Ethical thoughts on buying reps

[RepPossessed]

There are many much worse things going on already, check where Rolex Omega and Chanel’s gold source comes, drug kingpins launder their money to slave gold from their own shell company and sell it up to the US and it’s bought by all the common luxury brands.

The rep watch trade is thriving and creating hundreds of jobs, it’s not like they have children digging with their hands in dirt for lithium.

These parts factories where they work are also producing parts for hundreds of gen brands, they don’t exclusively make parts for reps lol, so if you think badly of it then just don’t buy watches at all.

if the parts makers didn’t make rep parts the workers would be working in the same conditions.

Let’s not even start on coffee, avocados and cashew nuts ffs

 

[Teamjlf]

Many workers all over the globe suffer less than ideal working conditions. You’ll see it in every country and in every industry. Just because something is regulated and authorised doesn’t mean your dollar is indexed and you get paid enough to put food on the table in every pay run.

The biggest issue with reps ( any rep product )is the blatant brand and identity theft of the product. When this occurs it’s not just the brand that suffers, it’s the entire supply chain that supports it that takes a bit. Plenty of people in the Rolex and omega supply chain globally that are likely on less than ideal working conditions.

I have plenty of rep watches, it’s a game of fools. If you’re trying to fool the observer , that’s fine. If you’re trying to fool yourself then you’re worse off than the fools making them who at least know what they’re doing…..

 

[Owl1789]

Most brands here have adapted the OECD framework for sourcing raw materials but obviously you can't compare reps and gens in terms of sourcing guidelines and human rights due diligence. For the price tag of a couple of hundred or thousand you get the most bang for your buck in the rep world as far as I understood. It would be foolish to expect any governance on these matters from rep producers.

Given the attention to detail in these rep movement I think the workers are well educated in their craft, so in my humble opinion its highly unlikely these reps are coming from a sweat shop.

 

[eBoy]

There's almost no product nowadays that doesn't directly or indirectly, in one way or another and to varying degrees contain parts that were manufactured and aquired to/in unfair conditions, originating from exploitative labor which was performed under circumstances sometimes bordering to or even fully constituting slavery.

That's just a sad fact of life. Not saying that everything in our power shouldn't be done to improve those circumstances, but I'm just pointing out that if you have doubts about the morality of replica manufacturing, you should first give up driving your bicycle, motorcycle or car, not buy and own smartphones or computers, stop buying diamonds for your Missus and gen watches for yourself, eat only food that you cultivate and harvest yourself and move out of your house and live in a self-knitted tent from organic fabric that you made yourself.

 

[Winni1611]

Once saw someghing about this in TV. They also asked the children who worked in those factories and the answer was : this is the only possibilty for us to earn money for our family and not staying hungry . All that people in rich countries who want to "help" us don't think about that.
Was a point I had never seen.

 

[muiramas]

Once saw someghing about this in TV. They also asked the children who worked in those factories and the answer was : this is the only possibilty for us to earn money for our family and not staying hungry . All that people in rich countries who want to "help" us don't think about that.
Was a point I had never seen.

And it’s an important one. Usually balance and context is missing when western countries try and project their own moral and societal codes on others.

In poorer countries which lack healthcare and other infrastructure the only way families can survive is for younger family members to earn income as the older members are simply too frail or sick to work. This has been the way for 1,000’s of years.

Change things at the top, and you’ll fix them at the bottom. Although given that the richest nation in the world has a complete joke of a healthcare system, that seems incredibly unlikely.

 

[Got20Mate]

And it’s an important one. Usually balance and context is missing when western countries try and project their own moral and societal codes on others.

In poorer countries which lack healthcare and other infrastructure the only way families can survive is for younger family members to earn income as the older members are simply too frail or sick to work. This has been the way for 1,000’s of years.

Change things at the top, and you’ll fix them at the bottom. Although given that the richest nation in the world has a complete joke of a healthcare system, that seems incredibly unlikely.

Couldn't have said it better myself. Easy to cast judgement without placing all the applicable environmental factors alongside the individual and the circumstances they live in.

 

[Owl1789]

And it’s an important one. Usually balance and context is missing when western countries try and project their own moral and societal codes on others.

In poorer countries which lack healthcare and other infrastructure the only way families can survive is for younger family members to earn income as the older members are simply too frail or sick to work. This has been the way for 1,000’s of years.

Change things at the top, and you’ll fix them at the bottom. Although given that the richest nation in the world has a complete joke of a healthcare system, that seems incredibly unlikely.

However I do think that the moral and ethic codes of western countries should be a global benchmark and it actually is if you look at the OECD framework some companies have adapted. This argument of local workers is sometimes also heard in Columbia or Bolivia where they claim that no other work than harvesting of coca plants is available. This might be true but it should not be seen as a justification in my eyes... Long way to go in some countries.

 

[p0pperini]

However I do think that the moral and ethic codes of western countries should be a global benchmark

Hmm.

 

[OI812]

Do you have an iPhone? Wear Nikes? Ever bought a t shirt from a retail store in the mall? Unfortunately it’s a fact of life, goods are mass produced in poorer countries so people in more affluent countries can buy them. My guess is the rep industry is exactly the same …

......"globalism".....

 

[OI812]

I think I’ve been clumsy in trying to make my point, in my opinion more ethically dubious things happen at higher levels with the wealthy, than a normal guy buying a rep watch. Obviously the world is connected and we can get into it all ore, but generally if you’re buying goods, someone has been exploited along the way, and that’s just the sad truth of it.

Have you checked the GDP growth over the last a quarter be century of these "exploited" countries?

Prior to China's admittance into the WTO in '01 it was estimated at 65 to 67 billion..... now it's in the trillions (from memory... double check facts). Vietnam? India? etc etc..... that's offshored wealth being transferred..... high paying middle class jobs, etc. One
economy/middle class citizenry being weakened bolstering another.

Certainty boosts the profits of corporations (and all that implies), but, at the expense of the middle class.....off the backs of the middle class. Not to mention the obvious loss of sovereignty, both national and, most importantly, of the individual.

BTW, I'm a long way from a socialist..... or worse. But those are are simply the facts.....

And you're worried watches?

 

[godsent188]

Although I buy reps, obvious from my presence on this forum, I'd like to argue the following. People buying reps aren't doing anything wrong. There will always be a market in china whether people on this forum buy anything or not. People making reps, however, are partaking in intellectual theft. Although they may not be stealing money out of the pockets of big designers, or even stealing customers as one can always argue that the customers could never afford the original stuff, repmakers are still thieves in the sense that they steal designs. Imagine being a musician and putting your hard work into making songs for the public, only for someone to rip it off and provide it on SoundCloud for essentially near-free prices. I only buy non-designer, non-hype quality reps without branding though so

 

[p0pperini]

Imagine being a musician and putting your hard work into making songs for the public, only for someone to rip it off and provide it on SoundCloud for essentially near-free prices

Imagine being a musician, and putting your hard work into making songs for the public, and then refusing to let the public listen to your songs unless they spent thousands of $$ buying tracks from your back catalogue, and other stuff you weren't really interested in listening to, in order to have the vague chance that the musician would eventually allow you to buy their track. But there's no guarantee they will.

Nah, Rolex lost any sympathy/loyalty I may have had when I found they aren't interested in me walking into a store and buying their product.

 

[Got20Mate]

Imagine being a musician, and putting your hard work into making songs for the public, and then refusing to let the public listen to your songs unless they spent thousands of $$ buying tracks from your back catalogue, and other stuff you weren't really interested in listening to, in order to have the vague chance that the musician would eventually allow you to buy their track. But there's no guarantee they will.

Nah, Rolex lost any sympathy/loyalty I may have had when I found they aren't interested in me walking into a store and buying their product.

Imagine wanting to buy something and then being told you have to wait years, it's completely bizarre how they've done that to the market.

 

[TESLA760]

Imagine wanting to buy something and then being told you have to wait years, it's completely bizarre how they've done that to the market.

Happens with a lot of luxury good now. Cars, etc

 

[Owl1789]

At this point its sheer arrogance what some of these ADs are doing to new customers…

 

[Owl1789]

Nah, Rolex lost any sympathy/loyalty I may have had when I found they aren't interested in me walking into a store and buying their product.

If you ever find your way to Switzerland let me know I‘ll introduce you to some stores

 

[babachrome27]

Everyone has their own opinion on this... Plus, you don't have to care what others think.

Freedom of choice is given, I doubt there will be a clear agreement on this "issue"

 

[Got20Mate]

Happens with a lot of luxury good now. Cars, etc

You're not wrong at all - stifling demand etc. I suppose I just see it different for a brand that bangs out a million watches a year.

 

[muiramas]

However I do think that the moral and ethic codes of western countries should be a global benchmark...

Thats because you haven't understood that for a lot of the world, your morals and ethics are abhorrent.