Rolex pre owned program
so Rolex announced today on their site that they will be procuring preowned Rolex‘s and selling them via certified preowned Rolex by Rolex.
Is this Rolexes chance to get in on the gray market extreme pricing system where a preowned Rolex is going for three or four times the stated price or going price?
Or can this be Rolex’s chance to vindicate themselves and by creating this pre owned program they will keep pricing as per normal in other words DECENT PRICE FOR A USED ROLEX?
Hair
61 comments
Sort by
Hair
I’ve been a watch but for about 55 years. Received my first watch at 8 years old, a Timex mechanical watch with a plastic bezel. I loved it so much!
Belleville Ontario Canada
Member since
Last active: 1 year ago
If prices are decent and thats a big if the gray market will go down big time
Could be an effort to get products to consumers since they can’t keep up with the manufacturing demand.
A brand new, no-date Sub lists at $8,950 and a certified pre-owned no-date sub sells for $18,134 from Bucherer which, to my knowledge, is the only place you can currently buy "certified" Rolexes. You'll still get mightily screwed if you don't want to wait 14 years for a Sub. So no, Rolex isn't putting things right.
I can imagine watch "investors" swallowing up the Rolex certified pre-owned inventory and selling them back in the grey market for an even higher premium. Only this time Rolex gets a cut of the grey market cashflow.
And pray tell, how are Rolex supposed to get these pre-owned watches?
Why would anyone sell or trade in a watch to Rolex when they can get more by selling them directly on the second hand market?
Adrian with the bark and jack angle:
https://youtu.be/II9Hdh9cBes
Rolex still has to compete for those used watches against the dealers and flippers. The only watches they will get are trade ins as the flippers will still be buying.
And pray tell, how are Rolex supposed to get these pre-owned watches?
Why would anyone sell or trade in a watch to Rolex when they can get more by selling them directly on the second hand market?
Same thought I had in mind. I'm afraid the business model might be doomed from inception. 😔
Or this could be a signal that the bottom has fallen out of the pre-owned Rolex market and that Rolex plans to be the buyer of last resort for all the excessive Rolex inventory that is sitting in the hands of dealers across the globe. Those dealers will need to get cashflow as the global economy does a black swandive. Rolex with its massive cash hoard will bail those dealers out at a below market price and then resell those watches to its existing customer base.
That's my assessment of what is happening.
If I had to hazard a guess, I would guess that more dealers own Rolexes than collectors and there is a surplus of Rolexes sitting there waiting to be sold. Let's face it, you can purchase almost any Rolex any day of the week as long as you are willing to pay the price. That cannot be said about a number of other desirable watches.
I heard rumours of this a few months ago. I was hoping they would remain as rumours because this is bad news for normal customers.
Rolex will have to start a lease program like the car companies:
Lease a Rolex for the bargain price of $1000 a month for the next 3 years (4,000 wrist hours per year - total 12,000 wrist hours. Any additional hours will be charged at $2 an hour.)
Then Rolex can collect back the leased watches as the "previously loved watches" and start their certified used program.
Or this could be a signal that the bottom has fallen out of the pre-owned Rolex market and that Rolex plans to be the buyer of last resort for all the excessive Rolex inventory that is sitting in the hands of dealers across the globe. Those dealers will need to get cashflow as the global economy does a black swandive. Rolex with its massive cash hoard will bail those dealers out at a below market price and then resell those watches to its existing customer base.
That's my assessment of what is happening.
If I had to hazard a guess, I would guess that more dealers own Rolexes than collectors and there is a surplus of Rolexes sitting there waiting to be sold. Let's face it, you can purchase almost any Rolex any day of the week as long as you are willing to pay the price. That cannot be said about a number of other desirable watches.
I hadn't thought of it that way, but there is sense to what you are saying.
I had been thinking it was Rolex looking at ways to cool the value of its watches on the secondary market. Allow ADs to sell used Rolex watches under current market value, but with a "certified" tag to make it more desirable to non-flippers/"investors".
I think Rolex doesn't want pre-owned prices to crash, as it would damage their reputation and sales of new models. So, it makes sense for them to work to cool prices, or shore-up the prices if they fall too far/fast.
@Catskinner If ADs wanted to incentivize trades, they could make trading an older model a prerequisite for getting a desirable current model. Want a Pepsi GMT Master? Trade in your older Sub or DJ. The Sub/DJ goes to Rolex for certification, then gets sold to someone who would otherwise have bought an Omega or GS instead.
I hadn't thought of it that way, but there is sense to what you are saying.
I had been thinking it was Rolex looking at ways to cool the value of its watches on the secondary market. Allow ADs to sell used Rolex watches under current market value, but with a "certified" tag to make it more desirable to non-flippers/"investors".
I think Rolex doesn't want pre-owned prices to crash, as it would damage their reputation and sales of new models. So, it makes sense for them to work to cool prices, or shore-up the prices if they fall too far/fast.
@Catskinner If ADs wanted to incentivize trades, they could make trading an older model a prerequisite for getting a desirable current model. Want a Pepsi GMT Master? Trade in your older Sub or DJ. The Sub/DJ goes to Rolex for certification, then gets sold to someone who would otherwise have bought an Omega or GS instead.
I really don't see how you can make this work.
a point that occurred to me - what about people wanting to trade in dross like lady datejusts they purchased to move up the preferred customer ladder? I mean watchbox/watchfinder would just say no but can Rolex turn its nose up at its own product? Can they give shitty "go away" prices for it knowing that's going to drag rolex prices down?
I could see mountains of 32/34 mm stuff turning up at dealers the day after this goes live
A brand new, no-date Sub lists at $8,950 and a certified pre-owned no-date sub sells for $18,134 from Bucherer which, to my knowledge, is the only place you can currently buy "certified" Rolexes. You'll still get mightily screwed if you don't want to wait 14 years for a Sub. So no, Rolex isn't putting things right.
When I saw this I rubbed my eyes out but the price stayed the same... It's ridiculous that a brand sells their own used standard models at such an insane premium. Really weird to see. I also wonder what exactly they do with that huge revenue -> if they finally invest it in new factories and in 3 years we can all get our dream watches again I'm a bit less mad but I don't think that's what's happening unfortunately.
I've not paid too much attention to grey market pricing, but damn those are expensive.
$23k for a Batman doesn't seem designed to aggressively reign in the grey market. Seems about even with a lot of the Chrono24 listings.
(although I'm intrigued by the one that is randomly $95k). :-)
Well, I can't see where they would price a refurbished watch higher than their retail price for the same model. I can see them having some type of plan to offer to take in used Rolexes towards a new one ala what car dealerships do... maybe. Then again it may simply drive up the cost of a used refurbished Rolex because I can see where with Rolexes buying power they can make a lot of these models unavailable in the gray market by depleting they're availability. I can't really blame them because that's what I routinely do. I find the best used quality Rolex at the best deal I can find and then I send them to Rolex in New York to have them refurbished and sell them for profit. I do know that apparently Rolex is going to spend a billion dollars for a new headquarters in Switzerland and a new facility in New York. Not sure if there's a correlation.
The auto market has lots of experience with this. I bought a certified pre owned Lexus. It was a 2020 model. But here's the thing. It was still less than the MSRP for a new model.
The only point for me of certified was that the car had been checked over. There was a good warranty. But if it cost more than new, then I would simply but the new model!
The only possible advantage for Rolex is lack of a wait list. But how is this different from the current used market? So someone would have to be willing to pay over MSRP, plus an additional premium for the certification. That's got to be a very small market.
There are so many ways this can go, but only time will tell. I'm wondering if Timex will start this pre-owned option and sell their $199 Marlin's for $201.50. Time will tell.
I've seen on line photos... 19k Euros for a no date sub. Rolex look like they are going to be way higher than the usual Grey market prices. The question is... will the grey market dealers raise their prices in response - just because they can?
Now it's being reported that models offer older 1987 do not qualify. That makes sense to avoid Frankenstein watches. But also limits the market. I don't see this being a sea change for the secondary market.
Omega is looking good.
A couple have already hit on this but, Rolex is only certifying the watch and offering a warranty.
I know we say this a million times, but it is worth repeating: Rolex does not sell you, nor will they be buying your watches. That is what ADs are for and ADs are not owned by Rolex. This is being driven by ADs, most of which have been selling used Rolex’s for years, largely with in house warranties. This helps create a consistent process for all of them.
Pros:
Cons
Omega is looking good.
I second that motion.
All I can think about is what would happen once the crafty Chinese fake artists got their hands on one of those tags.
Oh dear lord we're gonna get inundated with super-grade fakes.
Dear Lord perish the thought TalkingDugong!
One more interesting piece , is how is Tudor affected by this Rolex hub bub? Tudor being a Rolex sub brand still has moderately priced watches for the ”CHILDREN OF A LESSER ROLEX”.
Pure greed, another revenue stream for Rolex & ADs
Yeah, no thanks 😂
It's been a whirl eh? Here's what I think so far.