Pros/Cons of PI

[Oceanklassik]

Hi,

I have observed that some here, even with the cheaper prices of ROLEX watches as compared to our local ADs, did not wish to buy from the PIs (parallel import). I was wondering what are the reasons? We can share and these are my thoughts:

full cash payment (some can't afford )
lack of after-sales service (include adjustment of strap size, etc)
hassle of having to verify with RSC (got to view, buy, verify, etc)
lack of trust (scared get cheated)
...

Good day everyone!

[tomcatf]

I have no problem with that.

I believed some are looking for after sales service, service by SRC can be expensive, so buyer are quite cautious about buying for PI.
some are looking for pleasure of shopping, ie those AD got "sweet cute gals"

[evets]

those grade AAA replicas are sometimes hard to differentiate by regular watch collector not to mention amatuer buyer.

Hence it is always good to get it from ADs though u might be paying a little more upfront but it gives u a peace of mind when come to after sales servicing of the purchase. Else u might end up topping up more should anything happen down the road.

those ADs have their reputation at stake and i am sure they dont want to risk losing the dealership and good will to the consumer.

[chongj88]

Personally I have no problems buying from PIs. There are a few old timers out there and you can be sure they are trust worthy. Stuff like bracelet/strap adjustment can easily be done FOC at the respective brand's service center. So there shouldn't be any issue. As for reliability, at least I can vouch for Rolex. Their movements are virtually indestructible under normal usage. So you can be rest assured they are fuss free.

In fact I hardly buy anything from ADs locally these days. I find that their prices are not competitive especially if you don't have a history of spending crap load of money on "rubbish" watches from them first.

Just my $0.02 worth...

[jazziceman]

talking about PI, this is the first time i heard there are PI for Rolex as well.

any recommendation of the few? to intro me can?

anyway, if price is competitive and PI is trustworthy and reputable I see no problem getting from them. Afterall, they need business too and word of mouth spread like wind so i doubt reputable PI dare to cheat too.

[surestik]

Guess it's a case of being safe than sorry. Pay maybe a few hundred bucks more to the AD and be assured that their purchase is safe and sound, without having wild thoughts about whether the PI's watch is fake or not while they sleep.

[tomcatf]

When I mention no problem buying from PI, which means, I will still send the watches to SRC for verification, this is a very important process that I advice all bros and sis to follow, saving in buying price is always more than enough to cover the $75 dollars. Just to share

[116520]

Do we still need to "waste" that $75 if the watch comes with plastic protector, paper & box from PI???

When I mention no problem buying from PI, which means, I will still send the watches to SRC for verification, this is a very important process that I advice all bros and sis to follow, saving in buying price is always more than enough to cover the $75 dollars. Just to share

[chongj88]

Do we still need to "waste" that $75 if the watch comes with plastic protector, paper & box from PI???

Honestly its up to the buyer. Different folks have different comfort levels. Personally, I won't for contemporary models but vintage is a different story!

[surestik]

Do we still need to "waste" that $75 if the watch comes with plastic protector, paper & box from PI???

If that process of checking/wasting $75 makes the prospective buyer comfortable, I guess it's a good move.

[chongj88]

talking about PI, this is the first time i heard there are PI for Rolex as well.

any recommendation of the few? to intro me can?

anyway, if price is competitive and PI is trustworthy and reputable I see no problem getting from them. Afterall, they need business too and word of mouth spread like wind so i doubt reputable PI dare to cheat too.

I believe there are some stickied posts on this site with regards to PIs and/or pre-owned dealers. While I haven't personally bought anything from him, Yeo Kim Choy is also one long timer who has nice pieces at decent prices. You should be able to google his name.

And as tomcatf has mentioned, $75 is a small amount to buy yourself a piece of mind. Most of the time, even with the verification fee added to your purchase price, it still comes up cheaper than what you can get from local ADs.

[Oceanklassik]

I hope didn't mislead. My term for "PI" includes those people selling BNIB watches in our Garage & Sales Thread. There are few regular sellers there and most of the times, their prices are really good. However I still see people buying similar pieces from ADs, instead of going for cheaper prices, they can get from our sellers.

This is why it beats me .

[tomcatf]

Do we still need to "waste" that $75 if the watch comes with plastic protector, paper & box from PI???

AAA fake comes with box, paper and everything, they just look real.... that's why people got cheated for trusting the crook.

If you got cheated before or has learnt the lesson through your friends losses, then you will find that $75 is not a waste.

For a small fee of $75 to prove a few thousand of dollars worth of goods, than spending additional hundreds or thousand more to AD's bank account, which is more money wise? Again is individual....

[Darkangel]

I hope didn't mislead. My term for "PI" includes those people selling BNIB watches in our Garage & Sales Thread. There are few regular sellers there and most of the times, their prices are really good. However I still see people buying similar pieces from ADs, instead of going for cheaper prices, they can get from our sellers.

This is why it beats me .

You make people blur lor! PI means people like Yeo Kim Choy...

[tomcatf]

I hope didn't mislead. My term for "PI" includes those people selling BNIB watches in our Garage & Sales Thread. There are few regular sellers there and most of the times, their prices are really good. However I still see people buying similar pieces from ADs, instead of going for cheaper prices, they can get from our sellers.

This is why it beats me .

Shoppers are like me once, always get the kind of rush or impulse, see something attractive sure get hook, couple with "sweet tongue" sales staff of AD, sure die one, that's why "PG" hire so many young sweet things to sell watches...

But, put thing in other perspective, if not because of this human behaviour, we would not be able to get stuff below AD's cost.