The Breitling Watch Source Forums

FEAR WROTE:: this doesnt help the ad, their cost goes up the same percent, they dont want the increase either, they didnt make any mistake.[/quote]

I understand you are in the business so please don't take what I say the wrong way. The Ad's price goes up ,and they must pass it along to the customer, but when you have increase like this it help's no one but the manufacturer, unless the Ad takes off a decent % they sit with the product ,and there money is tied up in the piece for some time The Ad has a couple options 1. sell it to a grey market dealer which Breitling frowns upon 2. sell it to a customer who is asking for a decent discount ,and will come back agin in the future because you are willing to deal. Some AD'S act like 10% off is killing them. When that is hardly the case. I wouldn't pay sticker price for a car ,and surely wont pay sticker for a watch. The Ad generally is a Jeweler ,and makes there money of a lot more things than just a timepiece, they are buying Grandma's gold for 25 to 30% of spot gold price ,and the over inflated diamond costs . There is absolutely nothing wrong with making a profit , but some Ad's are just full of Sh#t when it comes to pricing.[/quote]
lets look at it this way too, the dealer gets killed more than anyone. lets say the deal wanted to stock 100 watches, at an average cost of 4,000 each . he has to spend 400k. now they raise the prices10%, dealer has to now tie up another 40k to maintain inventory, thats 10 more watches he cant buy now.

That's only part of the picture though isn't it.

They have 100 watches in stock at $4,000 dealer cost. If they sell them at 25% off list then they are making around $1,000 per watch (difference between 60% dealer cost and 75% sale price). Now prices go up 10%, but they already have 100 pieces in stock.

For those 100 pieces, if they still offer 25% off their profit is now $1,500 - a 50% increase - $50,000 on the entire stock. For new pieces that they order, their profit is increased to $1,100 per piece at 25% off. They aren't suffering worse than before the increase.

I'll be the first to admit (and have done so on several occasions in the past) that it's tough to make money selling only watches, you need the jewellery part of the business unless you have huge economies of scale, but this price increase isn't killing ADs.

Group hug?

FKoff (love you all)

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Al

“Quis custodiet ipsos custodes"

It aint helpin, and it doesnt bring people in the door. remember, the dealers ahd to already take a raise in dealer cost but not in list they had to absorb.

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Alex
Breitling - Navitimer
Breitling - SuperOcean
Breitling - Chrono SuperOcean

Ok I'll be the first to say it.... Awesome! My watches will hold their value that much better, and considering I got fairly good deals to start, I could probably sell used for not a heck of a lot less than what I paid. I just bought a Ball and hear the prices are going up for those as well... isn't life great.

I have to say, that I kinda agree - in some ways.

I realise that this may be a selfish sentiment, but I think that Breitling does need to establish itself higher up the 'quality watch' scale, and that means that we have to see an end to huge discounts. I would rather see the list price remained unchanged and the dealer cost increase to reduce the ultimate customer discounts - that's what we saw last year in the US. I think that would be a more appropriate approach - the SA does seem ridiculous with a $5,100 list price, but a $4,000 list price with only 10% or so discounting would amount to a similar street price and similar revenue for Breitling and it's ADs.

Either way results in a consumer hit, but I do feel that the huge discounts are a perception against the brand image.

True, but I would argue that red and orange gimmick bezels certainly don't help their cause!

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Breitling Colt GMT
Breitling Navitimer World
IWC Portuguese Automatic
Breitling Transocean Chronograph LE

Perhaps a dumb question, but I'm guessing these price increases do not apply to new releases (ie, the LE Transocean)? I would assume that the price I was quoted 3 weeks ago would have already factored in their new prices for 2011. Naive of me?

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Breitling Colt GMT
Breitling Navitimer World
IWC Portuguese Automatic
Breitling Transocean Chronograph LE

I agree with that as well, but I see the two as unrelated, but cumulative.

In terms of the TransOcean - I suspect that the price you were quoted factors this in as it's not actually released yet so the release price will reflect this, but best to check with your AD.

is SA really the best selling Breitiling watch? it is not Chronomat anymore?

and, in which area the SA is the Breitling nr 1 selling, maybe North America only? or also in Europe?

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Breitling Antares B10047
Breitling Chronomat B13050
Breitling Chronomat A13050.1 - pilot bracelet
Breitling Chronomat Blackbird A13050.1 - serie spéciale
Breitling Avenger Seawolf E17370
Breitling Chronomat EVO A13356 - pilot bracelet

I'm pissed of now. I was thinking of going for the Code Yellow this year but I may shelve that idea now. I really hope they don't keep putting these prices up or I may have to start asking how much they cost!

Cheers

ps Whats the price on a Transocean by the way?

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Currently:
Avenger Skyland(Black)
Super Avenger(White)

Moved on:
Montbrillant Legende(Silver)
Panerai 312
SOHC 125th Ann. LE(Silver)
Navitimer World(Pearl)
Panerai 441

If you have to ask....

To be fair, that particular model has already garnered a reputation for being, shall we say, ambitiously priced!

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Squadron Member: Breitling Chronomat B01 Blackeye Blue, Brushed Bezel, Pilot Bracelet

I think the price increases do have less of an effect on purchasing decisions at higher levels. I can't imagine the profile of someone for whom spending $7700 on a watch is okay, but spending $8500 is just plain irresponsible!

But for the entry level buyer, it is a big deal whether the entry point is $1800, $2000, $2300, $2500, $3000, etc. Although at current interest rates and stock market valuations, I'm not sure where else to put the cash...

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Squadron Member: Breitling Chronomat B01 Blackeye Blue, Brushed Bezel, Pilot Bracelet