I agree - I like the Junghans and Nomos after learning about them here. I would go with them for “dress” watch, I am looking for something a bit more sturdy/sporty looking on this purchase.
Go to several stores and haggle down the prices. You should be able to get significant discounts on any of these.
Really - I would have thought that online retailers would be cheaper than haggling with a dealer in a physical store. Anyone have experience with both?
Online retailer is almost always cheaper. First of all, most of the bigger watch stores offer their stock online anyway; on Chrono24 or wherever, a lot (most?) of those merchants actually have physical stores. Second, you can “defer” sales tax by buying from websites based in Florida, or wherever. This is like 9% discount. Third, you can immediately browse 500 stores online. If you limit yourself to brick and mortar stores to get the best price, you are making the assumption that the few stores you can walk into must by some coincidence also be the ones with the national best price.
most online stores sell as gray market so you dont get the factory warranty.
but if its a new piece the odds are that you wont need repair in the first 4 years or so.
if you buy a 5k watch major repair will cost about $700 and thats major.
most of the time you can save more than that buying from gray market and even if something breaks you will still be ahead after the repair costs vs buying from non gray market place.
Good info thanks guys. I want to buy from Jomashop
Who do you think the internet retailers are hurting?
Who will be most eager to make a sale, especially near month end?
What is the current trend in Swiss watch sales?
Prices aren’t that sticky at this price point. At most there is a floor because the piece would be sold at cost but you owe it to yourself to go try and get the same price as online, with a warranty.
I took 25% off my last purchase just by asking - and that was my first offer.
What watch did you buy and how much did you pay for it? Then perhaps the inspired AF community can see whether the same deal exists online or not. Most dealers (brick or online) offer a warranty. Jomashop’s is for four years, if I recall correctly (feel free to check). While the quality of store warranties probably varies, manufacturer warranty service might not be that good either! There are many unsatisfactory stories of official repairs by Omega, Tag, or even JLC, which fortunately, I have not experienced first hand, but have overcome my initial skepticism to believe that they are true. Watch movements are nothing new, and third party servicers have decades of experience with many brands. Using a third party service provider for watches is no different from bringing your car for an oil change at a reputable third party garage.
Respectfully, I don’t know how points 1 and 3 are relevant to OP’s decision. Only a person of questionable judgment would consider watches to be positive value investments - watches are consumptive, vanity, jewelry objects and little more. If point 1 was intended to inspire sympathy for watch manufacturers (certainly, greater retail choice only helps consumers), that would be pointless - margins in the watch industry are (still) over 40% for luxury brands. Volumes are decreasing due to increasing disparities between technology and value - luxury watches have become more and more expensive, to levels unjustified by product improvements. Prices and volumes should decrease - the current levels come from a bubble of manufacturers’ own making. A decrease in profitability will not hurt the industry, but will force manufacturers to innovate and make their products more relevant to modern consumers.
It is true that prices “are not sticky”, but I am curious as to why you believe that online prices will be more sticky to the upside than physical store prices. High volume stores turn around inventory units every 2 or 3 weeks on average (I spoke to numerous of these while shopping). When liquidity is high, prices adjust quickly. I have been tracking prices for various watch models for some time. This is a habit that arises from my occupation (admittedly not watch trading, but financial asset trading), and I can assure you that tradable watch prices do change with time and circumstances.
The rest of your points could be relevant, but are just conjecture without numbers. A 25% discount is only useful information when we know the original asking price. I hope, for the sake of your argument, that the original price was not the suggested MSRP. I’m not taking the side of online retailers over physical stores. However, like in all retail businesses, businesses that conduct a large portion of sales online have less overhead than physical stores. Even the sales person who offers you the discount is overhead! Simple economics makes online stores more efficient. While there might be edge situations that could favor a physical store, these cannot be generalized. Overall, without hard statistics, I cannot accept your argument. Please remind yourself that the choice is not between a single retail store and a single online store, but between a single retail store and *all online stores*, since as I mentioned earlier, it is effortless to browse inventory of countless online stores at once, while it is time consuming to visit retail locations.
Just so I won’t be accused of bias, there are some reasons why someone might prefer a retail store. The most important reason would be if you need more information on a particular watch, want to try it on in person, or require an expert to explain its features. Sometimes, you do not want to be “that guy” who tries out all the watches at the Omega boutique, only to order them online from Bob’s Watches (which is actually a real, reputable store - I bought a Rolex from them once). Some physical stores have great reputations for service, and offer compelling prices. However, I should again mention that the stores with the largest selection tend to also run online businesses that give you access to the same inventory. Local shopping also means you can’t avoid “deferring” the sales tax.
Perhaps I have misunderstood some of your briefly stated points. As they are though, most would agree that some exposition would be useful in clarifying your true argument.
watch analysis ain’t no joke at AF
Omega Speedmaster Professional. List price 5650 CAD
- Internet retailers hurt brick and mortar stores. They have sales quotas. It is in their interests to negotiate for a sale. I think you may have misinterpreted the meaning of my line of questioning. I have also said many times on this forum and others that watches should never be considered as investments.
Prices are sticky at the Rolex level. Demand is more resilient and they do not have to sell so as to protect their brand. Try as they may Omega does not command the same level of stickiness - they are trying to stop deals such as mine by setting up boutiques where little-to-no negotiations can take place, and by constraining the supplies so that third parties cannot service their pieces, and by shutting down Authorized Dealers. You can find a lot of deals in this watch bracket by looking for “exit” sales. At the TAG and less liquid brands, prices do have a floor because of the tiering/build specs hierarchy.
I am not sure why you think I said anything about prices being sticky at stores vs online. By price level, I mean this tier of watches.
As I said in my post above, there is nothing to lose by going into a brick and mortar store and trying to get the same price as an online retailer. You have absolutely nothing to lose by the time it takes. That was my point. I’m not sure where everything else came from, though thoughtfully written.
Of course I agree here. There is value to some for trying it on, having a store be somewhat accountable for your purchase, the official warranty though reviews could be mixed, and even the experience of buying it from a store. Not that all these things appear at all watch tiers. However, I for one did not want to pay 5k to an online cross border transaction which is why I was very happy to deal with an AD. You cannot escape taxes in Canada and the 20% duty would have been very painful to risk. I also did not want to pay the 1USD:1.30CAD exchange rate nor want a grey market piece that would be shunned by the Official service centre. Not that I plan to use them, but 40 years down the line they may be the only source of parts.
If your primary purpose is to acquire the piece at best execution, then internet dealers are the obvious choice, but I reiterate that it never hurts to walk into a store and see if they can match that offer, because odds are they can try to get close (if you’re being somewhat reasonable in your pricing).
Apologies for my brevity, I was on the can in true AF fasshion. Watchuseek has also jaded me. Do you frequent that site?
^ Holy wall of text. Good info though.
OP, of the two watches, go with the Tag. I’m no Tag fan but that Longines has nothing going for it, IMO.
As for negotiating with a dealer, everything is able to be negotiated. I bought my current car from a “no hassle, no haggle” dealer. I haggled on the price.
My Rollie, I bought found it on ebay for a reasonable price and it happened to be local, so I sent the guy a message and offered to buy it for his list price in cash, minus the ebay and paypal commissions (effing BS), contingent on an authenticity check at a local jeweler of my choice. Best part is as we finished he said if you ever decide to sell it, call me, I love this watch. Nearly 4 years later I have yet to take him up on that offer. I admit it’s completely irrational, but I fucking love that watch.
For mk17, I realized I had this pic from taunting an ex-coworker that loved it but is too much of a cheapskate to move on from his Timex, even though I know he wants to.
Edit: I have no clue how to add images, but just click on the link. For some reason AF doesn’t support BBcode which literally every other forum I use supports. come on! It’s so easy. Ugh. Off to the feedback forum…
https://c7.staticflickr.com/9/8596/28801318422_ab9e4f74e3_c.jpg
Thanks for all the feedback. I am leaning toward the TAG, based on aesthetics. Youtube videos show the Longines looking very good on-wrist, though.
Click the picture button to the left of the smiley face and you should be able to link it just by sticking the URL in.
Love the Hulk - definitely getting one of those down the line.
Official service centres will not shun you if its an authentic piece. if its fake then they cant help you.
also if you have a good relationship with a private jewelr/watch fixer then you can save a boatload on repairs and service. however its tough to find a guy like that.
there are a few on uws and other forums that ppl have great reviews from. if i ever have an issue with my new omega i will def get a quote from one of the guys on there (archer - omega certified watch maker)
archer is solid - in the same province so he’s my go to.
The grey market pieces usually have the serial numbers scratched off - this prevents Omega from finding out the AD or where the seller sourced it from. They’ve been cracking down on servicing these pieces for the past year from what I’ve heard. Just a preference for me, there are workarounds everything.
only fake pieces have the sn scratched off. most online places (jomashop, amazon, etc) sell real pieces that they buy from other ADs. if you ever receive a piece from one of those places with a scratched out sn, return it immediately as its most likely a fake.
and youre right, the mfgr wont repair your watch if the sn is missing or scratched off.
Perhaps this is a stupid question, but why would fakes have the SN scratched off? I could see scratching the SN off a stolen watch, but why a fake? Is the seller trying to make you believe it’s stolen and that’s why it’s so cheap?
How about a Fitbit? It not only tells time, but also how lazy you are.
Submariner or hacksaw