Is anyone else on a wait list?

So, in order to prove to them you’re not a flipper, they want you to help them flip their stock?

Get off the treadmill.

Yes, you alone cannot change this, but thousands of us individually making the choice to all not spend our money how they want us to can.

Its our only recourse.

Take back control of your life.

Without controlling how much product you get, what would you do if it were your business? How would you take care of your most valuable and loyal clients? I am fairly certain, you would do the same thing, otherwise you would not be in business very long.

Have you checked with other ADs?

Will never be on a wait-list, life is too short 👍

Being asked to buy jewelry be like….

Do you really think the “mystique” would be gone if they sold on a first come first serve basis? Even with a “shortage” of product?

It's a retail store. First come, first serve.

You walk into the store, whoever you are and if the watch is for sale and you have the money, you buy it. If you need to order it, you place a deposit and wait. If you back out, you loose a portion of your deposit to cover overheads. The watch is then offered to the person next in line.

It's not hard.

Yes. Same story.

Don't be deterred. All ADs are different of course but I never bought anything I didn't want and I didn't wait long the one time I had to wait.

I want this calculator watch! 😂

Mystique? No, any additional sales? Yes. These places need halo products to help sell other items. In a market where your supply is a fraction of the demand, one has to be selective how they distribute it. As a store, would you rather give it first come first serve to someone that does zero additional business with you? Or, do you reward your clients who come back time after time, buying birthday, anniversary, holiday gifts directly with you? If not for that model, as has proven countless times, many of these places would fold.

Another thing most folks do not account for (nevermind care about) is the fact that ADs do not get control of allocation and models. They historically get stuck with models no one wants. If you have a client willing to take one of them off their hands, yes, they will be rewarded for helping the AD.

Again, if given the company, the access to a high demand product, I do not know anyone who would do it any differently.

See my note above, it is not late easy. You’d be out of business before the end of your contract. This model exists in literally every luxury market where demand exceeds expectation. You take care of the clients that take care of you.

No watch is worth this for me.

It's a watch not a Picasso. Watches don't have "mystique". If the watch is in demand, you order one, place a deposit and if you back out you loose a percentage of your deposit to cover overheads and the next in line gets the watch. Same goes for low run production models. Showing preference for valued customers creates an obvious divide in classes. Why should a person who has saved for 10 years be treated any differently than a millionaire trust fund baby?

Screw that noise

Where I am from, its almost an expectation that you have to buy other pieces from them before you can get on the list. When I do decide to buy one, I will just get it from the grey market. I must be flipping off my mind to "build a rlship" (aka buy other watches I don't need).

I see nothing wrong with a store "reserving" highly sought after, tough to acquire pieces for their loyal customers.

The waiting part doesn't bother me at all. Heck, you wait if you want in-demand microbrands. I appreciate feedback from all the folks on the forum on Rolex (such different experiences purchasing, it's interesting). For me, a vintage no-date sub has the look I like, but after looking at WRUW everyday, I realized Tudor offers that vibe and you can actually walk in and buy them.

I was trying to try on a BB54 on the day I registered for the Explorer. Got to try on four different Explorers. Not a single store in the whole city even had a BB54 at all, not even s display model. So I do think buying a Tudor is easier, when they've been on the market for a while, but the new models are a real pain to get as well...

That's interesting...luckily I've had the chance to get everything I'm interested on the wrist (especially the black BB chrono) but I wasn't looking at them a year ago when it is my understanding they were scarce

yeah it was very strange and did annoy me at the end. Tudor built a new factory and has been making Black Bays for 10 years, but they can't estimate which amounts a new model will sell? As I understood it, they just even openend a bigger factory to be able to produce more watches 😬

Sigh. The reason I’d own a piece of beautiful, amazingly built piece of machinery is because it is an expression of quality and fineness, not because everyone else wants one. So I’ll let everyone else stand in line.

Would I own a Rolex? Of course I would. But there are so many other horological wonders to enjoy, as well.

This has been a very interesting read. I understand the business side of it and I tip my hat to the successful ADs. It’s not a game I want to play in bec there’s an ick in the whole practice.

I don’t mind being put on a waitlist, that happens everywhere but having to buy other stuff than what you came in for definitely feels sleazy - and given the reactions of everyone here, the ick feeling seems universal. I am not confident this will change in our lifetimes but hey if any generation can do it, it’s probably the Gen Z’ers as they have shown they’re willing to shake things up if the status quo is not ideal.

Special thanks to the insightful posts by @AllTheWatches @Novice99 @timepiece.pete 🍻

How is this still a thing. There is a world of watches that don’t put you in uncomfortable situations. Sorry to think it’s sad we are still talking about this.

GPS is not Global Positioning System to me it’s Go Pound Sand :)

Never

Ebay doesn't have a waiting list my friend,just sit by the door waiting for the post or curtain twitching 🙄😂🤣

I was on my way to pick up my new Zenith Chronomaster Sport with a blue dial in Toronto’s Yorkville shopping district, passed by a new Rolex only boutique that is massive for such a high rent area, no shoppers and obviously no watches available for sale to the average customer strolling by( I have been told the boutique receives 60 watches a week, mostly spoken for or ready to be offered to some regular clients), a bit further along I passed by a small boutique offering new grey market high demand watches in a comfortable setting. A young man on his way to pick up lunch left the warmth of his shop decided to engage me in polite conversation about the shop which is usually still closed when I pass by early mornings. Presentable, affable, definitely sociable we chatted a few moments outside about the merchandise in his parents’ business. He quoted me the grey market asking prices for popular Rolex watches, very marked up! He was wearing a new Hublot watch asked to see what I was wearing if I didn’t object? Lol, not wearing a watch in anticipation of picking up my new Zenith. He informed me that after the new Rolex boutique opened nearby, they were offered more new watches from flippers than they can reasonably accept. The future is not my mine to prefict but I do not anticipate a more pacific path for the hopeful Rolex customer here in Toronto who wants to buy one without spend history at an ad. Obviously the situation might be quite different if the customer resides in a community where the watch buying segment of the population is not so Rolex affected.

I don't go on waitlists for anything - not watches, not allocated whiskey, not roach-looking EVs, nothing. Btw writing this from outside the bathroom after my wife told me to wait my turn