anyone else have the feeling some of this gets too expensive

[mag1119]

Ohh I have seen the "SWISS" versions of some watches at $1,200! Are these the SAME watches as the $250 versions???

It depends. If you are looking at different versions of the same watch from one of the dealers recommended on this forum, then look for the differences in the movement, and the quality of the build, and of the materials used, that is usually the case. If you are looking at one of the "scammer" websites then you may be paying $1000.00 too much for a $250-300.00 watch. Compare the watch and its' materials with ones found from dealers here. The search button is your best friend.

 

[iluvatar]

I do agree that a lot of the more "expensive" watches bandied about here are likely of higher quality than the run of the mill crazy affordable rep you can find in Asia. I guess a lot depends on how particular you are about certain features ... like swiss movement or genuine sapphire glass which obviously both add to the final price. How that breaks down with regard to the $40 quality rep you can get in Asia versus the $300 rep you can get through the dealers here I'm not entirely sure. Certainly the nice thing about paying a little more through the dealers here is that when they say ETA movement you can pretty much bank on it, and when they say sapphire you can pretty much bank on that ... although I do have a supposedly sapphire rep with a little scratch on the glass that makes me wonder .....

 

[Swatchman]

Given the current state of the Dollar, you could turn
your argument around. The Euro is now close to
$1.50 making reps relatively cheap within the
Euro zone.

Tell your President to stop burning money at the
current rate and you'll probably see declining
prices on reps.

One other thing. If I look back about 2 Years, I've
seen a significant increase in quality. Reps like
the Aquaracer and many others were unthinkable.

Now you can get reps like the Cousteau diver with
AR and all, nearly perfect pams and other great
reps. At the same time you can get the "Best
Sub" at bargain prices.

From my perspective quality has increased faster
than prices. If this continues, you won't see me
complaining...

 

[iluvatar]

Hey Swatchman,

I know some members on this board skew to the pretty far right (US politically speaking) so I guess I risk bringing down a little wrath by engaging in political speech, but that President you speak of ain't no President of mine. I'd just as soon see him strung up by his ankles and beaten with sockful of nickels than have to listen to another self-serving word ooze out of his mouth. And the problem by the way isn't that he's burning money it's that he has absolutely no idea how to manage it or for that matter MAKE it .... really he's failed at every business venture he's ever engaged in. I mean honestly, let's immerse ourselves in a war of questionable virtue with no plan for reconstruction or resolution that'll cost the US people trillions of dollars over the next decade and oh, by the way why don't we slash taxes for all the fatcats in their 20,000 sq. ft. mansions, give them massive rebate checks while the little folk think they won the lottery with their measly $300 token checks and everything will work out just peachy. I don't hate all Republicans but I sure do hate most ... if another one of those dirty right-wing crooks win's election in '08 I might just join you in Europe (I assume) ... perhaps the apocalypse so signified might not make it across the Atlantic.

Okay, that's enough for me ... felt good though

 

[SteveG]

Hey Swatchman,

I know some members on this board skew to the pretty far right (US politically speaking) so I guess I risk bringing down a little wrath by engaging in political speech, but that President you speak of ain't no President of mine. I'd just as soon see him strung up by his ankles and beaten with sockful of nickels than have to listen to another self-serving word ooze out of his mouth. And the problem by the way isn't that he's burning money it's that he has absolutely no idea how to manage it or for that matter MAKE it .... really he's failed at every business venture he's ever engaged in. I mean honestly, let's immerse ourselves in a war of questionable virtue with no plan for reconstruction or resolution that'll cost the US people trillions of dollars over the next decade and oh, by the way why don't we slash taxes for all the fatcats in their 20,000 sq. ft. mansions, give them massive rebate checks while the little folk think they won the lottery with their measly $300 token checks and everything will work out just peachy. I don't hate all Republicans but I sure do hate most ... if another one of those dirty right-wing crooks win's election in '08 I might just join you in Europe (I assume) ... perhaps the apocalypse so signified might not make it across the Atlantic.

Okay, that's enough for me ... felt good though

Amen to that..you took the words right out of my mouth. I totally agree with everything in your post. Bush is a fortunate son that has truely ruined everything he's ever touched.

 

[Bdel]

I think the benefit of the ultimate,prefect modded watch does not outweigh the increse in ocst from $150 to $400.

 

[luisik]

........... Ask yourself, what is my price limit? For me, it is $400.00 - ..........

Everytime i read this in the forums I see the cartel running to their webs to price the last rep available... watever crap it is.
Why people don't ask themselves what is the minimum quality limit to accept?
$400 for a watch breaking in 2 months is simply ridiculous, no matter if it is single, double or tripple AR.

 

[fakemaster]

If anyone wants reason to come into play when it comes to this sickness, your in the wrong hobby.

 

[seank]

@Swatchman I usually sit in the middle with a little Republican tilt but man I couldn't agree with you more. I hope the country comes out and sends a clear message in the upcoming elections. GW has used this country like his own personal toy box for 61/2 years. We won't have a middle class in 25 years if it continues. I have never been so excited to vote for a woman in my life. I can't wait to punch the card and I don't even like Hillary, I just can't wait to get slick Willie back in the White House. Before anyone says what about Barrack I'll just say I think he's still too green. GW thinks that when we run out of money we'll just print more.





Sean K

 

[mag1119]

Dear luisik,
Help me to get your point. I don't think anyone wants or would be willing to accept their watch going out in 2 months, personally, I don't expect my watches to go for at least 4-5 YEARS. I am interested to hear your viewpoint since you picked my quote to rant over. We all would like lower prices, and I will never defend being goughed, but there ARE other factors involved here, what is your take? First, the quality of reps is generally and constantly on the increase, as the buyers want more accurate and reliable pieces, no? Would you agree, or would you prefer less accuracy for a lower price? Secondly, I don't know of any of the listed or recommended dealers who would NOT accept some responsibility for a piece that broke that quickly, or who would not compensate you in some way with communication. If not, I would vote with my wallet and go elsewhere. The dealers with the best reputations are the ones who see most of the business from these forums, correct? Third, the dealers are taking the hit for Customs, or damaged goods, not me. Now the question THEN is: what is YOUR individual limit for the watches you buy, and everyone I'm sure has a different limit. Yours may be higher OR lower. Before you go on (or OFF!!), let's hear your limits, your views and what you expect for the $$$ figure you state. What type of reps do you feel are worth the money and why? My experience has been (over the last 15 years with reps) that there is a certain level of quality one can expect with, say a $50.00 - $100.00 rep, $100-150.00 range, $150-250.00 range, and then say, between $250.00-400.00. You may at any time find a sale or special, or a certain watch may go up or down due to popularity or sales (up or down) of that watch - but movement wise, materials used in construction, and accuracy to gen all add up and differentiate prices. I'm not talking dealer cost in this post (that is another topic by itself), but marketplace prices as they exist now. While I personally consider $400.00 my make or break point (even then the watch had better be special enough to me to justify the cost), there are others who think that is way too much, and who would be happy with a lower cost rep - even if it meant sacrificing something in the way of quality. Others still may say - compared to the price of gens, dropping $500.00-1000.00 or more is alright.

 

[Deuce]

The quality and accuracy should still play a big role in price. I agree though, when you sit back and add up the $$$ on reps......it gets pretty high.

 

[alw]

I´m not there yet, but I have a fear that after a while I´ll be looking at a mighty collection of reps and realize I could have bought a couple of PAMs at the same price.

 

[LIBBY]

I spent my share on reps, only to be upset at the accuracy of them. I'm into building frankens now, much more expensive!

 

[DemonSlayer]

There is high mark-up on the replicas being sold by 'trusted dealers'. Obviously not as high as the scammers who charge ridiculous amounts for their 'swiss made' replicas, but nevertheless still a high mark-up.
I was shocked to learn how much watches that we pay $200 for sell for at watch markets in China namely Guangzhou. Yes the shipping to us, the 'service' of the dealers is all factored in on the price, but surely that isn't worth $100+ dollars per watch is it?

 

[alw]

There is high mark-up on the replicas being sold by 'trusted dealers'. Obviously not as high as the scammers who charge ridiculous amounts for their 'swiss made' replicas, but nevertheless still a high mark-up.
I was shocked to learn how much watches that we pay $200 for sell for at watch markets in China namely Guangzhou. Yes the shipping to us, the 'service' of the dealers is all factored in on the price, but surely that isn't worth $100+ dollars per watch is it?

The 100+ USD is still cheaper than traveling to Guangzhou
But yes, the costs do add up. Still, I´m amazed over and over again what quality can be get at the present prices.

 

[JC7]

good post that will always be relevant.

 

[POTR]

Solution, without traveling to GZ...

Buy as many as you can stand from the vendors at madeinchina dot com .

You'll see everything you could ever want there... including a7750's for $60 and up. Of course some of these vendors will be shipping total crap autos with fake registers and quartz for 7750 money, but then again it's only $60-70. The Subs and MM's and Calatravas and everything else are also $60 and up...

Scrap the ones you don't like, don't want, didn't match what you expected, because there will only be real customer service out of a very small percentage of them.

Add up the costs over a year and divide by the number of actual, acceptable reps you are left with. Add a percentage of your usual salary commensurate with the time you spend searching through meaningless Engrish descriptions and then you will have some idea of what a really good dealer REALLY IS WORTH per watch.

 

[donaldejose]

Might I suggest people look at the Who Has the Best Sub Shootout and use the Rolex Submariner as a likely proxy for all rep watches assuming it represents the range of product produced by the factories and the few individual assemblers that exist.

What can be said from the incomplete results to date?
1. The "best" reps aren't $300, they are over $600. Whether or not they are worth that price to you depends upon whether you simply cannot be satisfied with a watch unless it ranks a 9+ on a scale of 1 to 10. BKLM/WM9 seems to be the king here but that is only for Rolex reps. There are a lot of good reviews of these watches.
2. But you don't need to spend more than around $100 to get a good reliable rep that will be beautiful to look at and fun to use.
3. However, Quality Control will be a serious issue for all lower priced reps making it extremely important to buy from someone who has established a very good track record of watches being delivered without functional defects and still running after a year of use. Fakemaster seems to be the king here if you can be satisfied with a watch whose accuracy to gen ranks less than 9 on a scale of 1 to 10. But he produces a limited range of reps (although many of the most popular). RWI is full of more very good comments about the durability of his products and his customer service than any other dealer.
4. If you want a watch not made by BKLM/WM9 or Fakemaster, you are subject to "the luck of the draw" and may have a good experience or a bad experience since Quality Control is so lacking in the rep factories and among the dealers.

Yes reps can be expensive, but relative to what?
That very expensive $600 rep is still less than 10% of the cost of a gen.
While it is not as good as the gen, it certainly is half as good as the gen.
On that scale it is priced at only 20% of its true value.
I would argue it is very inexpensive.
I am amazed at the tremendous value of reps!

So just decide what your limit is for reps and enjoy them within that limit,
It is possible to set a $350 limit, buy three reps and be very happy with them.

 

[PecMan]

my opinion :
the replica watches are very popular now a days , the factories are selling more and more , so it is simple , they could actually sell the watches a lot cheaper becouse the have a lot of demand and they make more watches , but since they have a lot of demand they rise the prices little by little becouse the people is buying and let me ask u something ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 80% of the people that is crazy about a watch that they cant actually affort becouse it is like 10k they go for a replica? but they want to pay 500 $ for the best one!!!?? they dont want the 100$ one they want the best the one that is closer to the gen !!! the ultimate super mega replica made with a help of the gen !!! ??? so that means more money and satisfaction to the ears of the customer

 

[donaldejose]

To the best of my understanding the best price for a quite accurate to gen Rolex Replica is right at $40.
This is the noobfactory submariner offered by TimeShops for that price.
I don't think Timeshops expects to lose money at that price.
Timeshops is not the factory. There may be someone in between Timeshops and the factory.
So off the factory floor a basic 21J noobfactory submariner must cost around $30. This is an astonishing price for such a visually accurate replica watch.

I would expect the production costs of other factories to be similar.
This means it must cost about $30 to produce a watch and make some profit.
Let that watch go through a few middlemen and you would come to a price of $40 by the time it gets to one of our Trusted Dealers.
Let the dealer double his cost and you arrive at $80.
By the time you pay shipping, paypal or credit card fees you would be in the range of $120 for a replica watch delivered to your door.
But as long as you are paying in the range of $120 for a 21J delivered to you, you are not being ripped off by people making an obscene profit.
Increase that to $150 to $170 if you want an ETA clone or ETA movement inside.
Now because Quality Control is bad and you may lose some to customs, you have to consider that something like 10 to 25% of the watches you order will not be usable for long.
You won't get a refund or any guarantee replacement so their cost has to be distributed to the 9 or 3 good usable ones.
Now you are incurring a real world cost of maybe $132 to S150 per quite accurate to gen replica.
If you want a more accurate and more durable movement you have to add another $30 to $50 so you are now at $160 to $200 for a good looking replica with a good movement inside.
Pay much more than these prices and someone in the chain is making a lot of money off you.

The top of the line are limited production runs of special parts which then are hand assembled and fine tuned for ultimate accuracy to gen.
They are going to cost you $600 or more.
The people who produce these watches are making money.
They don't expect to work for free (neither do you).
But their costs are higher, the time they spend is greater, the attention to detail is greater and the quality control is greater than the normal rep factory.
The are most likely only making a fair return for their time and investment.

As long as one is stying within these parameters, reps are cheap and a very good value.

Personally, I think they should cost more because I think the factory worker should receive higher pay for fewer hours.
I would prefer to pay $10 or $20 more per watch if that money went directly to improving the life of the factory worker.