DO IT: When to Pay Full Price on Watches 

Good advice. I was taught a long time to value my time at an hourly rate 2 or 3x what I make; so 💯 wasting 20 hrs searching for a $50 cheaper piece is ridiculous.

I don't mind paying more to buy from somebody I trust

Totally agree. I just paid retail for Atelier Wen and no regrets. Looking forward to it arriving.

Great advice John P. Thank you!

6) A special gift. My wife wanted the watch she gave me for our anniversary to be mine alone from day one. 7) To support a family business/be supported locally. I don't care about a trusted online reseller vs. the nearby Ben Bridge. But, we have two local family jewelers stocking Omega, Rolex, Tudor, Nomos, IWC, Hamilton, Bell & Ross, & others. In-person assistance and trying on watches sure seems to matter to all the other people buying there.

when i got the call from the Rolex AD i knew i was paying retail. i'm sure if i had asked for a discount the answer would be they would just call the next person on the list right in front of me. lol!

New releases of a particular model. I just bought a Tudor BB Burgundy bezel , the METAS one at full retail from my local AD. It’s not Rolex level waitlist but they’re tricking in slow enough to command full price u

Well it depends. If I take a look at my collection, I have bought really few RRP. I mean, an Atowak or a Baltic or a Studio Underdog doesn't break my bank account, but looking at the Luminor I bought as a first (serious) watch 25 years ago, well it's another game. During this years my collection grew, always headed to the secondary market, because of the good deals possible. I don't mind if the watch is not new, to me the most important thing is to have the possibility to enjoy it, so nothing wrong in saving money by my side.

Thanks John.i have been watching you for 6years.I shall be calling you for best price/ condition. Thanks❤

I actually almost buy Rolex exclusively at retail only because I am broke and don’t want to lose a lot of money in this hobby. I can’t afford to waste money so I’d rather buy a more expensive watch I know I could get out of if I had to for what I paid or close to it than take a 50% loss on a 2-3k watch

I totally agree. All good points.

Paying retail is my absolute limit. Love paying less.

Agree with most of your points but some affordables are being heavily discounted under present circumstances. I recently bought a $1K Seiko with a 35% discount. The AD seller threw in a $300 RRP fountain pen. That's a lot more than $10 and worth having in my opinion.

I recall this channel or another saying retailers mark up their watches 30%. So I tested this and offered to pay about 20% below retail for a watch at an AD. They immediately accepted. Now this wasn't a Rolex of course, but it was a Swiss watch that retailed for $3000 and I offered $2500. And they didn't have it in stock but had to order from the manufacturer so they had no sunk or carrying cost in the watch.

Do IWC AD's offer discounts? I always heard, a very long time ago, that IWC didn't discount much, any thoughts?

You make good points. Rolex is one I would pay retail for, there are too many fakes out there, I would only trust a Rolex from Auth. Dealer.

Building a relationship with an honest AD is more valuable than haggling over a few bucks.

Wasted few mins of my life watching the video

i just bought limited edition from 1700 gbp to 1250 "g shock" :D 26% off happy a lot