http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Genuine-L...26043091?var=540770989826&hash=item4d3673d6d3
For some reason the same seller has two eBay accounts: lnkoo888 and lnkoo999. 999 ships to the UK and other places 888 doesn't.
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Apple are charging an extra £347 for a strap?
- Thread starter Xandros
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For some reason the same seller has two eBay accounts: lnkoo888 and lnkoo999. 999 ships to the UK and other places 888 doesn't.
Be sure to read the "non OEM bands" thread in the Apple Watch accessory sub forum where you can see some nice pics of the "reasonably priced" knock off bands failing already in less then a month.
Apple is selling known, guaranteed quality. That costs money. They are reasonably priced by the standards of other quality watchbands.
It was in context, he just didn't quote me when he decided to be a prick by making a snide remark about my post.
They are not reasonably priced. They are hugely overpriced, and aimed at gullible "brand" snobs.
High pricing can be argued for an imac, an ipad or an iphone because these products are generally better quality than their non-apple counterparts.
But please...a watch strap ?
I've got a blue one and it's great for the money. The bits connecting to the watch don't fit absolutely perfectly, but other than that it's a pretty good clone.
I don't think I'll say anything to convince you, but handling, wearing and seeing the Apple link bracelet I immediately got a sense of the caliber of machining and fit that goes into each of these links and into the bracelet as a whole. It may be silly expensive, but you're getting a really, really well built product as a result of what you pay. If you're ever near an Apple store, stop by and ask to try on the link bracelet and use that experience to look at and feel it first hand. I think you might be impressed (I was for sure).
(And ^ being said, I totally know that Apple has a sizable profit margin in their pricing of anything they sell... I don't fault them for that. It is a corporation and its doing exactly what it should be doing, producing and selling items to customers and making a profit to meet shareholder expectations... people hate on Apple because they do this exceptionally well, but that's akin to hating Alexander Graham Bell [inventor of the telephone] because we get telemarketing calls today)
I agree that the link bracelet is very well designed and manufactured. It is the other bands that are priced in la-la land.
The link bracelet may also be priced in la-la land relative to other comparably engineered bands in the world, but I do not have a frame of reference. In my opinion, the band is over-engineered and not worth $450 to me. However, I found an exceptionally well-made, similarly styled SS band for $100. It looks great and is worth it to me at a fraction of the cost.
The general problem I see in all the bands is that I regard them as throw-away items. Unlike a band for a traditional watch that you might wear for many years, the AW bands will likely see a couple years of service before Apple changes the physical interface. Since I plan to upgrade my watch with every new release, my bands are only going to last until the case changes. I am not anticipating that the bands will have any material value in the used market.
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Yes, I shall go for blue too.
I got a nice red leather one on Amazon
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00ZZFL9LE?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00
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A quick point of comparison: For one $3,000 luxury watch, an Authorized Dealer charges about $900 for the bracelet alone (i.e. you broke the bracelet that came with it and need to replace it). This price is overpriced in my opinion--$600 is probably more reasonable.
Comparing it against the Link bracelet, quality-wise, I'd say the Link bracelet is on par. The Link bracelet is thinner, but in terms of fit and finishing, it's about the same. The construction of the links is solid and the connections are tight--if you try to bend the bracelet sideways, it doesn't flex much (one measure of the quality of SS bracelets for traditional watches).
I also initially thought the Link bracelet wasn't on par in terms of quality (compared to traditional watches), but after having worn it for over 2 weeks, it's actually pretty good quality and the price isn't crazily overpriced IMHO. Of course, I'm also used to watch prices (which are generally overpriced...), so it all depends on what your expectation is. My belief is that Apple is charging approximately the same as other luxury watchmakers for its bands ($50 for the excellent sports band is actually pretty decent pricing).
Having said all that, I would've said a decent price is somewhere around $300-$350. But hey, it's Apple, so they're going to charge high prices. But quality is there.
They won't. Apple will just stop selling some of band not generate enough $$$ revenue, and only sell few model come along with watch.
Apple has never play low cost product game, and they have no intention to be low cost product producer.
Apple wants sell high margin high revenue product, not low margin product required to sell 10 times more to get same revenue.
Margins are slightly lower than company average on the Watch. Good on Apple for making profits - it allows continued R&D, retail stores, and a continuing existence to support customers well into the future. After having examined the range of watches and bands in-store, I think they are a fair value for the quality. Now, if one is willing to gamble on potentially lesser quality from lesser-known sources that might be here-today-gone-tomorrow, there are certainly cheaper alternatives. Notably, Apple didn't lock out third-party bands... party on.
Stupid is a bit harsh, eh? I have 2 official sport bands and a real Milianese loop... Love all three of them. For something I wear every day I've only invested $250 in bands... that's a good deal to me.
All depends on your perspective.
I'm glad cheaper options are out there for people that want them... But many people don't mind paying for the real thing...
I assume you don't own any good watch, like Rolex or Omega.
After you own couple of them, $3000+ Omega or $5000+ Rolex is reasonable priced.
It is never about the cost, it is always about value added.
All Apple band are better "consistent" quality than their imitation 3rd party band for AW.
Maybe, I guess my point is Apple is not going to make and sell something people aren't buying. So if Apple is selling these bands than somebody must be buying them.
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the leather loops that I tried last June had very weak magnets, much worse than the original loop. have they improved the magnets in more recent versions?
When did you get your Moko band? I saw a couple review comments on Amazon and another member posted a similar picture in the accessories forum. Mine do not have as prominent mold flash, and they do not have a tacky surface texture that would attract dust. I wonder if Moko improved quality and from earlier runs?
The ones I got are very good. Magnets are very strong. Check out the non-OE threads on the accessories sub-forum. Those have a lot of good insights and reviews of the knock-off bands.
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Well, that blows my theory. I will try to shoot a couple pictures that show the differences between my OE Apple sport bands and my Moko bands.
