Community Stories

Learning the Grey Market Trade

RuGaFe
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I've been thinking about this for a long time as a watch enthusiast. I own a Speedmaster MK40 Schumacher that my father handed down to me three years ago. It's my treasure. Owning this watch propelled me to acquire more knowledge about Omega and encourged me to dive into learning more about other brands, like Rolex, AP, Vacheron, etc.

I have not knowledge or experience in sales and I would like to acquire that experience. I am looking for a grey dealer to mentor me. I'd be happy to help around in whatever would be needed from me in exchange for learning the trade. I'm a legal consultant and I could provide my legal expertise if needed too.

I have already reached out to a dealer in the San Diego area, where I'm located, but it was not successful. He was very polite but basically decliened to mentor me. I'm writing this up here because this forum has been extremely helpful in the past when I had questions as a newly minted Omega owner.

So I'm throwing this out here in case any of you may have good suggestions on how to find a mentor and get my feet wet in the grey market business. This would be my side hobby as a way for me to learn more about the different watches in various brands as well as getting introduced into the inner workings of the business.

Thank you for reading this!
 
wsfarrell
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A gray dealer is someone selling NEW watches (that is, watches that have never been sold before, with blank warranty cards) at a discount to MSRP. There are no gray Rolex dealers: Rolex only sells through authorized dealers, and all the so-called "NOS" Rolexes you see on eBay, Chrono24, etc. will have their warranty cards filled out. People selling other brands at a discount have sources. They are not likely to divulge these sources to a new competitor.
 
Dan S
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Gray dealers seem to be pretty big operations, with large inventories of new watches that are being dumped by the manufacturer. Or at least that's my impression. Maybe the OP really means to say that he wants to learn about selling pre-owned watches? If it's the latter, I don't know if you need a mentor to get started. Buy and sell a few inexpensive watches, you will learn a lot.
 
cvalue13
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There are most certainly brick-and-mortar used watch sales shops in San Diego; I’d expect that getting any job at one of these would begin a long journey toward understanding that business model
 
dennisthemenace
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If what you are looking for is the knowledge to make a small fortune buying and selling watches, I am happy to help.
Start off with a large fortune.
 
cvalue13
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dennisthemenace dennisthemenace
If what you are looking for is the knowledge to make a small fortune buying and selling watches, I am happy to help.
Start off with a large fortune.

upload_2021-11-11_15-40-10.gif
 
NGO1
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I’d start off with Rolex stainless steel models to maximize profit, GMT and Daytona. Instant $10k profit each.

Then you can move up market with Patek, stay with Aquanaut or Nautilus, those are $30k to $50k profit easy!

Snatch as many HODINKEE limited releases as you can. Those Blancpain Mil-Spec are easy $$.

You don’t need a mentor.
Stay away from anything OMEGA.

Now. I need you to help me prepare docs to sue Rolex and Patek.
Edited:
 
RuGaFe
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cvalue13 cvalue13
There are most certainly brick-and-mortar used watch sales shops in San Diego; I’d expect that getting any job at one of these would begin a long journey toward understanding that business model
Thanks for your comment. I already have a full-time job. I'm looking for on the side type of activity whereby I can learn the trade helping out something with the knowledge and experience necessary to start out.
 
RuGaFe
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dennisthemenace dennisthemenace
If what you are looking for is the knowledge to make a small fortune buying and selling watches, I am happy to help.
Start off with a large fortune.
LOL. Thanks for the comment. I'm not looking to make a fortune, as you put it. I just have this genuine interested in watches and I would like to make it more real in a situation, like a side hobby, where I buy and sell nice pieces. That way I have a chance to have a variety of tiempieces in my hands that I would not have otherwise.
 
RuGaFe
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NGO1 ngo516
I’d start off with Rolex stainless steel models to maximize profit, GMT and Daytona. Instant $10k profit each.

Then you can move up market with Patek, stay with Aquanaut or Nautilus, those are $30k to $50k profit easy!

Snatch as many HODINKEE limited releases as you can. Those Blancpain Mil-Spec are easy $$.

You don’t need a mentor.
Stay away from anything OMEGA.

Now. I need you to help me prepare docs to sue Rolex and Patek.
Thanks for the reply. Are you by any chance in the watch industry? I would like to hear more if you are in San Diego. About the lawsuit, if you are serious, it can be explored, and it will depend on what you are trying to accomplish.
 
Dgercp
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Go on the internet and find all the gray market dealers you can find and reach out to them. Perhaps someone might need your help. Perhaps one of them can kind of act like a mentor?
 
dennisthemenace
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RuGaFe RuGaFe
LOL. Thanks for the comment. I'm not looking to make a fortune, as you put it. I just have this genuine interested in watches and I would like to make it more real in a situation, like a side hobby, where I buy and sell nice pieces. That way I have a chance to have a variety of tiempieces in my hands that I would not have otherwise.
Well now you have made clear your intentions, I'm sure members here will be falling over themselves to help you out.
 
RuGaFe
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Dgercp Dgercp
Go on the internet and find all the gray market dealers you can find and reach out to them. Perhaps someone might need your help. Perhaps one of them can kind of act like a mentor?
Thanks for that. I think that is one option and a valid one. Thanks again for the suggestion.
 
RuGaFe
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dennisthemenace dennisthemenace
Well now you have made clear your intentions, I'm sure members here will be falling over themselves to help you out.
At least I see that irony is your forte.
 
Walrus
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Have you considered a watch blog or something of the sort? There are very few upscale watch sellers in my area and I actually did approach one about availability of any positions. Doesn’t seems like it’s an easy gig to just walk into. I actually talked to the owner and it was a no go. They weren’t seeking help and didn’t expect to for some time. That’s just as well I’m a really bad sales person I was more seeking knowledge and discounts. Some guy posted here a while back he had started a watch blog and was doing quite well. I guess his name was getting out and he was being sent things to review. I know that’s not a lot to go on but I’m not a blogger nor do I have an interest in being one but I guess it could be a creative way to achieve what you may be seeking. Sorry cant be of any further assistance. Watches for me are about money going out not coming in. There are plenty here who do very well selling watches but I don’t think it’s the type of thing people like to share sources and tips and what not. I wouldn’t know how to go about getting in with a grey dealer unless you had a couple hundred K and said “let’s yolo on watches” but who knows, life is a funny thing.
 
Foo2rama
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RuGaFe RuGaFe
I'm happy my inquiry provides you with entertainment.
Because you do not even know what you do not know.

First your not talking about Grey Market, your talking about flipping.

You need to know watches inside and out in order to flip and be an expert at a minimum on the watches that you buy to sell, know what is good, what is bad, what you can fix for cheap etc.

No offense you will get destroyed just like the 99 out of 100 people that try this and about 1/2 of them are experts.
 
STANDY
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Three points to learn
1)
The 33% rule.
2)
Learn retail first. ( Or sell drugs - this is a quicker way to learn retail 😉 )
3)
You need to network to find the stock cheap enough to make money


I am a butcher by trade and you have to know the price of a cow to work out how much to sell each cut of meat to make your profit.
You can't sell sausages for the same price as fillet steak and doing in reverse you go broke.

Everything you buy and sell has the same principles

Grey market you need big dollars to buy alot of stock that has good sellers and bad sellers.
This is not something you could do as a side gig in my opinion.
 
RuGaFe
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Foo2rama Foo2rama
Because you do not even know what you do not know.

First your not talking about Grey Market, your talking about flipping.

You need to know watches inside and out in order to flip and be an expert at a minimum on the watches that you buy to sell, know what is good, what is bad, what you can fix for cheap etc.

No offense you will get destroyed just like the 99 out of 100 people that try this and about 1/2 of them are experts.
 
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