I have been interested for years in watches and have owned gen Omegas in years gone by. I now have a collection of Marathon, Victorinox and LumiNox military models that I rotate and wear daily. I decided a few months to explore the rep market and, fortunately, found this forum in the process. I read everything I could find on this forum about watches, dealers, deals gone bad and how to approach the selection and ordering process in a way that would minimize the chance of frustration and $ loss. I then joined RWI and became a supporting member because we should all support the efforts here and the benefits we get from the site. I have not posted much because I had nothing really to offer at that point and did not want to just post to build a post count. I eventually found answers to all my questions and also avoided getting flamed for not doing my research! :thumbup: The reasoning for sending people off to do that research is very sound, there is a wealth of information here if you just look. Here are the things I did right:
In closing I would encourage all Newbies:
- Learned the language of this hobby and other details from RWI.
- Learned how the rep ordering process and product evaluation effort works and how many sharks are actually out there waiting for you.
- Decided what level of rep detail and inaccuracies were acceptable to me balanced off with the level of investment I wanted to make. (I learned along the way that these are really related).
- Became a Supporting Member because sites like this are wonderful but expensive to maintain.
- After all the above and deciding on what I wanted, I chose Ryan at InTime for my first order, a Sub 116610 LN black ceramic LF 1:1 Best Edition. This was a very fortunate move on my part because Ryan was very patient and helpful to me through my first order. I got my Sub less that 2 weeks after I ordered and really love it! It is everything I hoped it would be. It was worth the time and effort to get it right the first time!
- I was so pleased that the day after I got the first order I ordered a Sub 116619 LB Blue Ceramic 1:1 Noob Best Edition V2. I got it yesterday only 12 days after my order and that, my friends, is good customer service! I love this model and am thinking over which watch to get my wife.
- As far as I am concerned, it would take extraordinary circumstances for me to use any dealer other than InTime and Ryan.
- I will work on my photo sharing capabilities and get some pics out. Go on Ryan's site to see them now.
In closing I would encourage all Newbies:
- Do your product and dealer research to make sure you get the watch you want without getting ripped off!
- Use only Trusted Dealers like Ryan and use them often enough to build up a degree of rapport and trust. Be as loyal to your selected dealer as you would like them to be to you.
- Enjoy the hobby and be nice to people, this is supposed to be fun. I realize that there are some people who will never be happy in any deal they do and the best thing to do is avoid them. Ryan is a good guy and will help you, be nice to him.