I hope someday I can buy something at a AD or boutique I don’t like buying new, like cars and what not you lose so much value off the lot but the one new car I did purchase it was nice knowing I had that warranty and being new all I had to do was turn the key and no worries, except for the 3-4 recalls it was great.
N NoahsiI agree completely with the sentiments expressed by rainking above. I too am new to “nice” watches and recently bought my first Omega from a trusted seller on the forums. In my case, for a DSOTM, I saved literally over $4000 from the retail price, not to mention sales tax in NYC. The watch was shipped and arrived today and includes a valid warranty. Perhaps I should hold off till I get home to receive the package before saying more! I did visit a boutique to try on and see the watches in person so there is nothing that says you can’t do that and then buy elsewhere. I too was offered drinks, etc tho I refused as I knew I wouldn’t be buying from them.
I think that ultimately there are multiple levels of buyer, those willing to do more research and legwork prior to pulling the trigger and others that just want to walk into a store and buy a watch. Neither is more right or wrong, but the pricing paid is certainly different, catering to the two types of customers. One other note is it seems that both boutiques in NYC have many Mandarin speaking sales people which leads me to believe these stores cater mainly to tourists buying in America where the prices may be lower? I am not certain how the pricing on Omega’s compares in other parts of the world, but that would be an interesting discussion.
N NoahsiI agree completely with the sentiments expressed by rainking above. I too am new to “nice” watches and recently bought my first Omega from a trusted seller on the forums. In my case, for a DSOTM, I saved literally over $4000 from the retail price, not to mention sales tax in NYC. The watch was shipped and arrived today and includes a valid warranty. Perhaps I should hold off till I get home to receive the package before saying more! I did visit a boutique to try on and see the watches in person so there is nothing that says you can’t do that and then buy elsewhere. I too was offered drinks, etc tho I refused as I knew I wouldn’t be buying from them.
I think that ultimately there are multiple levels of buyer, those willing to do more research and legwork prior to pulling the trigger and others that just want to walk into a store and buy a watch. Neither is more right or wrong, but the pricing paid is certainly different, catering to the two types of customers. One other note is it seems that both boutiques in NYC have many Mandarin speaking sales people which leads me to believe these stores cater mainly to tourists buying in America where the prices may be lower? I am not certain how the pricing on Omega’s compares in other parts of the world, but that would be an interesting discussion.
yes, the OB on Oxford Street certainly seems to prioritise the ability to speak a language over knowing much about the product for what I assume are similar reasons.
Oh by the way, if you want to save on NYC sales tax, you can ask the shop to ship your watch to a friend in another state (like NJ or CT). I didn't do this at the OB since I wanted my watch ASAP but I've done it at two other shops in the city. One of the two was actually OK with me walking out with the watch + box and just shipped some catalogs to the address I provided.
Be very careful with this strategy. Back in the early 90's I was living in NJ and would travel into Manhattan every few weeks and over a year or so I bought a few watches from Tourneau on Madison Ave. They shipped the watches to my NJ address sans taxes. Then about nine months later I get a letter from NJ's tax authorities informing me they have reciprocal agreements with some states in order to collect the legally due sales taxes. Boom, I was presented a NJ sales tax bill for the three watches (a Rolex and two AP's). It's the last time I bought from Tourneau. You may get away with this scheme with smaller retailers but legally you have to report the sale to your state of residence and pay the sales tax due. I doubt you would escape tax in 2021 buying through an Omega Boutique. The salesman may tell you you can avoid the tax, but the back office accountants will report it through the reciprocal program. I bought the Apollo 11 50th from the St. Louis, Missouri boutique with the request to send it to my Texas address when it arrived, I was charged the Texas sales tax upon the sale, no escaping it.
