Rolex try to turn down the grey dealers but they still feed them>>>>

[037]

Originally Posted by Jocke

Rolex cut down the production of the popular watches consciously and the AD's only get difficult to sell models.

How do we know this for sure? With 7.6B people in the world, only about 1M Rolex watches made annually and only a part of those being SS sports models in high demand, it's certainly plausible that demand simply is outstripping supply.

Saying or assuming it's on purpose makes for an interesting spin on the conversation but without hard evidence it's only speculation.

I'd love for someone to show hard evidence. The only fact we know right now is that as soon as the economy got better, in-demand models became scarce. The rest is just drama and speculation.

[bigpopaz]

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[Speedbird-1]

Originally Posted by AK797

I think in the pre-hype days this forum in particular had influence over WIS buyers and wannabe WIS, but now the market is so inundated with flippers and chancers that our influence is really weak now, so you are only cutting off your nose for nothing if you pass up a watch you really want.

Want and need.

If you were really thirsty at say, a fun fair, would you pay £25 for a can of lemonade? I doubt it. You would wait untill you were able to buy a drink at a
normal price.

Me, I'm going to walk on, and bide my time, 'till it's a more normal buyers market.
It's my money and I don't NEED a new Rolex.

I'll wait, there's plenty to drink at home.

[Raku]

Originally Posted by Lt Virgil Hilts

Want and need.

If you were really thirsty at say, a fun fair, would you pay £25 for a can of lemonade? I doubt it. You would wait untill you were able to buy a drink at a
normal price.

Me, I'm going to walk on, and bide my time, 'till it's a more normal buyers market.
It's my money and I don't NEED a new Rolex.

I'll wait, there's plenty to drink at home.

Some people are not that patient and agree to pay ridiculous amounts for the models they want from grey dealers, making them huge amounts over night.
All of a sudden it's a big business for the greys, they go around to all the ADs and putting their names on the lists for hot models.
Any normal buyer (who maybe wants to get something to pass on to his kids) will never be able to get what he wants because 20 scalpers are first in line.

[HogwldFLTR]

I believe strongly that Rolex is forcing the ADs to sell the most desirable watches to the grays. They sell to the best buyers. Only resellers can fit in that category. The only ones getting hurt are the ADs, regular buyers and collectors. Great job Rolex; way to go!!!

[Speedbird-1]

Originally Posted by HogwldFLTR

I believe strongly that Rolex is forcing the ADs to sell the most desirable watches to the grays. They sell to the best buyers. Only resellers can fit in that category. The only ones getting hurt are the ADs, regular buyers and collectors. Great job Rolex; way to go!!!

If what you say is true, what would you say is Geneva's motive?

[Tomas Eriksson]

Originally Posted by Lt Virgil Hilts

If what you say is true, what would you say is Geneva's motive?

I cant answer for him but I agree what he is saying. Rolex forces quotas on the ADs, for many to the extent that many is pretty much forced to sell popular models in bundles with multiple less popular ones. Then they do measures such as instructing the ADs to remove plastic on all watches being sold and call that as fighting grey dealers. As long as Rolex continues to have a set strategy on selling as much of less popular models as the popular ones in a market that is blooming the current trend will continue.

[Speedbird-1]

Originally Posted by Tomas Eriksson

I cant answer for him but I agree what he is saying. Rolex forces quotas on the ADs, for many to the extent that many is pretty much forced to sell popular models in bundles with multiple less popular ones. Then they do measures such as instructing the ADs to remove plastic on all watches being sold and call that as fighting grey dealers. As long as Rolex continues to have a set strategy on selling as much of less popular models as the popular ones in a market that is blooming the current trend will continue.

.......and the motive, is?

[Lemonvr6]

Look at what it has done to demand for the brand as a whole. It’s working

[Mystro]

I love my trusted sellers that deal outside of a AD. These trusted sellers don’t play power games making you buy two watches you didn’t want to buy so you can but one you actually want. They don’t hold your warranty cards after purchase. You don’t have to kiss their butts to gain favor they might consider you for the next hot watch and place you higher on the list. Those games are not worth playing for a watch and it’s the AD’s that play the nastiest.
If it wasn’t for my trusted sellers, I would have no reason to even look at Rolex as no AD has anything. Even when times were better, there wasn’t enough dealers around me to find what I wanted. I am not anti AD but the ones I visited haven’t impressed me with their service/knowledge enough to ever buy or let them even handle my Rolex. “Wait and see” was recommended 16 months ago when everyone thought prices would go down and models would suddenly appear in the market. Now those days look like a dream and perhaps a squandered opertunity to buy at msrp.

[onemany]

Originally Posted by Yobber76

I don't think Rolex cares at all about the grey dealer market. Rolex sells watches to the AD's, the AD's get put in a position where they have to buy enough watches to keep a favorable position with Rolex, Rolex can restrict SS sport watches limiting AD's inventory to PM, TT, and watches that don't normally turn over as quickly, like a million different variations of the DJ, Exp II's, etc., which I believe AD's are selling more of than they used to, and AD's are bundling these harder to sell items with hard to get watches to sell inventory to the grey market, who sells both the hard to get models for high margin, and the lesser models like DJ's, and PM, TT watches at a smaller discount than before.
.

Rolex definitely cares about grey dealers which is why ADs are supposed to remove stickers and only sell to people that physically walk into an AD.

[SG56]

Originally Posted by DARK_KNIGHT

Waiting on a FEDEX truck and yelling incoming , while wearing your under britches and flip-flops is not the idea of a Swiss Luxury - buying experience.

Love that! Hahahaha

[gt0279a]

Originally Posted by onemany

Rolex definitely cares about grey dealers which is why ADs are supposed to remove stickers and only sell to people that physically walk into an AD.

And hold Warranty Cards for 1-12 months depending on the AD

[johneh]

Originally Posted by Mystro

I love my trusted sellers that deal outside of a AD. These trusted sellers don’t play power games making you buy two watches you didn’t want to buy so you can but one you actually want.

No, they play a different game where they charge you double the price for the watch you want because they're the only ones that have it. Both games suck, you lose either way.

[Foxiness]

But when times were better the grays gave bigger discounts than ADs. It goes both ways

[AK797]

Originally Posted by Lt Virgil Hilts

Want and need.

If you were really thirsty at say, a fun fair, would you pay £25 for a can of lemonade? I doubt it. You would wait untill you were able to buy a drink at a
normal price.

Me, I'm going to walk on, and bide my time, 'till it's a more normal buyers market.
It's my money and I don't NEED a new Rolex.

I'll wait, there's plenty to drink at home.

It's more a case of pay to play, I was in a Michelin restaurant recently and they charged me £12 for a bottle of water... now I was on the verge of throwing my bottle at the waiter... but then England scored against Tunisia and I bought another bottle!

[Yobber76]

Originally Posted by onemany

Rolex definitely cares about grey dealers which is why ADs are supposed to remove stickers and only sell to people that physically walk into an AD.

Still watches on the grey market in BNIB condition with stickers on. Still coming from an AD somewhere. I notice grey dealers I look at periodically seem to have more Rolexes than they used to giving some credence to bundle buying.. When I say Rolex doesn't care about the grey market, I mean I don't think they are really trying to stop these sales. What they are trying to do is minimize the discounting that used to go on, and that is still going on with a lot of their competition on the internet. Rolex is selling watches in record style, and the discounts have ebbed even on many grey market sites, and certainly at the AD's. Net effect is that the grey market, managed as well as possible (as Rolex can't manage the greys directly), is to turn the grey market into a partner in moving watches at record pace and holding up the value of the entire line of Rolex watches. With a strong economy currently, this has been possible.

[Fleetlord]

Originally Posted by FTX I

Grey dealers offered watches with a discount and now they offer with a markup. Same problem, different approach and no risk of cheapening the brand.

This is really end point of the conversation. Thank you for the clarity.

Rolex isn't about stopping the grey market of their products.

Rolex IS about stopping them from whoring out the pricing of the references that find their way to that channel.

The watches were FAR TOO AVAILABLE. This led to gross undercutting to get the sales.

It was ridiculous and unacceptable for a luxury brand like Rolex to have Submariners selling on the grey market with stickers for considerably LESS than retail.

Rolex simply put a stop to that by limiting supply. The pricing is in line now and actually promotes the desirability narrative.

Case Closed.

[FTX I]

Originally Posted by Fleetlord

This is really end point of the conversation. Thank you for the clarity.

Rolex isn't about stopping the grey market of their products.

Rolex IS about stopping them from whoring out the pricing of the references that find their way to that channel.

The watches were FAR TOO AVAILABLE. This led to gross undercutting to get the sales.

It was ridiculous and unacceptable for a luxury brand like Rolex to have Submariners selling on the grey market with stickers for considerably LESS than retail.

Rolex simply put a stop to that by limiting supply. The pricing is in line now and actually promotes the desirability narrative.

Case Closed.

Agree. A simple and brilliant move solved a complex problem.

[Fredrik]

Well, the steel sport watches are still readily available, a look at chrono24 right now shows 189 BNIB 116610s available, most fully stickered with warranty card. Only the prices has gone up, the availability is still the same.

I was in the market for a new 116610 this spring, I asked a couple of ADs here first and would not have minded being put on a wait list, I was not in a hurry. Unfortunately their wait lists were so long that they were closed! Then I went to a local grey dealer just a couple of blocks away, they had a 116610 sold just a couple of weeks earlier at an AD with everything including the warranty card and fully stickered. I bought it. I paid a slight premium. They get them regularly. Apparently those who know the AD owner close enough to get to buy one resell them to greys far off not to piss of the ADs. Mine was originally "sold" in Italy, maybe I could get a BNIB originally sold here in Sweden if I go to Italy...?

I think the ADs will eventually be worse off by this, they should just abandon the stupid wait lists and just sell first come first served. Now people will just not even bother going to the ADs because they know they do not have what they want and the ADs will miss out on other sales and future sales with new recurring customers. I only use my AD for service nowadays.

[Vivalas]

It’s a very strange market where someone can buy something and sell it for over double than they paid for it and therefore making far more profit than Rolex and the AD together and they’ve no overheads! Even more that there’s also a profit in it for the next seller (grey dealer). Totally bizarre really but that’s reality.

For example Pepsi £6,800. Grey as high as £17,000 - incredible really.

[amg55]

Just study the Birken bag story and it will all make sense. Hermes might have been the first to work this out.

[bdex75]

Originally Posted by FTX I

Agree. A simple and brilliant move solved a complex problem.

Would raising the MSRP have done the same thing an made Rolex more profit?? Does that look bad on Rolex??
I have to think that if you found the upper end pain threshold of a model you could price it so there was no margin for the gray’s and problem solved with more money in the trust fund coffers.


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[FTX I]

Originally Posted by bdex75

Would raising the MSRP have done the same thing an made Rolex more profit?? Does that look bad on Rolex??
I have to think that if you found the upper end pain threshold of a model you could price it so there was no margin for the gray’s and problem solved with more money in the trust fund coffers.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

I could be wrong but if they raised prices the grey dealers would still offer watches with a discount. That would not solve the problem IMO.