Recently, some media visited the market and found that Rolex watches of many models are “hard to find” in specialty stores, and their prices are also rising in the secondary market.
store goods “can only be seen but not bought”
“We’ll line up for you only for the styles that may arrive. We can’t line up for you for the one you asked, and we don’t know when they can be available.” On February 26, the shopping guide said so at the Rolex store in Wangfujing Group Co.Ltd(600859) , Beijing. It is understood that several watches of different styles are placed in the window of this exclusive store, and different series of watches are displayed area by area in the counter. When customers enter the door, the shopping guides immediately said that all the watches in the store are only for display and cannot be sold.
“Entry level” log series wristwatches also need to wait. “You can go to other Rolex stores, but there is little possibility of buying in stock at present.” The store’s shopping guide explained that Rolex purchases goods every month, and even if there are goods, it will give priority to customers who have booked.
Some customers said that they booked a Rolex popular model table four years ago, and have not yet received a telephone notice from the shopping guide. Every time he calls to inquire, he is told that he hasn’t arrived yet. More netizens said that they were lucky to be in line. Now go to Rolex stores, and popular models such as diver and ditongna series will not be in line.
An old customer said that he bought watches at a Rolex store in Beijing in 2020, and some models had a 10% discount. Nowadays, not to mention discounts, even non popular models or hundreds of thousands of expensive prices are not in stock.
Why do consumers still have to queue up when there are watches on display in the store? One of the reasons is that Rolex has implemented new regulations since this year, including “no card opening sales for new goods within 10 days”, “no less than 10 watches must be displayed at all counters”, “no sales of displayed watches”, “60 real-time inventory” and “20 to 30 card opening places per month”. Relevant media have confirmed from several Rolex stores that some of the new policies have indeed begun to be implemented.
For Rolex’s new sales strategy, some commentators said that its original intention was obviously to increase customers’ time in stores and let more customers try different types of watches. After all, Rolex stores had frequently empty cabinets, which affected the shopping experience. However, the actual effect of doing so virtually increases the hidden cost of purchasing watches, resulting in difficulties for consumers to buy watches.
In addition, affected by the epidemic, Rolex has suspended production in European factories. At the beginning of this year, Rolex announced the price adjustment of some of its watches, among which the price of steel ditongna, steel diver oyster and other watches increased by about 10%.
With the decline of production and the official price adjustment, and the situation that the store can only try it on but can’t buy it, many consumers turn to the secondary market. After the Spring Festival, the price of Rolex popular models in the secondary market soaredP align = “center” second hand price “soared” by nearly 100000 yuan
There is a story circulating on the Internet: spend more than 40000 yuan to buy a “green water ghost”, wear it for a few years, and even earn a car.
According to the data of second-hand Rolex and luxury watch e-commerce platform bobs watches, the price increase of Rolex watches in the secondary market exceeded that of stocks, bonds, real estate and gold. The average sales increased by 160% from less than US $5000 in 2011 to more than US $13000 in 2021. The increase during the epidemic period was almost the same as that in the previous five years.
“This round of sharp rise may still be related to Rolex’s policy and price adjustment. At present, it is in the blind period of price rise, and the price even changes from time to time.” Mr. Wang, who is engaged in the second-hand luxury goods business, said that if there is a customer’s telephone inquiry, it must be agreed that the price is real-time before the quotation, and there is no guarantee that it will be the same price when he arrives at the store.
In fact, not only the “green water ghost”, Rolex’s “coke ring” and “panda Di” watches also increased significantly. Among them, the high priced ditongna series has styles, which has increased by nearly 100000 yuan in the past two monthsP align = “center” admission investment risk is high, beware of “high-level takeover”
Mr. Wang said that Rolex watches have always been a common commodity in his store.
Mr. Wang recalled that the second-hand price of “green water ghost” was still lower than the official price of about 70000 in 2015, with a minimum of about 45000 yuan. By the end of 2017, the price of “green water ghost” began to soar for the first time. “At that time, there were rumors that it would stop production, so the price rose to more than 70000.” Mr. Wang said that the second-hand price was relatively stable. Until the release of the third generation “green water ghost” in 2020, the dial changed from green to black, which led to the price of the second generation with all green sectors and circles suddenly rushed to about 9 Shenzhen Ecobeauty Co.Ltd(000010) 0000, and the price of the watch has been rising steadily with the shutdown of the second generation.
Last December, he sold a piece of “green water ghost”, and the transaction price at that time was 115000 yuan. After a while, when having dinner with friends, he said that his peers had bid a full set of second-generation “green water ghost” for 200000. At that time, he also smiled and said “no one will buy it”. I didn’t expect the joke to come true. It took only two months.
It is understood that on some auction websites, the starting price of the second generation “green water ghost” is 198000 yuan, and the lower starting price is 159800 yuan. According to this calculation, the increase of “green water ghost” in the past two months is 40% to 70%.
Although Rolex watches are hard to find in exclusive stores and the prices in the secondary market are rising all the way, it is not a good time for many lovers or people engaged in the industry to invest in Rolex blindly.
In fact, Rolex’s market has not always been strong. In 2021, the year after the release of the three generations of “green water ghosts”, its second-hand market also fell by more than 10000 yuan in half a year. Another quotation showed that the price of “panda Di” fell from 410000 yuan to 360000 yuan in the past week, and the price of the three generations of “green water ghost” also fell by 3000 yuan.
“At present, the ‘green water ghost’ market has been experienced by Cartier a few years ago or omega earlier.” Chen Haijun, a famous watch lover and once engaged in the famous watch business, said that most models of Cartier’s “blue balloon” which was sought after in those years have also fallen below the official price in the second-hand market.
In his opinion, the attributes of watches are similar to cars. They are essentially consumer goods and do not have the function of maintaining and increasing value. “After a period of time, everyone will have it, and the pursuit of Rolex will be weak. If the manufacturer continues to have goods, the second-hand price will certainly cool down. Now, if you enter blindly, it is likely to be the successor.”
