I saw that there have been a number of previous threads on this forum requesting information about buying replica watches in Malaysia, with a focus on the Petaling Street market in KL's Chinatown. I've put this brief report together based on my recent experiences.
Background
Firstly about myself- I have lived and worked in the Asian region on and off for more than ten years and am a fairly frequent visitor to KL. My objective for these trips is to secure 30-40 high quality replicas for resale to aquaintances in my current country of residence (South Pacific region). I typically buy online from the network of reputable watch resellers promoted on this forum, supplemented by the occasional trip to Guangzhou Watch Market when the opportunity arises. This is a hobby for me; not a primary means of income. Shipping costs to my country of residence are very high, which makes buying watches when I travel to Asia an attractive option for me.
A bit about Petaling St. Market and what you will see...
It's located in central KL, close to the Maharajalela monorail station. It operates from about 11.00am til late at night. From about 6.00pm it is considerably more busy than during the day due to a greater influx of tourists. Many watch sellers have both day market and night market fixed locations. Previous posters have indicated that all the replica watch stalls are controlled by 3-4 companies; I concur with this observation. When you walk through the market, 90-95% of the replica watches on display are absolute crap. This is not the fault of the seller as they are merely responding to customer demand. Most tourists who come to the market and buy a watch do so as a spontaneous purchase and buy a cheap 'branded' watch as a joke. Most of the cheaper watches are 'fantasy' watches with a swiss brand stamped ad-hoc on the watch face with a quartz movement and a plastic/ poor quality steel band. They retail to the tourists for about USD $30+ approx. and seem to sell like hotcakes. Above this mass-market junk are up to 3 more different 'qualities' of watch available, that are displayed in the following fashion:
i) Wooden display cases with sliding glass doors - Low quality replica watches with quartz movement or low end mechanical movement (A 21J etc.) Chronograph movements typically don't function as they should and are performing day/date or similar characteristics instead.
ii) Aluminium 'flight' boxes with the brand of replica watch enscribed on each in permanent marker. These cases are not always on display and may be located under a bench or in a cupboard etc. These flight boxes contain medium quality replicas with Asian date/ date movements. Chronograph function may or may not function as they should, see note above. Quality control is poor.
iii) Lockable solid stainless steel cabinets with drop bolts containing drawers with 'Swiss' watches of a similar standard to the higher quality watches that this forums recommended dealers supply. Movements are Asian copies of swiss movements, or genuine Swiss ETA/ Selita's. Not many stall's carry this highest quality range.
A few tips on how to buy a quality replica watch without too much hassle
i) Don't be in a hurry! Assume that it will take 2-3 hours before you get what you want.
ii) Wear a nice watch when you go to the market. The first thing a watch seller does when a customer enters their shop is look at their watch so that they can judge what type of watch the buyer may be interested in purchasing. Wearing a good watch does not mean that you will necessary pay more money because you look more wealthy, etc. (Plus any reader of this forum already knows the internet price for any watch as a starting point), it simply differentiates you from the majority of their customers so that when you request to view a higher quality item, they will not think you are wasting their time.
iii) Be prepared to be lied to. Some sellers will try to sell a watch containing an Asian movement as a genuine Swiss etc. They will take the back off a watch if you request it. Clearly anyone viewing this forum has enough information available here to help them differentiate between all the different movements and qualities for a given watch type; if in doubt, assume it's not Swiss and negotiate accordingly. Many sellers don't know much about what they are selling, they are just young men, often migrants who are working on commission; however there are a few good knowledgable Chinese/ Malay sellers in Petaling St.
iv) Many stalls will not have the high quality watches available for viewing and sellers will run elsewhere to obtain the item you are looking for. This is a nuisance as the whole point of visiting Asia to buy watches is to peruse a large selection and pick what you want, which may not necessarily be what you came there to buy in the first place. There are a very few stalls that have a reasonable selection of high quality watches available for viewing which thus avoids the time consuming pattern of someone running to get a watch, you inspect it, find a defect and they run off to get another one etc. Once you build a rapport with a good seller they don't mind you rummaging through their drawers of high quality watches to see what takes your fancy. Suggest you go to the market during the day when it is less busy however, so that they have more time to serve you and keep a lookout for the authorities. Police don't seem to be bothered about the low quality junk on display, but sellers are noticably more cautious when the high quality stuff is on display.
v) The quality. I cannot overemphasise this more; check everything! Check chronograph sub-dials, screws, hand/ number alignment, stuck rotors, dates that don't increment etc. Quality control is weak to non-existant at this market, so you will often have to get the seller to run around to get 2-3 copies of the same watch so that you can pick a decent one. As an example, at my last visit I wanted to buy 2 * Omega PO Chronographs seconds@ 6, orange bezel with steel strap and A7750 movement. The first watch they showed me had a stuck rotor, the second made a sound like a broken gearbox and stopped when I turned it upside down, and the third had a pearl that looked like it had been aligned by a drunk pirate. It can require patience and a few cold drinks before you get what you want.
vi) The price - Make sure you are armed with the current prices of the watches you may be interested in from the internet suppliers recommended by this forum before you go shopping. Unlike the Guangzhou wholesale watch market, which is largely fixed price, the Petaling St. sellers expect you to bargain and their starting price can be quite high. My approach is to take a smartphone with a local SIM to the market with me so that I can double check the internet price of an item if i'm not sure. I will often share this info. with the seller to obtain a roughly 20-30% discount from the internet prices listed. Another tip is to go early and be their first customer. In Asian culture some superstition dictates that the first customer of the day will dictate the success of trading for the rest of the day, therefore the seller is more likely to reduce their margin further to make a sale so that they receive good luck for the rest of the trading day. Losing the first customer of the day is considered a bad omen.
Buying watches at this market means that you foregoing the benefits from buying from a reputable internet supplier such as DOA warranty, waterproofing, time calibration etc. You will not buy watches here as cheap as Guangzhou watch market, and the selection is not as good; but it is good fun.
Summary and further info.
When buying watches in Asia for yourself, you start to appreciate the service that the reputable internet resellers recommended by this forum provide to their customers. I know their prices can be high, but there is quite a lot of work involved in selecting quality pieces for resale. You typically require at least three levels of quality control before you identify a watch suitable for purchase. I've developed a simple checklist that I go through for each watch before purchase so that I don't make mistakes.
For those that are interested, I can recommend one of the main companies who sell watches at Petaling St market. This company has 7 stalls in the market (each stall is marked with a number), and one of their stalls holds a number of high quality items which is rare. This stall is not in the main part of the market, it's off on a side street. Nowadays, I just go straight there, though it took me a 1/2 day of frustration to find this place the first time I visited the market. If you want the details, PM me, and I will e-mail you a scanned copy of their business card which has their contact details and various stall locations. Good luck!
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