Let's be explicit about the currency (and perhaps location) when mentioning actual prices. This is a highly international forum, based in Australia, but with many members in every other part of the world.
Did I just offend a globalist? You're the reason this thread got off to a difficult start when it was totally unnecessary.
To speak for hard evidence, I was able to take advantage of a standard discount off of MSRP, and added 30% without paying sales tax. This isn't an everyday opportunity, and I'm copying from another thread I created but I will share the hard evidence.
210.30.42.20.03.001 is the first. No tax, cost out the door 3k.
311.30.42.30.01.005 is the second. Again, no tax, cost out the door 3.3k.
You don't know how the thread began since the initial post was heavily edited after the fact (which is fine), so maybe it would be best to just make your contribution without editorializing. Would you like to indicate the currency of the prices referenced in your post ... you know, to actually make it useful? USD, GBP, Euros?
Despite the awkward and possibly unnecessary beginning to this thread, it's a topic I'm extremely interested in. To speak for hard evidence, I was able to take advantage of a standard discount off of MSRP, and added 30% without paying sales tax. This isn't an everyday opportunity, and I'm copying from another thread I created but I will share the hard evidence.
210.30.42.20.03.001 is the first. No tax, cost out the door 3k.
311.30.42.30.01.005 is the second. Again, no tax, cost out the door 3.3k.
These were purchased from an AD. These discounts are lower than anything else I was able to find online for a new purchase from an AD. Maybe you can do better if you have a relationship and history wtih a local AD.
...if I can figure out how to obscure the personal details on a PDF that is!
Simple, really. Print out the PDF. Use a sharpie or similar dark pen to hide the details. Fax that copy to yourself and then scan it into your computer, or better yet, take a picture of it with your phone and use a secure connection to load it into the computer. Then you can save it somewhere and later attach it to the post.
Yes. I am an I/T professional. You can thank me later.
LOL
Hey, look guys and gals, all of this stuff is really cool but let's be realistic. Most of us are not in the armed services. Many of us do not routinely fly to Singapore for business. Heck, my next scheduled business trip is to Atlanta, not really known as the hotbed of international watch sales.
I have two local ADs, both parts of jewelry store chains, one national, the other local. They refuse to negotiate past a certain threshold. I know from past experience that the local chain gives the manager little flexibility, and he had to call the main office to get permission to go more than 10% on a Breitling, years ago. OK, stop laughing. I was young and naive. When I bought my SMP from the national chain, I dealt with the manager and he refused to budge past 10%. On the DSOTM he wouldn't budge past retail, and then grudgingly agreed to cover most of the sales tax, but that was it. On a $9800 watch. Gosh.
So, you may mean well telling others that 20% or better is easily done at an AD, the reality is that every region and every country is different, and there are no set rules or guidelines. All you end up doing is making that guy that paid MSRP feel bad for his purchase, and that's not nice.
Seems to me like this thread got off to a bad start and stayed on it - I assumed that people talking about ADs and high end watches wouldn't be so upset by the name of a distant country, least still when the watches under discussion (i.e. my 2007 ones) weren't even that high end compared to a lot of the stuff on the forum (especially not when you consider what I paid for them after the discounts!) ……………. if it helps I remember them costing me a fortune relative to my income at the time ................. and nobody mentioned 'routinely' ;-)
He told me that staff at OBs get 1 watch every 2 years that they can buy at cost - and that cost is 40% of the ticket price.
