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Can a Rolex AD charge more than MSRP for a new Rolex watch?

Davidt
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I believe ADs sell bundles to grey dealers.

I’m just saying I think the prices they sell them at are legit RRP. The AD sells loads of stock and the grey knows they’ll win some and lose some but overall they’ll be in profit.
 
asrnj77
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Sublime_1 Sublime_1
Ya, I don't know. That's why I'm asking. He basically says in a lot of his videos that he and dealers like him are why plebs like us can't get a watch from an ad. You're on a list but he just swoops in with 250k and buys up 30 watches the model you're after included. IDK, take it all with a grain of salt I suppose?

I think these kinds of grey dealers say this to justify the ridiculous markup “I had to pay over retail too”. The reality is they buy the slow movers to get access to the prime pieces. The ADs sell it all at retail or maybe a little less. So the grey dealer eats some of the cost on a 26mm date just but makes it up on the 100% profit on the GMTs.
 
Sublime_1
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Davidt Davidt
I believe ADs sell bundles to grey dealers.

I’m just saying I think the prices they sell them at are legit RRP. The AD sells loads of stock and the grey knows they’ll win some and lose some but overall they’ll be in profit.
This I get, ADs screaming about flippers but in actuality selling out the back door to grey dealers. Grey dealers saying I had to get this over retail also so they don't seem like the bad guy.

Roman's videos are interesting he routinely says all ADs work directly with the gray market.

Everything has gotten so complicated these days...
 
F
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is Sea-Dweller even that popular and hard to get?
my wife got one for me recently as a surprise gift. She walked in a dealer and she had no prior knowledge of rolex. They offered her the SD and deepsea and came home with the SD.
love the watch .
 
Pboned
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F fbf
is Sea-Dweller even that popular and hard to get?
my wife got one for me recently as a surprise gift. She walked in a dealer and she had no prior knowledge of rolex. They offered her the SD and deepsea and came home with the SD.
love the watch .

I've contacted about 9-12 different AD in surrounding states and none have the Sea-Dweller. Its appears that all steel professional models are hard to get.

Congrats on getting one and hope you enjoy it!
Edited:
 
Evose
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All steel are hard to get and have waiting lists, at least from personal experience. AD is pretty transparent regarding allocations and unfortunately their stores were looted several times during rioting in my city. Really unfortunate.

As for pricing, they shouldn’t sell outside of manufacturer disclosed pricing. I’ve been told they can lose their authorized dealer partnership if caught.
 
triplebowman
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Has anyone actually been able to get one at an AD recently? I remember calling multiple shops around me and they all said no..
 
Pboned
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triplebowman triplebowman
Has anyone actually been able to get one at an AD recently? I remember calling multiple shops around me and they all said no..

I haven't had any luck finding one yet. I managed to get on a few AD lists. I spoke to one of my local AD yesterday and was advised that they don't have anyone waiting for this model. They should have a model soon (January at the latest).

I just have to wait and see.
 
Dan S
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triplebowman triplebowman
Has anyone actually been able to get one at an AD recently? I remember calling multiple shops around me and they all said no..

Have you tried showing up in person?
 
Pboned
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Dan S Dan S
Have you tried showing up in person?

This might be the best way to find one from my personal experience. You can start building a relationship with them and go from there.
 
nkhandekar
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I seem to remember maybe 15+ years ago that ADs were charging higher than retail for desirable models. Ther was a story in Watch Time magazine about Rolex clamping down on this practice. And what Dan S describes was spelled out. I remember it clearly, as I was beside myself that I could then get a new Rolex from and AD without getting gouged.
 
MCC
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nkhandekar nkhandekar
I seem to remember maybe 15+ years ago that ADs were charging higher than retail for desirable models. Ther was a story in Watch Time magazine about Rolex clamping down on this practice. And what Dan S describes was spelled out. I remember it clearly, as I was beside myself that I could then get a new Rolex from and AD without getting gouged.
It could well be my memory but I remember being able to walk into an AD and buying a watch at or below list. Sure there were some models that were hard to get but I don't think demand was anywhere near as high then as it is now.

Personally I could not bring myself to pay over list price for a current production model.
 
larrylush
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absolutely not on new rolex, unless they want to lose their AD status. What they can do is somehow sell it "pre-owned", but that is also risking their AD status if it's something suspicious. For example, if they do sell pre-owned and they sell a used oyster batman for $15k, they can say it's from a client trade-in, etc and not have problems. Taking a new daytona and claiming it's used and selling for $25k would be foul play and I doubt they would risk their 37% margins and for most of them, 60%+ of their business's sale for a few thousand dollars..
 
rcs914
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10 years ago when my now wife and I were shopping for rings I was offered a SS Daytona for retail that had just come in to the AD we were at. This, at $9900, cost about 5 times what my car was worth at the time so needless to say it wasn't in the cards. But man, I could have worn that thing for the past decade and made money on it selling it now.
 
asrnj77
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rcs914 rcs914
10 years ago when my now wife and I were shopping for rings I was offered a SS Daytona for retail that had just come in to the AD we were at. This, at $9900, cost about 5 times what my car was worth at the time so needless to say it wasn't in the cards. But man, I could have worn that thing for the past decade and made money on it selling it now.

Hindsight makes for great investment opportunities. I would have bought a ton of Tesla stock and Bitcoin (and also sold said Bitcoin when it hit $14,600 two years ago). 😀
 
rcs914
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asrnj77 asrnj77
Hindsight makes for great investment opportunities. I would have bought a ton of Tesla stock and Bitcoin (and also sold said Bitcoin when it hit $14,600 two years ago). 😀

Yeah if I had taken that $9900 and bought bitcoin in 2010, and then sold them when BC hit $20K it would have been $2.4 billion.
 
atone
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Marsimaxam Marsimaxam
Just consider the acronym, "MSRP"... Manufacturer SUGGESTED Retail Price, this makes it possible for the AD to select any price they choose based on supply and demand. If an AD can offer a discount, (go ahead and ask for one on a Daytona, always good for a laugh), why not charge a premium for a particular watch?
That’s not how it works. They can’t go over MSRP in Rolex AD but can go under.
 
atone
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YY77 YY77
I'm with @Dan S, no manufacturer will accept a contracted partner to sell an item above their set RRP/MSRP in an initial sales of the product. Ask any AD to give you a sales receipt stating the higher asking price and no AD will take that risk.
Yep
 
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