No Stock, Waitlist, PreOrder? No Deal

I totally agree 👍

Well out of stock isn’t necessarily a bad thing. You have to remember, a lot of these microbrands are 1 or 2 people. They can only have so many watches made at a time. Even in Chinese factories, I’m sure they’re working on other brands, too, so it’s not like out of stock is a bad thing. In that case, putting my email down isn’t a big deal because I know production can be limited.

Supply chains are still broken. Demand is settling somewhat but it's still up. Knowing which watch is going to be a huge hit in this weird influencer new world of ours is impossible.

Glad you found a micro brand. Spinnaker is a good brand. I own a couple.

I will search the internet if it's out of stock. When I find a watch I like it's about the hunt. We all have our policies regarding watch purchases.

Enjoy your watch!

Cheers

Of course secondary market is the move.

Microbrand preorders (without payment!) are completely legit. I'll put my email down for an out-of-stock micro I want as well, when that occurs.

I think it depends on whether the intention is to create false scarcity or protect their overhead risk. I know Lorier will sometimes run out of stock, but I get the impression this is more due to them not wanting to lay out a bunch of cash on watches they may not necessarily sell. Yes, inconvenient for us, but understandable and I'm happy to wait a little so they can continue doing what they do.

But Rolex can go suck an egg.

As with anything in my "make do" brain, it kind of depends.

Is the purchase for a timed occasion? Then yes, I will do the same. Same for if the brand is notorious for purchase difficulty (coughTimefactorscough).

If it's just because I want the watch, well, I relax the rules a bit. Maybe it's OK for me to wait just a little longer.

Sod that, I won't wait for a bog to be empty if I'm busting !! 😅

Nope, never wait for anything ( but Omega thought different & waiting for it to come back from service was agonising 😢😂)

I haven't bought retail or brand new in a long time. If I did, it won't be on a waitlist or pre-order. Out of stock is a bit different. If I really want the watch I'll wait for stock. But I won't put myself on a list or pay in advance.

LOL!

Well said but I'm not waiting. The problem is also that if you don't wait or line up and a certain time on a certain date viz. timefactors, then you don't even get a chance to own the watch. In these cases the secondary market must be relied upon, sometimes at scalper rates.

I hate it, and it seems to be a growing trend. If your advertising a watch then have it in stock and sell it, or don't put it on your website. I have emailed a few companies now and told them that. It wont make any difference I am sure other than for 2 mins I feel better.

I work in procurement although not in the watch industry. I can understand when you start off you may not be able to anticipate demand correctly & that there may stortages & long lead times in the supply chain. However after you've been in business for a couple of years you should be able to maintain stock levels correctly. Brands like Lorier for example have been around for a while now, yet their popular watches are frequently out of stock. It's either incompetence or a deliberate policy at this point to me!

I also refuse to buy anything that isn't available for delivery. No pre ordering or waiting list. I did try and buy a Smiths Everest but failed. I won't be trying again.

I've posted about this before too, but over the last year there hasn't been a single watch that I wanted which was available to me. It started with my local jewellers (and only game in town) no longer carrying Seiko after I'd asked them to hold a specific King Samurai for me (which they returned to their central hub), then the Useless Afternoon watch was always out of stock unless I go to their shop in London, the Spinnaker ghost watch was never going to happen for me, nor any new boutique-only Swatch, and I can forget about Rolex entirely.

That's why I have to order from AliExpress, eBay, and Amazon - and basically buy a load of cheapies - because even though I have the money to buy something better, no one will allow me to spend that money on one of their watches.

Jep, if the local don t want to sell the watch to me i ll get it or another one on another place

SPINNAKER IS NOT A MICROBRAND. They are one of at least 13 separate watch brands all owned by a company called Dartmouth Brands. Other watch brands owned by Dartmouth include AVI-8, Thomas Ernshaw, Duxot, RGMT, and Dufa.

Darmouth Brands has it's office address in England. It's two principal officers, Notan and Vishal Tolani, who are both of British nationality, are both residents of Hong Kong.

Agree 💯

I am more excepting when a micro brand is out of stock. I think micro brands compete with movement and parts manufacturers to fill orders. I want to root for the little guy more than the giants. At the same time, I wonder how many micro brands we have today will be gone in 5 years or ten 🤔. The movements are often generic Swiss or Japanese so no issues getting work done. It's just a wired feeling added to an obsession to buy a watch that's out of stock. John, I hope something I posted made sense

Everybody is playing this game in every industry!

The housing market, the car market, everything…..

I’m not falling for it! The other day, I saw on the news that Hyundai or Kia in Canada were telling people they had a car shortage and were taking massive deposits, only for the investigation to find out they were holding a huge lot of cars just sitting there to keep their prices and markup higher.

I went to Mini Cooper and the guy told me there was a door shortage….and I’d have to order one because the company stopped producing them for the year. I rolled my eyes and said “well, maybe now you guys can advertise yourselves as Mini Jeep Wranglers!” 😂🤣

At BMW, they told us “you have to order the car cause there is a leather shortage, it all comes from Ukraine.”

These people will say anything to rip you off…..and the watch companies…they’re no different!

I love watches, I love collecting, I’m an enthusiast…..but I’m not a dumbass….I’ll wait till the hype and BS dies down and they’ll come begging with sales and all when the music of the COVID greed aftermath stops.

I was very interested in the Lorier Astra, but they took ages from its announcement to actual availability - and even then they got so overwhelmed by demand that I would have been among those not getting the watch. By then I had already received my Wise Adamascus AD7 (which they claim is built to order) and it was sent from Thailand to Austria in a fortnight.

The only thing I preorder is future volumes of audiobook series. What annoys me is that publishers keep stopping to translate and/or produce audiobook versions of series I am into, even if the author keeps writing. But that's a rant for another forum...

I agree spinnaker isn't a micro brand. That said, you do get a ton of value with Spinnaker. I own a few and it's shocking what you get for the money.

Agreed John

It is just rude to mantain a "museum site" where everything is sold out and not put a buton for filter available/preorder/sold out/out of production on the page.

10 minutes lost in "museum sites"

I have to confess to checking in with the AD yesterday since I was shopping in the area anyway.

I registered my interest in August for a no-date Sub and was told yesterday in a friendly tone that I didn't need to feel like checking in or having a "deep" purchase history to receive a call "most likely later this year". It was all pretty chill with the associate being warm and transparent.

Both times I just happened to be near the AD so the effort expended has been minimal. I also went by the Omega Boutique and their wait lists are oftentimes gruesome and no longer strictly first come first served.

Despite that I think I'd still be okay waiting for a Snoopy but I do get that product shortages kill enthusiasm.

I don't feel the need to wait for anything, if I really want something I will turn to the secondary market.

Hiya John.

I was keen on Momentum’s Sea Quartz 30 (Magnum’s watch) but it was out of stock. I was prepared to wait. I suppose it depends in one’s desire for a specific watch. I’m glad I waited.

I'm sorry, all I see here is people acting like my two year old. Whatever happened to patience?

I want the thing and I want it now.

It's what my toddler says about his dinner every night, even though he can see that we're cooking it he doesn't want to wait for it to be ready.

If you can't wait for a bit to get a watch, the brand is probably better off without you. Maybe you should collect carrots or something.

I think you missed the point.

Whatever.