The Breitling Watch Source Forums

WOW! That is amazing! So all those times that we've walked away because a deal wasn't to our liking is because the dealer has "walked" us? Can that be a verb?

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“The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once.” - Albert Einstein

I guess I shouldn't be surprised at the reaction to this. It proves how little buyers know about who they are buying from.

There are two sides to this. Why do you think some dealers don't discount, or discount very little and others give away the farm? Do you think it's because some dealers are sweethearts and others are assholes? You're only looking at it from the buyers perspective, but THERE is also a sellers perspective. You may not care about it, but it's there.

Authorized dealers are in business to MAKE MONEY. That's it. PROFIT. You may not care about it, but they do and it controls what they do. Some give away margin and hope to make it up on volume. Some will hold the price and make more. In some business models (Walmart) it's better to drop your pants and make up the profit on volume. Being an authorized dealer for luxury watches isn't Walmart, although some think it is.

You must remember that the people on this site are the VAST minority of the luxury watch buyers. You may go into an AD knowing what you want and how much you want to pay and you will not buy the watch unless you get your deal. AD's who work a sales process see this type of customer and WALK them. Not worth the trouble or effort because the next guy walking in the door will not know what he wants, be guided into a purchase, convinced the the price is fair and closed on the deal. Salespersons are on an up system and they won't waste time with price slasher customer. The management wants you to close the deal or get them OUT...Like it or not, that's how it works. Tourneau and Mayors do this VERY well. That's why WIS hate those dealers because they are geared for the impulse market. We like the undercutters. Fine. They sell watches too. But they don't make enough money and when it gets slow...trouble starts. The majority of AD's that went under during the recession were undercutters. The dealers that stayed in business or ADDED locations during the recession were those who kept their pricing firm.

Care or not, that's how it goes.....But as you see more dealers learning from the mistakes made by defunct dealers and company boutiques coming online you will encounter more firm pricing in the market..

You have to take each customer and situation as it comes. If a guy walks in the store. A real forum guy knows what he wants and what he wants to pay for it and tries to negotiate 20 off. You sell it to him. Another person walks in, doesn't drive as hard a bargain. Is ok with spending list, you sell it to him. You don't demand list from the first one, and you don't offer 25 off to the second buyer. Why is this so damn complicated?

This is completely right. When buying my last car I did my homework as usual, and decided what I wanted to pay. Called a few places, and finally got a dealer that said he could do it. No joke, the phone conversation took 5 minutes. I told the guy I would be there in a few hours. I walked in, signed the papers, and wrote a check. I was in and out in about 30 minutes. While inside, the salesman pulled me aside and and asked that I not make any mention out loud about the price that I was paying because his other client and the desk beside me was buying the exact same car and paying close to sticker for it.

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-RJ

Agreed, but it comes down to salesperson consistency from the sales managers perspective. Commission salespeople will begin to offer 25% off to everyone when they get in a slump or when they don't feel like "working it". The discount becomes a crutch. They'll just say "he was a tough one...had to sell it cheaper"...then every sale becomes "a tough one".

This is devasting to a dealer whose profit model requires specific margin. Other salespersons will see the discounting by El Desperado and then they start in....Then the wheels come off and you're out of the race.

If you can trust your sales people to use discounts correctly, with the correct customer, take the sale, but otherwise it's asking for trouble to have a loose sales floor...

Why has this turned into a sales lesson and a lesson on the inner workings of an AD's sales staff? This has gone way off topic; if you would like to share more of your thoughts on the 'seller's perspective' please start a new topic and go nuts. You are all for minimizing discounts by training sales staffs to be better at closing so the buyer doesn't get a big discount. I'm sure you'll get a ton of support on here with those views. And by the way, Tourneau doesn't close well...I got 28% off my first two watches there and Mayors in Tampa gave me 25% off an Omega Seamaster two years ago...and it was the first time I walked in there!

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"I don't own any watches, I just lease them"

I think we started to go off topic right about here:

[quote="mfserge] Don't think the Chronomat is going up 15% but I get your point. Don't forget, dealer margins have been squeezed, Breitling has reduced their discount off of retail on most models by around 5%. Now that they will be paying more for their pieces, with smaller margins, what will dealers do?? Reduces their willingness to discount IMO![/quote]


....oh, that was you.

Anyway sorry to get carried away broseph, just spreading some knowledge....No harm done.

Serge, you're going to start complaining about this thread going off topic NOW? That's a little like yelling at the stable boy for leaving the barn door open after the cows have not only left, but have gone to another ranch, been sold to a meat packing company, made into hamburger, eaten, digested, and excreted. You're just a tad bit late.

I found your comments quite insightful, even if your overall outlook is a little too "Blake" for my comfort zone.

I agree with you Roff but here, in Europe, we do not benefit of such huge discounts as you do in America and even less in Switzerland.

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- This is Ghost Rider requesting a fly-by. - Negative Ghost Rider. The pattern is full.

Surely nurturing a relationship with a repeat customer is worth giving a decent discount.

FYI my AD also told me about the increase coming. B is copying the Rolex model perfectly. Good for them!

Tom

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Now: Chronomat '97, SOH chrono, Airwolf Raven, Navi LE 01
Past: Aerospace(5x),Aviastar(2x),Blackbird(orig, 2nd ed),B-1(3x),SOPro(2x),Cockpit,Chronospace orig,CosmoLE,Emergency,Montbr.(2x),Navis: Old,A23322(2x),Fighters,50th(2x),ChronoMatic(2x),...

I don't see why they'd use FIFO, watches are not perishable goods.

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- This is Ghost Rider requesting a fly-by. - Negative Ghost Rider. The pattern is full.

Still no confirmation of price increase from the dealers (3) I have been to in the last week.

Might not be happening after all...

It is.

I don't understand why nobody here knows about it then...