How to buy an expensive watch

[YS2003]

I am interested into a high end watches and want to learn the pricing scheme. Is it like that there is a retail price and an authorized dealer of a watch branch gives a certain discount off that published pricing? I don't want to be a sucker by paying a full price if there is a fair deal on those high end products.

[r6girl]

Do lots of research first. There is no pricing scheme consistent across all high-end manufacturers. There are some good watch forums out there - I've learned a lot on Chronocentric (http://www.chronocentric.com/contents/) and Timezone (http://www.timezone.com/). If you have a specific watch in mind, you can easily find information in forums on what people have paid for them, though actual pricing can still vary from region to region.

Knowing that discounts of several hundred dollars were easily attainable with only minor negotiatiaton on the watch I wanted to buy saved me a lot of money on my first major watch purchase.

[Abstract]

Recessions are always a good time to buy a watch. ;)


I don't really do anything other than compare prices between stores. If one store is willing to offer me a better price than other stores (most of whom will have similar prices), I'll buy from the cheapest seller. However, I probably won't buy from a salesperson who is unhelpful, or is too pushy. I got a watch as a gift recently, and when it was time to choose a store to buy the watch I wanted, I chose the store with the most helpful salesperson. The prices were within $50 anyway, so who cares.

[Scepticalscribe]

Do lots of research first. There is no pricing scheme consistent across all high-end manufacturers. There are some good watch forums out there - I've learned a lot on Chronocentric (http://www.chronocentric.com/contents/) and Timezone (http://www.timezone.com/). If you have a specific watch in mind, you can easily find information in forums on what people have paid for them, though actual pricing can still vary from region to region.

Knowing that discounts of several hundred dollars were easily attainable with only minor negotiatiaton on the watch I wanted to buy saved me a lot of money on my first major watch purchase.

Agree; you can't do enough research and negotiations re price are a lot easier than they might have been during the boom. Anecdotal evidence and personal experience bear this out - you should be able to persuade the vendor to offer a reduction in price, so I also agree with Abstract that recessions are a good time to buy such watches.

Moreover, I'd suggest that you give a very wide berth to eBay and similar outfits, as there are many stories online of fake high-end watches - some of them quite convincing - being sold online. Buy from a reputable dealer.

Cheers and good luck

[Trauma1]

If you live in the United States and plan on being in Europe get one there. Depending where you go, they are cheaper and you can get a nice VAT refund when you get back stateside.

[Consultant]

Keep in mind repair cost on some of these things are pretty high. Dropped a high priced watch and cracked the glass? For the one I have, $500 repair last time I checked.

I would invest in some undervalued stock.