Attention Rolex & Authorized Dealers-ALLOCATION PRACTICES IN CHALLENGING MARKET

[Fleetlord]

Why would Rolex do anything to disrupt the market dominating success they have had over the last 6-8 yrs?

Keeping supply under demand is the golden path in luxury watches. It's what the modern market craves and choses over ubiquity.

Pre 2018 (some could say 2016) wasn't like that because the economy then wasn't given the nitrous boost with crypto and other digital economy enterprises that flooded the channel with buying power. High watch prices isn't enough of a barrier of entry to create exclusivity anymore. So brands that can't meet their demand became more and more popular. Whether this happened organically or the brands added some fertilizer too it is not clear, but it happened regardless and here we are.

What's ironic is that brands that gain traction and DO follow the plan that those who feel "excluded" from Rolex acquisition wish Rolex would follow, fail terrifically.

Look at Grand Seiko. Grand Seiko gained traction when they slowly started to add some dealers to the US market and limit their availability to select dealers and boutiques. Then, they started to open more stores. They made more and more watches. Yes, they had limited editions, but they still had too many editions. Then they started selling online, through their club. Then they opened more boutiques. More AD's ....More releases....more more more. They fell into the trap. "People love us now, let's give them MORE". Wrong move.

Now GS is rumored to be buying back watches to keep them from hitting the dreaded 40% off dumping grounds like Jomashop. That is not where GS wanted to be, but here they are. Want another example? Look at Panerai. They followed almost the same path. It took longer for them to fall apart, but they are shell of what they were. It shows just how fickle and merciless the modern watch market is NOW. If you don't follow the cravings of the market, it will make you pay quickly and dearly.

So, that being said, plenty of great watch brands out there, with plenty of watches available RIGHT NOW. You could buy one ONLINE direct from the brand and have it in a day or so...couldn't be easier, but here we are, bickering about not being able to obtain Rolex from the AD...

I wonder why?

[BillA]

Originally Posted by Fleetlord

Why would Rolex do anything to disrupt the market dominating success they have had over the last 6-8 yrs?

Keeping supply under demand is the golden path in luxury watches. It's what the modern market craves and choses over ubiquity.

Pre 2018 (some could say 2016) wasn't like that because the economy then wasn't given the nitrous boost with crypto and other digital economy enterprises that flooded the channel with buying power. High watch prices isn't enough of a barrier of entry to create exclusivity anymore. So brands that can't meet their demand became more and more popular. Whether this happened organically or the brands added some fertilizer too it is not clear, but it happened regardless and here we are.

What's ironic is that brands that gain traction and DO follow the plan that those who feel "excluded" from Rolex acquisition wish Rolex would follow, fail terrifically.

Look at Grand Seiko. Grand Seiko gained traction when they slowly started to add some dealers to the US market and limit their availability to select dealers and boutiques. Then, they started to open more stores. They made more and more watches. Yes, they had limited editions, but they still had too many editions. Then they started selling online, through their club. Then they opened more boutiques. More AD's ....More releases....more more more. They fell into the trap. "People love us now, let's give them MORE". Wrong move.

Now GS is rumored to be buying back watches to keep them from hitting the dreaded 40% off dumping grounds like Jomashop. That is not where GS wanted to be, but here they are. Want another example? Look at Panerai. They followed almost the same path. It took longer for them to fall apart, but they are shell of what they were. It shows just how fickle and merciless the modern watch market is NOW. If you don't follow the cravings of the market, it will make you pay quickly and dearly.

So, that being said, plenty of great watch brands out there, with plenty of watches available RIGHT NOW. You could buy one ONLINE direct from the brand and have it in a day or so...couldn't be easier, but here we are, bickering about not being able to obtain Rolex from the AD...

I wonder why?

A little bit of human nature……..what you can have you don’t want and what you cannot have you want.

[omar-rye]

In other news:



People have gone insane. Watches are the new toilet paper of Covid times.

[Joearch]

Wow, 8 pages. Simple economics. Supply and demand curve will determine price. Rolex and their retailers will be working to keep the demand portion of the equation in balance to maintain stable retail price and long term value. For those that don’t feel comfortable with how a company does business, find one that you like the way they operate and support them.

[ChronoZach]

Very interesting, indeed. These are the days of our lives?
MRAA Make Rolex Available Again.#MRAA…….

This was a good one James, thanks and like I said before, I feel ya brother.
Now I see that I’m not the only one out there. I just don’t let it get to me. Not worth it!

I want some of that ice age water? Too…. My AD gives you tap water in a glass?

Cheers,

[James84]

Originally Posted by Zach69SS

Very interesting, indeed. These are the days of our lives?
MRAA Make Rolex Available Again.#MRAA…….

This was a good one James, thanks and like I said before, I feel ya brother.
Now I see that I’m not the only one out there. I just don’t let it get to me. Not worth it!

I want some of that ice age water? Too…. My AD gives you tap water in a glass?

Cheers,

Thanks Zach! Greatly appreciate you and everyone’s feedback. Stimulating thought, getting info out, and sharing perspectives is always good.

[James84]

Originally Posted by shaunylw

100k in spend isn’t blue collar. You could have had that watch a long time ago with that level of spend. You’re the perfect customer for that AD. They dangled the carrot and you spend boatloads, why give you the treat now? They can keep stringing you along, and if you buy nothing else, they got 100k out of you.

With that much spend, and it’s been 7 years, it’s unlikely to come.


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Entirely possible and agree with a lot here. But I do like what I bought, even if the CPO market says it’s a 20k (roughly) loss I do like them. And that should always be the point of what you buy. The history of the Panda going back to Paul Newman and how iconic it is, that’s why I always gravitated towards it. That feeling never changed when it was 50k or 25k, my personal desire for it has always been the historical factor.

[James84]

Originally Posted by SLWoodster

I will say i felt what you felt maybe 2 years ago. I've spent 6 figures and been told that the model i asked for 3-4 years ago is now "overcommitted".

In many ways you are not actually purchasing things on some kind of set scale. You are actually competing against the buyers on the AD's existing list. You're having to break into to their allocations list. You basically having to climb over others. If you're in a major city with lots of long term customers... that's going to be difficult. I've seen multiple occasions where they are preparing 5, 10, 20 Rolexes as corporate gifts.

I've luckily had the opportunity to have friends who are on their different AD journeys. I would say that it's mostly not worth it. Generally at about $250,000 of spend, the cali dealers pay more attention to your requests. And it should be things that they have trouble or feel are more difficult to move that you buy consistently, once or twice every 3-9 months at a time. Some of them will bundle with jewelry, some of them will ask you to buy other watches at the same time.

The most time-saving method is to just go grey. I know many don't want to but really that's kind of the best way right now if what you want is the hypest pieces. As you said, you bought what you liked but you also felt like you "lost" money buying them. So, take the losses, and just get what you wanted to begin with.

This makes a lot of sense and appreciate the perspective. I will still not give up efforts, one way or another I will own the watch and continue journey. We shall see. Thank you for sharing this perspective. .

[James84]

Originally Posted by bluestreak

This is probably the fifth thread saying all these things *this week.*

Imagine being so wrapped up in oneself that you think you are coming here with new revelations. Or so entitled as to think that an AD has some obligation to sell a luxury watch to you. Or thinking so highly of yourself that you see yourself as some sort of person whose clout Rolex should care about.

So if I had to pick between those pathologies and just being a troll, I might actually pick troll.

Thousands of views and hundreds of responses in a couple days says otherwise. But thank you for perspective.

[James84]

Originally Posted by Fleetlord

Why would Rolex do anything to disrupt the market dominating success they have had over the last 6-8 yrs?

Keeping supply under demand is the golden path in luxury watches. It's what the modern market craves and choses over ubiquity.

Pre 2018 (some could say 2016) wasn't like that because the economy then wasn't given the nitrous boost with crypto and other digital economy enterprises that flooded the channel with buying power. High watch prices isn't enough of a barrier of entry to create exclusivity anymore. So brands that can't meet their demand became more and more popular. Whether this happened organically or the brands added some fertilizer too it is not clear, but it happened regardless and here we are.

What's ironic is that brands that gain traction and DO follow the plan that those who feel "excluded" from Rolex acquisition wish Rolex would follow, fail terrifically.

Look at Grand Seiko. Grand Seiko gained traction when they slowly started to add some dealers to the US market and limit their availability to select dealers and boutiques. Then, they started to open more stores. They made more and more watches. Yes, they had limited editions, but they still had too many editions. Then they started selling online, through their club. Then they opened more boutiques. More AD's ....More releases....more more more. They fell into the trap. "People love us now, let's give them MORE". Wrong move.

Now GS is rumored to be buying back watches to keep them from hitting the dreaded 40% off dumping grounds like Jomashop. That is not where GS wanted to be, but here they are. Want another example? Look at Panerai. They followed almost the same path. It took longer for them to fall apart, but they are shell of what they were. It shows just how fickle and merciless the modern watch market is NOW. If you don't follow the cravings of the market, it will make you pay quickly and dearly.

So, that being said, plenty of great watch brands out there, with plenty of watches available RIGHT NOW. You could buy one ONLINE direct from the brand and have it in a day or so...couldn't be easier, but here we are, bickering about not being able to obtain Rolex from the AD...

I wonder why?

But they have no control over economic climates, consistency of spending across all models, hype remaining across all models, trends changing etc….a lot of these things are fluid and their production has only increased. They are doubling down on that part, so we shall see but new distribution methods and tactics should absolutely be expected as so many things are fluid.

[James84]

Originally Posted by SLWoodster

I am told that Rolex designates who is getting the puzzle pieces and the Le Mans daytonas.

agree with pretty much everything you said.

This is true. Rolex hand picks where those pieces go.and it’s all marketing strategy of self creating hype (John Mayer, Kevin O’Leary, Tom Brady etc..) and other influential highly visible people get them. Everything is about optics and hype creation, as expressed in my first post and throughout. They just have different ways and levels of doing it.

[bluestreak]

Originally Posted by James84

Thousands of views and hundreds of responses in a couple days says otherwise. But thank you for perspective.

Congrats? Half the reaponses are from people calling you a troll. But attention is attention I suppose.

In any case, just look through the forum history and look at any thread that mentions allocation or ADs.

You are not special… You’re one of many who walked into an AD, asked for the same watch everyone else wants, can’t understand why you shouldn’t get it over all of those other people, likely out of some sense of entitlement and then comes on here to throw a tantrum.

Rinse. Repeat.

Enjoy your moment in the sun I guess. lol

EDIT: If you need a data point, Since March of 2022, I’ve gotten every Rolex I’ve asked for (five total, including “hot” watches), and I’ve spent a fraction of your 100K. And that includes the Rolexes. So how does that fit into your narrative?

[codecow]

As a fellow lower middle class blue collar collector I feel your pain OP.

I’m about to fly back from a couple weeks in Europe and I’d have to say the situation over here might be even more dire. At the free breakfasts at the nice hotels I haven’t seen a single Daytona my entire trip.

It used to be back in the day as workers emerged from the coal mines or the docks they could go past their AD and get whatever blue collar tool watch they needed for their important work.

These days we’re made to jump through hoops.

How am I supposed to tell my local time without something like a GMT Pepsi? I mean there’s my iPhone, but that’s in my pocket. What if I need to know the time now? What if you’re in airplane mode from business class and you need to know? My flight back is 11 hours, that’s a long time to be in limbo.

I hope the Rolex agents and forum member plants reading this will take it to heart and change their business practices.

[James84]

Originally Posted by bluestreak

Congrats? Half the reaponses are from people calling you a troll. But attention is attention I suppose.

In any case, just look through the forum history and look at any thread that mentions allocation or ADs.

You are not special… You’re one of many who walked into an AD, asked for the same watch everyone else wants, can’t understand why you shouldn’t get it over all of those other people, likely out of some sense of entitlement and then comes on here to throw a tantrum.

Rinse. Repeat.

Enjoy your moment in the sun I guess. lol

EDIT: If you need a data point, Since March of 2022, I’ve gotten every Rolex I’ve asked for (five total, including “hot” watches), and I’ve spent a fraction of your 100K. And that includes the Rolexes. So how does that fit into your narrative?

Appreciate this, thanks.

[omar-rye]

Originally Posted by James84

They are immoral and unethical for the following reasons.
1.) Lying to customers about inventory and ability to sell.
2.) Hiding all stock in the back to avoid the transparency that some models sit forever, and they claim they have nothing and everything is sold out which is another lie.
3.) Optical illusions of “I can’t get anything it’s all sold, gone, and supply too low….then 5 days later the “lucky miracle text comes of I just got a ladies diamond bezel president, it’s a beauty and WOW how lucky I got this…..WANT IT”….this tactic is rooted in the optical illusion of empty cases and messaging 5 days prior that everything is sold and impossible to get, all while this “miracle piece” was in the back collecting dust.
4.) Dangling the steel Daytona and GMT as a carrot before buying 250k of the “miracle lucky pieces” consumers bought as explained in point 3.
5.) KNOWING they will NOT sell certain pieces to certain customers, but STRICTLY following guided messaging to never EVER say that to a consumer and continue lying with vague false messaging and false hope.

All of the above is directed by Rolex to the AD’s. These people have become worst than used car salesman, only far more sophisticated and strategic.

My biggest beef is how they “USE” the term “collectors first” when it suits them to say this cliche line, but in reality the shark tactics reveal glutinous greed.im a true collector, STOP using my name to pose as if you care about me when it suits you. You don’t, and points 1-5 clearly reveal how much you care about consumers.

Originally Posted by omar-rye

But all these five points you’ve mentioned could be fake news, no? Why are you so certain these rumors are facts? Do share your sources.

Originally Posted by omar-rye

I'm still waiting for your sources James

...still waiting...

[James84]

Originally Posted by codecow

As a fellow lower middle class blue collar collector I feel your pain OP.

I’m about to fly back from a couple weeks in Europe and I’d have to say the situation over here might be even more dire. At the free breakfasts at the nice hotels I haven’t seen a single Daytona my entire trip.

It used to be back in the day as workers emerged from the coal mines or the docks they could go past their AD and get whatever blue collar tool watch they needed for their important work.

These days we’re made to jump through hoops.

How am I supposed to tell my local time without something like a GMT Pepsi? I mean there’s my iPhone, but that’s in my pocket. What if I need to know the time now? What if you’re in airplane mode from business class and you need to know? My flight back is 11 hours, that’s a long time to be in limbo.

I hope the Rolex agents and forum member plants reading this will take it to heart and change their business practices.

Greatly appreciate you sharing this. Hang in there and remain optimistic with continued efforts. Knowledge is power, so hopefully some was gained here. And all perspectives are appreciated. I certainly appreciate yours.

[Ferrari-F430]

Originally Posted by KatGirl

Actually, you are wrong. It most certainly IS a charity. The Hans Wilsdorf Foundation, which owns Rolex, donates millions of dollars annually to various charitable organizations.

Kat


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Man, that was prime for the picking there LMAO. How many times has someone said that and it actually WAS a charity!!

Well played Kat!

[codecow]

Originally Posted by James84

Greatly appreciate you sharing this. Hang in there and remain optimistic with continued efforts. Knowledge is power, so hopefully some was gained here. And all perspectives are appreciated. I certainly appreciate yours.

Thank you!

Maybe one day I will be able to get the in demand pieces like the so called VIPs.

[Calatrava r]

James, after all these pages most people are not giving their "prospective" but simply stating the obvious. There isn't much new here.

[joe100]

With this much passion, you should be a pledge member here.

[James84]

Originally Posted by Calatrava r

James, after all these pages most people are not giving their "prospective" but simply stating the obvious. There isn't much new here.

Thank you for this.

[James84]

Originally Posted by joe100

With this much passion, you should be a pledge member here.

Noted. Thanks

[cblock406]

The only thing being exposed here is the OP's frustration. This is all common knowledge to people paying attention to the Rolex market for the last several years.

[gamingdoctor]

only way to win is to not play

[rgito]

Good Grief.

Bottom line: WE are the ones that choose to play this game. All for a mass-produced trinket that is less accurate than a 5 spot ASDA Hello Kitty.

If you allow yourself to be so seduced by the world's greatest marketing scheme, then the joke is on YOU.

[thenewrick]

Originally Posted by rgito

Good Grief.

Bottom line: WE are the ones that choose to play this game. All for a mass-produced trinket that is less accurate than a 5 spot ASDA Hello Kitty.

If you allow yourself to be so seduced by the world's greatest marketing scheme, then the joke is on YOU.

Pay the tithe and get the prophet his Panda. Absalom!

[omar-rye]

Originally Posted by gamingdoctor

only way to win is to not play

I like that. I should engrave it on one of my case backs: “The only winning move is not to play.”

[KatGirl]

Originally Posted by omar-rye

I like that. I should engrave it on one of my case backs: “The only winning move is not to play.”

It’s the truth. Those of us who don’t play the AD’s games are much happier, with our watches and our bank account balances. We need a grass roots movement among collectors, where we all refuse to pay anything above retail to get the watches we want. If we all just said “No” to buying extra stuff, including watches we don’t want and jewelry we don’t want, it would go a long way towards getting things back to normal. What we can’t control are the flippers, or stock being sold out the back door to grey dealers (if that actually occurs). If we all stopped buying grey and only paid for what we want, things would start to improve. The market is in this crazy state, partially because we allowed it.

Kat

[inadeje]

OP thanks for the hilarious post. Intended or not.

[Gearjockey]

Originally Posted by omar-rye

I like that. I should engrave it on one of my case backs: “The only winning move is not to play.”

Hmm…
If only there were a meme for that…


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