Question on reserve and first come first serve basis

[within]

I understand that certain country like in sg, they practice reserve those hot model for their Vip Or super Vip,
certain country like in china, they practice must buy those non popular model in order to buy those hot spot model.
there is also country like japan, who work on first come first serve basis. you see first, you grab first. no TnC

Anyone knows other than japan, which other countries practice first come first serve basis?

[Oceanklassik]

I understand that certain country like in sg, they practice reserve those hot model for their Vip Or super Vip,
certain country like in china, they practice must buy those non popular model in order to buy those hot spot model.
there is also country like japan, who work on first come first serve basis. you see first, you grab first. no TnC

Anyone knows other than japan, which other countries practice first come first serve basis?

Seriously, I don't know where you get these information from

I don't think there's such a "different-country-different-practice" like you described. Different people who have different experiences/encounters, with different ADs, will give you different theories. I can't speak for those in China or Japan, because I've not tried to buy Rolex watches there. However, I do have some knowledge what goes on with our local ADs, and some experiences with overseas ADs in Korea and Taiwan.

It is NOT totally untrue that our local ADs 'practice reserve those hot model for their Vip...'. In a way, an AD has to make an official (email) request to the HQ for a customer the AD wants to sell the watch to. For the AD to want to take the trouble to make the request, this customer has to have certain 'mileage' with the company; maybe someone of high social/corporate position, very regular watch buyer, etc. I'm not too sure the criteria for profiling of a 'deserving customer'.

And it is up to the HQ to decide if the customer deserves the watch, he/she is requesting for. In this way, whatever 'interest list', 'wait list', 'reserve list', as long as you are a walk-in customer or of 'low buying mileage' with the company, you can keep on waiting and waiting. Those lists, in my opinion, are there merely to appease customers.

In case some of you may not already know, one female Taiwanese celebrity (Vivian Hsu), bought a SS GMT-Master II (Pepsi) from the ION Rolex boutique some months ago. She bragged about it on her Facebook or some social media platform with a photo of her and a sales guy from the boutique. I wonder how long she actually waited for it...

The situation in Korea and Taiwan was much worse. I visited several Rolex boutiques and ADs on my tours there. The number of Rolex watches on display in most (maybe all) of them was 50% or less compared to our local ADs. You can forget about those highly popular ones being available, not even those in mid tier popularity like the Explorers and regular Subs.

I did suggest and offer discreetly, with various boutiques/ADs in Korea and Taiwan, if I could buy a sports model off them by buying 'few other watches' they had on display. The respond was 'hard and cold' - NO. Some merely shook their heads with a hopeless smile. I had even visited the same boutiques once every day during my stay there, but to no avail.

As for your question on 'first-come-first-serve', you can try Singapore ADs. If you're lucky, you may get it [Disclaimer: I'm not referring to the highly popular models like the Hulk/Pepsi/Batman/Daytona. The Explorers and Subs, likely.].

[eddytan]

I understand that certain country like in sg, they practice reserve those hot model for their Vip Or super Vip,
certain country like in china, they practice must buy those non popular model in order to buy those hot spot model.
there is also country like japan, who work on first come first serve basis. you see first, you grab first. no TnC

Anyone knows other than japan, which other countries practice first come first serve basis?

You are better off trying your luck in Europe and Russia. Also dependent on stock availability.

I have given up on local ADs. Sadly... nonsensical sales tactics.