What's the mark up?

[Ibn_Hasaf]

I think some of you are confusing curiosity with judgment. I do not begrudge my vendor for making a profit; I expect her to. However, I am a curious sort.

I am very attracted to the, relatively, new field of behavioral economics for a similar reason. As I read an interesting article on the profitability of a certain enterprise I was able to distance any attempt to judge from my attempt to understand (really good summary of the profit chain in a particular criminal activity is found in the book freakonomics); and to be clear, no I am not comparing the two activities). It is not cognitive dissonance. It is simply the quest for knowledge. Frequently I seek to find information, without condemning or condoning, simply to add to my understanding.

Again, there is not an attempt not judge, just an interest in information for its own sake. I expect each person in the chain to make a profit. If I saw a complete breakdown I doubt it would ahve a large impact on my buying decision. So, while I find:

Personally, if I buy a rep for $300, I don't care whether the dealer made $299 profit or $1 profit. I really don't.

to be an interesting position I do not share it.

I do care, not from a the point of view of impacting my buying decision, as such:

it really doesn't matter what the markup is, if you want it you will buy it if you can afford it and if you can't afford it, tough shit that's the price.

isn't really applicable.

I don't share this opinion:

Now I personally wouldn't like to think all of our dealers are living large for selling us watches....

I don't care, in the sense that I am not bothered by; however, the reality is that, in order to better my understanding of people in general, I would be curious if they are.

 

[sgtguk]

Last time I looked at a thread similar to this people started comparing our reps with the sterile pieces you can pick up on the bay.....way cheaper! I'm sure whatever the mark up is they make that it's worth the risk for them otherwise they simply wouldn't do it.
Whether they are riding around in lambos or not, I doubt it but if they are so be it. My 2c.......

 

[trailboss99]

Whether they are riding around in lambos or not, I doubt it

Don't doubt it, WM9/George was, he died in it.

 

[jeffw69]

It's disgusting to count money in somebody's wallet.

+1

 

[Rudy40]

Don't doubt it, WM9/George was, he died in it.

That's a shame. Would like to known George.:facepalm: May he rest in peace.

I think these dealer's take a huge risk with there life's. The trouble that can be put forth on these dealers is crazy. And I am sure some of these dealer's has children and family and bill's just like the rest of us. So I don't mind paying the prices they charge. They are putting there life in danger every day!
:cheers:

 

[mitchbaria]

Now I see the confusion this damn Swype keyboard changed "would" to wouldn't ......I personally would like to see all of our dealers living large off selling us watches..... anyway,,,, it's just a thought and your right about the markup in the jewelry business but as such the markup doesn't necessarily translate into huge profit as the cost of a brick and mortar store is high, in fact my father was a jeweler for 43 years and didn't really see high profits until his store was paid for.... but his freedom was never at risk for selling his wares either......

 

[Raddave]

......I personally would like to see all of our dealers living large off selling us watches.......

+1

Even if they were paying 50 -100 (which i highly doubt)and selling at 200-500,
They are providing a valuable service, locating, sourcing, shipping, as well as weeding out the bad watches, answering ALOT of questions, etc.

These guys should be getting rich, they are all highly motivated individuals, without whom we would be spending alot more money and getting alot less than we pay for.

And bottom line... you dont have to pay the prices they ask, you can always shop eleswhere.....

 

[Capt. Obvious]

+1

Even if they were paying 50 -100 (which i highly doubt)and selling at 200-500,
They are providing a valuable service, locating, sourcing, shipping, as well as weeding out the bad watches, answering ALOT of questions, etc.

+1

To be honest I would not be very surprised if the mark up was indeed 100%, (although I have no clue whatsoever), but think of it this way:
Would YOU risk it for a mer $50 a watch?
That means at 20 watches a month you've made $1000 (peanuts), and that you'd need to sell at least 100 watches/month to make worthwile money.

However to sell that amount you will need to hire help and that comes at a cost.

Also keep in mind that TDs need to make a profit EVEN when they have special offers and sales, so I personally reckon dealers mark up is 100%.

But I could be completely off...

 

[nycgtr]

I've been to a well known area in china that sells reps (they nick name the place Watch City in Chinese). You pick what you want he'll get it for you. The pricing if I were to covert them isn't much different (little lower) than what we pay these TDs even with haggling them a bit. Not everyone can just go buy these reps from the basement/factory whatever you want to call it. Anytime there is a middle man there is profit to be made hence a markup. I am not sure how much dough our TDs are rolling in, but for the Average person in china 50 USD is decent chunk of change. Someone with a good job only makes 10k USD a year give or take. In China you have the super wealthy and everyone these that's about it.

 

[Capt. Obvious]

Yeah I suppose I didn't take into account cost of living there...

 

[mitchbaria]

+1

Even if they were paying 50 -100 (which i highly doubt)and selling at 200-500,
They are providing a valuable service, locating, sourcing, shipping, as well as weeding out the bad watches, answering ALOT of questions, etc.

These guys should be getting rich, they are all highly motivated individuals, without whom we would be spending alot more money and getting alot less than we pay for.

And bottom line... you dont have to pay the prices they ask, you can always shop eleswhere.....

That was my point exactly! I've formed a very nice relationship with my go to dealer,,,,, and I'd hate to think he's risking his freedom for $50.,,,,,when I first got into this I really didn't know the consequences involved in this for the dealers,,, but now to be perfectly honest, it bothers me a bit..... I'm not going to stop buying because they're going to sell them Regardless.....but at least I'd like to think that they're earning enough to make it worth the risk if that's possible.....

 

[wepiii]

What are the consequences?

 

[Raddave]

What are the consequences?

Of them getting caught?

Million dollar fines, life in prison, or death.

 

[Rudy40]

Well let's think about it for a minute. If the dealer is popular like Angus and is on three different forum's . And has crap load of orders! And he only makes 50 dollars per watch. And you can amagin how many order he has. Thats alot of money. But he has to pay his staff. His runners( To fill the orders packing shipping QC etc.) He might be making alot money.But running all that is alot of over head. And alot of risk. It takes alot of planning to pull all that off. That would be stressfull as hell. LOL!! Imagin all the email's and complant's! LOL!! Not to menchon the risk!

 

[mydnytrydr]

Of them getting caught?

Million dollar fines, life in prison, or death.

Why do you think they call our hobby "The Darkside"?...:cny:

 

[mitchbaria]

I wish someone would document all of the persecutions that the people in the replica business have suffered and do a Ale type study of it and sticky it to FAQ's for all noobs to read where maybe they'd think a little harder before they start becoming a pain in the ARSE when things don't go just like they assumed when they decided to purchase $300. gen,,,,, Prior to the filling of disputes and all the other crap they do they may consider that they may be assisting in getting someone a death penalty or life in prison with all of the hell they're raising......

 

[MauiDave]

I have loved the dark side my whole life. So if they wanna take the risk I'm glad they do. As far as mark up if you pay it they charge it. It's called demand driven pricing. Welcome to economics 101 have a seat get out your #2 pencil and start taking notes!

 

[mitchbaria]

It definitely changes your theory of economics 101 when the person selling the product could be killed or permanently imprisoned when caught... This ain't Walmart .....just sayin.

 

[tonymission]

They should be getting double what they're picking it up for at wholesale from the factories. I'd be surprised if was only $50 a watch... maybe that's their estimated net profit after they factor expenses etc.
Either way, if you're at the top of your industry -- whether it's roofs or watches -- you should be making a lot of money.

 

[MauiDave]

It definitely changes your theory of economics 101 when the person selling the product could be killed or permanently imprisoned when caught... This ain't Walmart .....just sayin.

Death sentence or not demand drives the price. You don't buy price goes down. The only other factor is supply. Be it batteries at Walmart or crack on a street corner. Even nuclear ballistic missiles on the black market are price set by supply and demand.
Of course I could ad the fact it is illegal to sell making it a dangerous trade causes supply to go down thus increasing demand and raising price. But that's economics 102.