advise needed

[Ryan14]

Hi all, I got a quote tdy from Luxury Times at pacific plaza for the datejust 2 rhodium diamond model for 10,900 at first hand with box and cert. The retail is 14540 so it's like 25% off.

Just wondering the following:

1) how come they can give such a huge discount compared to hour glass or cortina?
2) they said I can send to rolex service centre to confirm authenticity if I want. But it's only after purchase and if it turns out to be fake, I can get full refund from them. Is that how it is normally done?

appreciate the advise

[stonedialin]

to answer 1), the secret is this - 20% VAT tax rebate by euro government
assume both local singapore AD and euro AD give a same 15% discount on the same watch, the competitive advantage of gray dealers is the VAT tax rebate, which is an additional 12 to 20% off, depending on country you bought the watch from
this works because the watch warranty is international, and quality of watch is same no matter which country it is distributed to (no market differentiation)

for 2), you usually pay the gray dealer in full, if verified fake by rolex center, it is up to the shop to honor the refund

[Ryuden]

Grey dealers or pre owned dealers are totally different from Authorized Dealers (Hour Glass, Cortina, Sincere) and even though the piece is "New In Box" or considered "First Hand", its still considered "pre owned" by some as its out of the ADs store be it worn or not. And by buying from the ADs or boutique, you are getting that "shoppers experience" and some wants to get into the ADs list maybe for future release pieces.

And like what stonedialin has mentioned, with the help of tax rebate from overseas, makes the overseas piece more attractive in prices. And my take is, if its a local set, could be previous owner wanted to load off ASAP and the only way is to the grey dealers.

Best part for consumers like myself, there are plenty of choices to get that watch I want, direct from ADs with the "shoppers experience" , from grey dealers with attractive prices or via SgRolexClub garage with even better pricing. There's always something for all types of buyers.

And when it comes to warranty, its international, as long as the warranty card is properly filled in with ADs stamp and dated accordingly, you are good to go.


For question no 2, its the norm practice for pieces bought from any pre owned shops. If you buy from online forum, its usually verifying together with the seller the authenticity of it before the cash change hands.

[triton]

with reference to the underlined text, i posted a thread for discussion (here) two years ago.

Grey dealers or pre owned dealers are totally different from Authorized Dealers (Hour Glass, Cortina, Sincere) and even though the piece is "New In Box" or considered "First Hand", its still considered "pre owned" by some as its out of the ADs store be it worn or not. And by buying from the ADs or boutique, you are getting that "shoppers experience" and some wants to get into the ADs list maybe for future release pieces.