. A almost 30 year old watch should always be cheaper than a more recent model in the same condition.. exceptions do occur for collectibles and exotics.

As to discounts........... C'mon, this is the Internet.. If you get one guy who says he got 5%, the next guy will say 10%, and the next guy says "I got 15%", and so on...

In this economy, you may frequently get a discount on gold and Two Tone models and a small discount on SS models. If the economy gets better, Rolex is usually not discounted..

Some countries get good discounts, but they usually have a large government tax already applied, so it frequently only brings it down to a typical MSRP.

Enjoy your shopping, then pay what you are comfortable with and not what "somebody got at xxx"

[DG123]

It is easy for someone to post "my AD gave me a 5%, 10%, 20% or more discount", but that is just typing words.
The reality is that achieving a discount from a Rolex AD is uncommon, and certainly not the routine happenstance which some internet forum posters claim.
Vist an AD or two in your area. If you like a particular model, and like the AD, then buy the watch.

Originally Posted by noriesrolex

Hi.


Now, I am almost positive that I have seen several posts on this forum where it was discussed that one could hope to get between 15% - 20% discount from an AD.


Thanks

Steve

[caryyee]

Discounts do depend on region. I'm in Australia so can only speak about my AD experiences here. Over in Australia, the MRSP is much higher than in the US. ie my Everose Daytona has a MRSP of just under $40kAUD, whereas in the US, I believe the MRSP is just under $35kUS. With the Aus dollar around parity with the US dollar at the moment, it's $5kUS more over here than in the US. The AD's over here know this, they know I can fly to the US, have a bit of a holiday, buy my watch, and come back to Aus with it, and still be in front. So for them to remain competitive, they are more open to offering a discount, especially if you walk in armed with pricing information from other markets to back up your claims of 'I can get it cheaper elsewhere'.

[btinl]

I have used ADs around the country. Those in the midwest and the less traveled regions tend to offer discounts more freely. I bought 6 watches from an AD outside of NYC, and they still won't give me a discount on SS Rolex watches. Another AD further west gave me 10% off without asking.

[liuk3]

What model watch were you looking at?

[w4rmk]

Originally Posted by noriesrolex

watch "A" was from 1985 and the gold content made it lighter than the other two. Fine...that was obvious. Then he told me different prices for the other two, "B" and "C". I seems that "B" was a 2005 watch whereas "C" was from 2010. He is offering a 1 year warranty on the watch, and he has a man who works on Rolex and can get parts, if necessary.

So taking each part of your post - regarding gold content, assuming you are talking about the same models, older bracelets used hollow gold links while newer models are solid, hence the "more gold". So that part has some truth. But in general is a pretty weak argument. What you'll find that is that aftermarket dealers place too much emphasis on the serial/year. For example, recently when checking trade in value for my "D" series DJ I was told "it would be worth more if it was a newer serial number". The dealers put too much weight on the serial number versus things like condition, because they generally have their watches polished/brushed before they sell them so when everything looks the same the only differentiating factor they have is the serial number, which approximates the year it was manufactured. In reality it could have sat in an AD's case for 2 years and be a brand new watch. So - not a perfect system, but it's about all they have to work from in their market.

Regarding discounts - it all depends on the AD, some will discount and some won't, some will offer to save sales tax by shipping the box to a family/friend in another state, some will offer a small discount (3%) for paying in cash because of the credit cards fee they lose.

You might consider buying from one of the trusted sellers here on the forums, that's what I did for a brand new GMT IIc I bought last week and got it for about $1,500 less than MSRP (about a 20% discount) and no sales tax.

[MoBe]

Originally Posted by Like To Watch

Give or take a year you can date a Rolex. Even with the new random number watches.

How do you date a watch with a random seial number?

[meong009]

I bought my SubC 2 weeks ago and got 5% discount from my AD

[changster]

My friend purchased his Deepsea last week from an AD and received almost 10% off. I piggy backed along and picked up the supposedly last sub ND with 8% off. Apparently they aren't anticipating any more 14060M. Other AD's may have incoming stock if they had placed an order before it was announced to be discontinued. Discounts are difficult from AD's no doubt and it varies from store to store. The previous best offer I received was a $250 in-store gift certificate.