How far will watch prices drop?

Discuss Christopher Ward watches
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H0rati0
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Re: How far will watch prices drop?

Post by H0rati0 »

watchaholic wrote: Fri Apr 10, 2020 3:02 am One possible indicator of a general slowdown of the industry as a whole might be the lack of new hits in my saved searches on several different websites/formats.
I have noticed this too and not just in the watch industry. I have also remarked some online items firmimg in price over the last six weeks, presumably people diverting themselves from lockdowns.
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Re: How far will watch prices drop?

Post by iain »

what-time-is-it wrote: Wed Apr 08, 2020 7:06 pm Watchfinder would be the last place I would be looking at if I was in a buying mood.

They've never done bargains as far as I know, something tells me they'll have a warehouse full of stock that'll be losing value daily.

Never used them myself, I'm sure they've looked after a few customers over the years but prices always are at the top end in my view.
I purchased, or rather did a trade deal with watch finder last year. Yes the prices look high, but they are more than happy to haggle.

I was originally offered my watch + £2,300 and it wasn’t hard to get that to my watch + £1,500 which was a price I was happy to pay. Yes I didn’t get a bargain, but the price was in line with what I could get elsewhere and took away the hassle of selling my watch privately.
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Re: How far will watch prices drop?

Post by tikkathree »

jtc wrote: Tue Apr 07, 2020 11:11 pm
Ian Mc wrote: Tue Apr 07, 2020 10:40 pm
Bungle-ator wrote: Tue Apr 07, 2020 9:32 pm

I wouldn't worry about that unless you're retiring soon.
Similar drop for me. I was planning on retiring this summer, it may be delayed now.
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Re: How far will watch prices drop?

Post by jtwjtw »

Wait ‘til your gas or electric bill comes in what with all this bloody hand washing. lol
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Re: How far will watch prices drop?

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jtwjtw wrote: Sat Apr 11, 2020 12:18 pm Wait ‘til your gas or electric bill comes in what with all this bloody hand washing. lol
My water bill :grumble:
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Re: How far will watch prices drop?

Post by MarkingTime »

H0rati0 wrote: Wed Apr 08, 2020 12:09 am I think that prices will outwardly remain more or less untouched, but negotiation backed by hard cash will be fruitful. I also think that now is not yet the time in general ( a few liquidity starved dealers may be desperate already) the real pain is going to come towards autumn. I counsel patience.
This is the most likely outcome.
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Re: How far will watch prices drop?

Post by heffergm »

I haven't seen prices move anywhere as yet. Good indicators are pieces that trade over retail, like the Tudor BB 58. No one has moved on advertised prices that I can find. Ebay prices continue to be astronomically ridiculous, Chrono24 more reasonably so, but still well over retail.

I think what you'll see is the odd sale here or there at very low money because they need to get out of it asap, but I think generally people are going to try to hold on and hope things correct sooner rather than later.
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Re: How far will watch prices drop?

Post by Vicious49 »

heffergm wrote: Sun Apr 12, 2020 12:43 am I haven't seen prices move anywhere as yet. Good indicators are pieces that trade over retail, like the Tudor BB 58. No one has moved on advertised prices that I can find. Ebay prices continue to be astronomically ridiculous, Chrono24 more reasonably so, but still well over retail.

I think what you'll see is the odd sale here or there at very low money because they need to get out of it asap, but I think generally people are going to try to hold on and hope things correct sooner rather than later.
This is the same thing I'm seeing. Perhaps the occasional bargain but overall prices are holding pretty steady.
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Re: How far will watch prices drop?

Post by Wiggles »

Thegreyman wrote: Tue Apr 07, 2020 8:07 pm I just wondered what your opinions were on what the current crisis will do to watch prices.

The obvious answer is that it will have a downward impact, but to what extent. Personally I'm not planning to make any significant future watch purchases until the impact on my job and the wider economy is known (although I did put a deposit down for a comparatively modest but LE watch before this started, so I need to decide whether to go through with that in May). So with many other people likely to be of a similar mindset, you can see a lot of high street AD's with Longines, Oris, Tudor etc more willing to discuss a discount than ever, maybe Omega, Breitling and other "high end" brands too.

Even the prodigious Rolex looks to have already fallen. A new, unworn BLNR latest model can be had for £11,495 from a UK dealer on Chrono24, the current Pepsi £13,750. Both of these seem a few £k lower than the last time I looked. So maybe a Rolex AD will give you the time of day and get you on "the list" the next time you pop in for a chat :shock:
Recently tried selling a few watches on eBay. OK, not very expensive ones, but watches that would normally sell very quickly at the right price. Not much luck at all. It's like the whole world has stopped doing anything. I can see luxury watch prices dropping quite considerably, as just about everything else will, especially houses
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Re: How far will watch prices drop?

Post by what-time-is-it »

It will be interesting to see whether Tudor temporarily allow orders to be fulfilled online. Lots of UK dealers clearing out stock and discounting some Bremont, Omega, Zenith, Tag and Breitling watches at 30%+ off whilst their premises remain closed. AD's who have lots of Tudor stock can't currently sell them, as the sale must be made face to face...

They'll either change nothing
Allow selling online for a couple of months
Support the AD's with incentives to carry stock
Wait until stores re-open and have a special Tudor sale

Not in the market for anything specifically but only selling face to face in the current environment means Rolex & Tudor are selling no watches, whereas the majority of other brands are still shifting some stock.
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Re: How far will watch prices drop?

Post by Andy_f »

MarkingTime wrote: Sat Apr 11, 2020 6:37 pm
H0rati0 wrote: Wed Apr 08, 2020 12:09 am I think that prices will outwardly remain more or less untouched, but negotiation backed by hard cash will be fruitful. I also think that now is not yet the time in general ( a few liquidity starved dealers may be desperate already) the real pain is going to come towards autumn. I counsel patience.
This is the most likely outcome.
Might be a while before we see prices drop in the shops and big online retailers, so autumn onward seems plausible to me. However, I'm expecting to see drops from private and smaller sellers as soon as the lockdown ends. Think about all the used watches on eBay that people can't sell and post out at the moment. This is going to cause more supply than demand which in turn should drive the prices down.
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Re: How far will watch prices drop?

Post by nbg »

what-time-is-it wrote: Fri Apr 17, 2020 11:12 am It will be interesting to see whether Tudor temporarily allow orders to be fulfilled online. Lots of UK dealers clearing out stock and discounting some Bremont, Omega, Zenith, Tag and Breitling watches at 30%+ off whilst their premises remain closed. AD's who have lots of Tudor stock can't currently sell them, as the sale must be made face to face...

They'll either change nothing
Allow selling online for a couple of months
Support the AD's with incentives to carry stock
Wait until stores re-open and have a special Tudor sale

Not in the market for anything specifically but only selling face to face in the current environment means Rolex & Tudor are selling no watches, whereas the majority of other brands are still shifting some stock.
Indeed, after all even some PP ADs have been given permission to sell online.

Rolex and Tudor probably have a strong enough financial position to ride this out. Unfortunately the same is unlikely to be the case for some of their ADs.

Or for that matter many well known brands. I wouldn’t buy a new watch from any of the brands you mentioned who are currently discounting at about 30%. If I was interested I would wait a few months until the discounts reach nearer 50%.

Neil
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Re: How far will watch prices drop?

Post by watchaholic »

Someone is still buying. Thought I would give this a little more time before making an offer, and somebody beat me to it. :(
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Re: How far will watch prices drop?

Post by Bungle-ator »

:D
what-time-is-it wrote: Fri Apr 17, 2020 11:12 am It will be interesting to see whether Tudor temporarily allow orders to be fulfilled online. Lots of UK dealers clearing out stock and discounting some Bremont, Omega, Zenith, Tag and Breitling watches at 30%+ off whilst their premises remain closed. AD's who have lots of Tudor stock can't currently sell them, as the sale must be made face to face...

They'll either change nothing
Allow selling online for a couple of months
Support the AD's with incentives to carry stock
Wait until stores re-open and have a special Tudor sale

Not in the market for anything specifically but only selling face to face in the current environment means Rolex & Tudor are selling no watches, whereas the majority of other brands are still shifting some stock.
Rolex are now selling through WOS group by telephone. AD managers are calling those on waiting lists (and no doubt anyone they have details of that they think they might be able to sell to) to offer watches based on an allocation they're about to receive. The actual sales are to be done by a link sent by email with the full purchase price to be paid upfront. The allocated watches will be held in a vault at their head office until stores can open and the customer can go to their local store to collect and have the watch sized etc.
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Re: How far will watch prices drop?

Post by nbg »

^^^^^ I.e. they are continuing to sell Rolex by face to face only. All they are doing is taking a 100% deposit from folk “on the list”#.

Somehow I have a feeling they will be plumbing the depths of the list, with some getting phone calls for models they would not be “getting the call”# for in normal times!

Neil

NB: # Apologies for using the BS terminology of “on the list” and “getting the call”, words I tend not to use. Still at least I have avoided the more pretentious “my AD” BS! :silent:
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