The Breitling Watch Source Forums

I've heard countless times here about how the US market seems to get deep discounts (20%-30%) on most Breitling models while Europe and most other markets are left out in the cold and have to pay near retail. I've never heard an explanation as to why this is.

Is it related to the high cost of operation (i.e. taxes) in Europe that makes getting a "deal" harder? Is it the volume of Breitlings sold in the US market that drives prices down? Or is it the American "haggle 'em down" mentality?

Finally, is this phenomenon something unique to Breitling or is it something seen with other brands?

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

IMO i think that the states just has larger buying power. You guys seem to consume alot of goods.

YOU WOULD BE SURPRISED HOW LITTLE THE US ACCOUNTS FOR BREITLING SALES WORLD WIDE, I FIGURED IT WOULD BE ALMOST HALF AND ITS NOT EVEN CLOSE! ITS LIKE 10% EUROPE, ASIA, ALL DO A LOT MORE THAN THE US DOES

Went to 2 ADs in Dallas, one offers 20% and another offers 35%. When I was in Asia last December(Thailand), this AD gives 30% as well.

In comparison to other developed countries, pretty much everything is cheaper in the U.S.: cars, electronics, furniture, restaurant food, you name it. Bigger ticket items with significant importation like cars, furniture, and watches are generally cheaper in the U.S. than *any* country, developed or otherwise.

This fact continues to amaze me when I travel. For example, a car in Thailand, regardless of make or luxuriousness, costs double what it would cost in the U.S. (this is before taxes). This is from a Toyota Corolla on up to a Ferrari.

My belief is that this effect is due to a number of factors. The first is comparatively generous import taxes. Other countries tend to have measurably higher tariffs for imported goods. I went to the IWC boutique in Bangkok and chatted with one of the sales people there for quite some time. I was able to establish that the price that the Bangkok AD paid on a big ingenieur was actually greater than the U.S. list price on the same model. My guess is that import fees had a lot to do with this.

The second, and much larger, effect is the existence of a very large middle class in the U.S. that is both affluent and value-centric. A person making median income in the U.S. has substantially more buying power than a median earner in almost any other country (certainly any larger one)...therefore they are comparatively affluent. Because of the highly fluid class structure in the U.S., Americans also tend to be more motivated by price, or the perception of value, than other countries where class identity has a greater impact on purchasing decisions (I'm just talking on average, here...we can find plenty of exceptions to this trend on this forum!). In other words, the U.S. a decrease in price means an increase in sales volume, even for expensive things like cars and watches. In other countries, a decrease in price of a luxury item will still not cause a middle class person to buy it because it may still cost more than they can afford (less affluent) and/or they may not be interested in it at any price ("I'm not the kind of person who buys an expensive thing like X"). And even if the brand does entice middle class people to buy it because of a price decrease, there may simply not be large enough middle class to make this effect worthwhile. The U.S. just happens to have all the conditions necessary to reward price decreases with increased sales even for many luxury goods.

A good example here is BMW. A BMW 3-series costs less in the U.S. than they do in any other country except (possibly) Germany (it might even be cheaper than Germany, but I haven't checked lately). This is because of a decision that BMW made in the late 1990s to more than double their sales volume in the U.S. They did this because lowering the list price of a 3 series to below $30k had an enormous effect on their sales volume. Volkswagon had already been doing this for years. In other countries, you have people who buy BMWs and people who don't, and neither population is influenced that much by price.

Just my opinion, but as you can tell I have been puzzled by this for awhile.

///M

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There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness." --Dave Barry

The bottom line from an AD's perspective is that the margin is greater and therefore the ability to discount is greater. A lower price from the distributor (and a single distributor controlling all US sales helps with volume from Breitling, especially when it's a connected company) combined with lower salary costs (because AD staff are seen as general retail in many cases rather than specialists).

All of the reasons given contribute to that.

I think taxes play a significant role in this. In Europe, retail prices include roughly ~20% sales tax right off the top depending on country.

In the US, sales tax (if any applies, and always less than in Europe) gets added on top of the MSRP and is "hidden" from the customer. Only the pretax price is advertised. That gives AD's more wiggle room here.

yeah we have the same problem in Australia ( perth ) Western Australia, my AD will in a blue moon have a special on, 20% discount on floor stock only , now in the last 3 years i have known them to have 1 or 2 sales , i guess this is because of the mining boom thanks to China ( lets dig up Australia for iron ore and then we will buy it back ) we seam to have plenty of money here so NO discounts, and i might add an Emergency Mission in Australia rrp $9110.00 in the US $6250 US dollars and i can get 20% of from the US thats $5000.00 US dollars even with the dollar change and freight i get the watch to my door for under $5,700 AU dollars thats a saving of over $3000.00 money in my pocket better than theres.........

and by the way no discount on the EM as discontinued take it or leave it i was told so i left it ...

and at present i think the dollar is around the 90 cent mark so i guess i have 3k to spend

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I shop at (Andrew Michaels Jewelle's )