Can a AD charge thousands more for a sought-after Rolex model?

[Bro Watch]

If a authorized dealer has a desired Rolex piece that is brand new can he sell it for current gray market pricing? I would think he would be in danger of losing his Rolex account. What do you think?

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[M1911a2]

Definite No No

[nwbusa]

AD can price their inventory for whatever they want—it’s their property.

Of course, there might be undesired consequences for such decisions.

[GB-man]

Yes they can.

In the USA it would make Rolex unhappy but they can sell for whatever they want.

[tyler1980]

technically i suppose they can however there is a stigma when an AD sells above the manufacturers "suggested" price, yet selling below it is expected in most other situations. No one is complaining about discounts.

IMO either the price is fixed or it isnt. Lets not cherry pick what situations pricing should be flexible.

[Stillwater702]

I was at an AD in Ukraine last week. They have the red SD3. They’re selling it for $15k out the door.

[run23]

Yes. I have to admit while I rationally think there is no problem with doing that - the market is what the market is and an AD should be able to sell a watch for whatever they can get for it- part of me gets pissed when I see ADs doing that and makes me not want to go to that AD ever again. Humans are just a mess of contradictory feelings and thoughts I guess.

[Andad]

Farren Price in Adelaide and Grimas in Melbourne both required the purchase of a second Rolex if a buyer wanted an SS Daytona or a Milgauss GV.

Ths was to a known customer, not a walk in.

This was a few years ago but I don't expect things have changed.

Isn't this much the same as selling above suggested retail?

Poor practice IMO.

[Mezz72]

One way or another, I'm gonna find ya'
I'm gonna get ya', get ya', get ya', get ya'
One way or another, I'm gonna win ya'
I'm gonna get ya', get ya' ,get ya', get ya'
One way or another, I'm gonna see ya'


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[Devildog]

Originally Posted by nwbusa

AD can price their inventory for whatever they want—it’s their property.

Of course, there might be undesired consequences for such decisions.

Originally Posted by GB-man

Yes they can.

In the USA it would make Rolex unhappy but they can sell for whatever they want.

Originally Posted by tyler1980

technically i suppose they can however there is a stigma when an AD sells above the manufacturers "suggested" price, yet selling below it is expected in most other situations. No one is complaining about discounts.

IMO either the price is fixed or it isnt. Lets not cherry pick what situations pricing should be flexible.

Originally Posted by run23

Yes. I have to admit while I rationally think there is no problem with doing that - the market is what the market is and an AD should be able to sell a watch for whatever they can get for it- part of me gets pissed when I see ADs doing that and makes me not want to go to that AD ever again. Humans are just a mess of contradictory feelings and thoughts I guess.

Always an interesting subject and generally many different takes.

In the UK Authorised Dealers are contractually bound to offer for sale Rolex watches for the retail price as set by Rolex UK which of course match those on the UK website. They can discount, but they cannot price above the price set by Rolex UK

At the end of the day they are selling as agents of the manufacturer. They are not buying wholesale and reselling for whatever price they see fit.

Have to say that I would be completely surprised if the contractual arrangements between Rolex USA and its authorised network of US dealers was any different.

They can of course discount, but to price over the manufactures recommended retail price would be a contractual breach and could result in the m losing their AD status.

Its probably the same globally, to be fair but some economic regions are probably more relaxed about it than others due to the cultural and economic norm.

[tyler1980]

Originally Posted by Devildog

Always an interesting subject and generally many different takes.

In the UK Authorised Dealers are contractually bound to offer for sale Rolex watches for the retail price as set by Rolex UK which of course match those on the UK website.

They can discount, but they cannot price above the price set by Rolex UK

At the end of the day they are selling as agents of the manufacturer. They are not buying wholesale and reselling for whatever price they see fit.

I would be completely surprised if the contractual arrangements between Rolex USA and its authorised network of US dealers was any different.

They can of course discount, but to price over the manufactures recommended retail price would be a contractual breach and could result in the m losing their AD status.

Its probably the same globally, to be fair but some economic regions are probably more relaxed about it than others due to the cultural and economic norm.

I just think it should be the same. My UK AD doesnt discount and they also don't sell over retail/bundle so at least they are consistent. I prefer not to have to negotiate on a luxury product, but that is just me. Wheeler dealer AD's who deal in the volume aspect by offering big discounts and moving more product are probably the same AD's who are bundling or selling over retail on the hot models. IMO you can tell a lot about the mentality of an AD by their stand on discounting.

[M1911a2]

Rolex will BLACKLIST their AD for marking up popular watch prices, AD used to be able to do that, but Rolex prohibit that a while ago. Thats the reason why Rolex really limit customer from buying more than "normal" amount which is to prevent them from selling in the gray market, because gray market seller are obviously not following Rolex's new policy.

Every country's policy is somewhat different, but generally thats how Rolex roll.

[beshannon]

Originally Posted by Bro Watch

If a authorized dealer has a desired Rolex piece that is brand new can he sell it for current gray market pricing? I would think he would be in danger of losing his Rolex account. What do you think?

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From their website

Rolex watches
ROLEX PRICING POLICIES
Rolex's suggested retail price before applicable taxes.

Rolex reserves the right to change prices at any time without notice.

[Art 1]

Yes.

[Andad]

No.

[Devildog]

Originally Posted by beshannon

From their website

That wording in itself does not give AD's the right to charge more Brian. Pricing will most certainly be dictated by the terms of the dealer agreement between whichever Rolex owned company is contracting with that regions AD network and the ADs themselves.

Marketing media will almost always quote MSRP or similar to give (in this case) Rolex the flexibility to change pricing - its not open invitation to permit ADs to charge what they want

[tyler1980]

Originally Posted by Art 1

Yes.

Originally Posted by directioneng

No.

if they can or cant is sort of irrelevant. If they cant im sure they are careful about it. Selling two watches at retail (bundling) is one option, and in places they can sell over retail, they may be more open about it. In a round about way its happening and there are loopholes as in the UK bundling is very common and its not technically selling above retail but the end result is the same.

[Andad]

Not technically?

What is that?

[tyler1980]

Originally Posted by directioneng

Not technically.?

buying a daytona at retail and buying a DD at retail. You get two watches at RRP.

Its clearly a workaround and you didn't pay one penny more than the suggested price. Conditional purchases would be a different argument than if an AD can or cant sell over retail as that is something else entirely.

[Andad]

But I just want a Daytona so technically I am being asked to buy something I don't want.

[brandrea]

So how did we get into this mess in the first place?

Why isn’t the price just the the price as set by Rolex. No discount, no sell for over list.

[antbkny]

Originally Posted by brandrea

So how did we get into this mess in the first place?

Why isn’t the price just the the price as set by Rolex. No discount, no sell for over list.

grey dealers selling below msrp probably. Rolex sure has turned the tables on us.

[brandrea]

Originally Posted by antbkny

grey dealers selling below msrp probably. Rolex sure has turned the tables on us.

So if ADs didn’t discount, how would grey dealers profit?

[beshannon]

Originally Posted by brandrea

So if ADs didn’t discount, how would grey dealers profit?

Exactly!

Rolex and the dealers created this mess. One price everywhere no exceptions does not allow others to sell for less unless they want to lose money.

[antbkny]

Originally Posted by brandrea

So if ADs didn’t discount, how would grey dealers profit?

they definetly did discount in the past, not too long ago I was able to buy a sub at 15 percent off msrp from my ad. This was when dealers had tons of inventory and had to move out stock I assume. Since Rolex has slowed down supply to ad’s, the discounts disappeared and I assume for the grey dealers as well, hence the grey market pricing has gone up. Today’s discount is paying MSRP lol

[tyler1980]

Originally Posted by brandrea

So how did we get into this mess in the first place?

Why isn’t the price just the the price as set by Rolex. No discount, no sell for over list.

exactly. Discounts created the market and the conditions for the secondary dealers to thrive. The over retail stuff is new (relatively) and its a small part of the volume secondary dealers are selling.

If a regular customer could get 10% off then a volume purchaser could get 20% from an AD. So when someone else can always get a better discount then no one uses AD's.

[brandrea]

Originally Posted by antbkny

they definetly did discount in the past, not too long ago I was able to buy a sub at 15 percent off msrp from my ad. This was when dealers had tons of inventory and had to move out stock I assume. Since Rolex has slowed down supply to ad’s, the discounts disappeared and I assume for the grey dealers as well, hence the grey market pricing has gone up. Today’s discount is paying MSRP lol

Agreed

Discounts were always the norm until recently so perhaps in time, this will sort itself out.

[brandrea]

Originally Posted by tyler1980

exactly. Discounts created the market and the conditions for the secondary dealers to thrive. The over retail stuff is new (relatively) and its a small part of the volume secondary dealers are selling.

If a regular customer could get 10% off then a volume purchaser could get 20% from an AD. So when someone else can always get a better discount then no one uses AD's

I think we should offer our services to Rolex HQ

[tyler1980]

Originally Posted by brandrea

I think we should offer our services to Rolex HQ

No grey dealer would stay in business only selling daytonas, but i also think Rolex knows this. The ability to move low selling models is more of a benefit to the AD and thus Rolex who has a constant pipeline to dump their watches on, than the headaches over retail watches cause.

Low selling, discountable models are the disease, over retail watches is only a symptom.

[JR16]

Originally Posted by antbkny

they definetly did discount in the past, not too long ago I was able to buy a sub at 15 percent off msrp from my ad. This was when dealers had tons of inventory and had to move out stock I assume. Since Rolex has slowed down supply to ad’s, the discounts disappeared and I assume for the grey dealers as well, hence the grey market pricing has gone up. Today’s discount is paying MSRP lol

Pretty sure in US an AD would be at jeopardy of losing its account if they sold above retail. With that said, I agree w others that I’d be happier if for all pieces the price you see is the price you get- no premiums and no discounts. Of course the history of deeply discounted unpopular models at grays have messed this up. Instead it would have been better if an AD was incentivized / allowed by Rolex to sell a slow mover at a big discount or sell back to Rolex , AND would have been better if Rolex just didn’t make an oversupply of datejusts and other pieces that didn’t sell well at ADs. This is clearly a problem created in large part by Rolex and its retailers and a problem only they can fix.


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