although i spent many years outside of the country, i'm a true blue singaporean. i've completed my NS. i've said the pledge daily in pri and sec school. i've ROM'ed and gone to toa payoh to look at flats. i love this little island and am relocating home soon.
but i also love buying watches...
so i can't understand why prices of pre-owned watches in singapore do not seem to correspond with their international value (private user-to-private user sale).
if we considered the original purchase price, they don't even seem to correspond with the regular depreciation/appreciation scale!
why is this? (i'm basing my observations on 1) sg-roc 2) *** 3) ebay.com.sg) am i not seeing something?
since april this year, i come onto sg-roc's sales garage almost daily looking at sub prices. i've only noticed 3 watches that were well priced. all 3 took a while before it got sold. if it was on a foreign forum, it would have been snapped up.
i've not yet bought a watch locally and have resorted to usually buying on overseas forums and getting my singapore-based wife to pay the taxes/courier handling fee by CC. it works out to be always cheaper if not the same price, and i get to enjoy them during my regular trips home.
what's worse: when people offer their watches cheap (for perhaps no more reason than just because they want to sell it fast to someone else instead of a pawn shop/dealer), prospective buyers/onlookers tend to nitpick and think there's something wrong with it!
is this because us singaporeans prefer to put higher than normal prices to cope with buyers who like to "GIAM KAY"?
or is it because some dealers insist on selling their watches for what i believe are higher-than-average prices (maybe because they have serviced the watch?), and refuse to budge, so they advertise and advertise until someone comes along and unwittingly buys it.
(kind of like how the auntie at the canteen looks more and more attractive after a few weeks being stuck in an army camp without external female influence)
now everybody who owns the same watch thinks theirs should cost the same amount, because, look! that one sold for $xxxx! so the price becomes artificially inflated for everyone...
since when did non-RSC servicing increase a watch by so much??? i think this is quite ridiculous! the increase should correspond ROUGHLY to the servicing cost, and it's usually LOWER than its original cost!!!
i don't think dealers should be allowed to advertise in the garage because of this distortion factor.
i'm tired and might have not put the issue across as diplomatically as i could, but i thought this would make for interesting discussion.
ALL ATTACKS SHOULD NOT BE DIRECTED AT ME, BUT AT THE ISSUES I'VE RAISED: ie, an chwa ah-ni gwee eh?
but i also love buying watches...
so i can't understand why prices of pre-owned watches in singapore do not seem to correspond with their international value (private user-to-private user sale).
if we considered the original purchase price, they don't even seem to correspond with the regular depreciation/appreciation scale!
why is this? (i'm basing my observations on 1) sg-roc 2) *** 3) ebay.com.sg) am i not seeing something?
since april this year, i come onto sg-roc's sales garage almost daily looking at sub prices. i've only noticed 3 watches that were well priced. all 3 took a while before it got sold. if it was on a foreign forum, it would have been snapped up.
i've not yet bought a watch locally and have resorted to usually buying on overseas forums and getting my singapore-based wife to pay the taxes/courier handling fee by CC. it works out to be always cheaper if not the same price, and i get to enjoy them during my regular trips home.
what's worse: when people offer their watches cheap (for perhaps no more reason than just because they want to sell it fast to someone else instead of a pawn shop/dealer), prospective buyers/onlookers tend to nitpick and think there's something wrong with it!
is this because us singaporeans prefer to put higher than normal prices to cope with buyers who like to "GIAM KAY"?
or is it because some dealers insist on selling their watches for what i believe are higher-than-average prices (maybe because they have serviced the watch?), and refuse to budge, so they advertise and advertise until someone comes along and unwittingly buys it.
(kind of like how the auntie at the canteen looks more and more attractive after a few weeks being stuck in an army camp without external female influence)
now everybody who owns the same watch thinks theirs should cost the same amount, because, look! that one sold for $xxxx! so the price becomes artificially inflated for everyone...
since when did non-RSC servicing increase a watch by so much??? i think this is quite ridiculous! the increase should correspond ROUGHLY to the servicing cost, and it's usually LOWER than its original cost!!!
i don't think dealers should be allowed to advertise in the garage because of this distortion factor.
i'm tired and might have not put the issue across as diplomatically as i could, but i thought this would make for interesting discussion.
ALL ATTACKS SHOULD NOT BE DIRECTED AT ME, BUT AT THE ISSUES I'VE RAISED: ie, an chwa ah-ni gwee eh?
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