I agree that greed is a big driver but I’m sure there’s a lot of other things going on. Frustration on the part of the ADs with Rolex and they way they operate. Too few checks and balances. Also Seeing grey dealers make more on a watch than they do also have to be factors.
I think of this as similar to stealing/embezzlement from an employer. There’s a theory they call the opportunity triangle where someone engaging in this behavior needs opportunity, justification, and need and it states that generally these all have to be filled for an AD (or employee) to commit fraud. I know you were just making a passing comment and didn’t want to analyze and over analyze but it was just an opportunity to talk more about motivation.
Sometimes I can understand why Rolex is okay having empty display cases at the AD but I every time I think about it, the rationalizations are old. Like in the world we know today, I can’t think of any good reasons. And we all know Rolex and how they’re adverse to change almost as much as their customers and may be producing limited quantities simply because that’s what they’ve always done. I’m sure they wouldn’t want to flood the market just to realize it didn’t work out for them, only to go back to producing in limited quantities.
it’s an interesting snd complicated business and branding decision and I’ve always been curious about how to calculate the way it impacts the bottom line . It’s tough to include opportunity costs and other factors that are intangible. I know I’m now on a different subject but this curiosity was part of my motivation for starting this thread.