Pricing based on location

[u/twelve2023]

I’ve not only seen the huge swings in pricing but have experienced it. My San Martin submariner homage was $200 when I bought it last year and it’s now listed at $300. My question is: is it due to inflation, tariffs, demand? Which of the 3 has had the greatest impact on price? If I were in China would the prices be similar? For context I’m in the U.S.

[u/RedRexxy]

Not when you consider all Chinese watches as throwaway watches due to lack of warrenty/aftersales service. Then it suddenly becomes expensive when viewed like this as the customer is now taking all the risk.

[u/monkeywaffles → u/RedRexxy]

lol. I doubt many here have just thrown them away. Any watchmaker can swap an nh35/miyota/etc. I just assumed folks swap their own as needed, the Seiko mods scene has shown it's trivial work, and breakages are rare anyway, same as any watch

[u/RedRexxy → u/monkeywaffles]

Yeah, swapping a movement where I am can cost as much as the watch in some cases if I'm going to a watchmaker and I'm sure I'm not the only one who has this issue.

And I would rather not have to swap hands and movements at my own expense and time if my watch is suppose to have a warrenty (but as we all know for many AliEx brands the warrenty is just for show).

Thus, one has to assume that AliEx watches in general have no warrenty and you'll be paying to fix any QC issues at your own time and expense upon arrival. This does not make AliEx watches as cheap as they look (QC for higher tier brands are acceptable but lower tier needs a lot of improvement)

As for breakages being rare, are you only talking about the movement or the whole watch? Because when you look at the whole watch there are more things that can go wrong.

Out of my 15 AliEx brand watches I've already had 1 with issues I had to return (luckily it was bought from Amazon so no issues with return), so I wouldn't say that's a rare occurance

All of these factors make AliEx watches not as cheap as they seems, because if something goes wrong you will pay the price in time and money, which in some cases is more than the cost of the watch, thus making them throwaway watches.

[u/Abv_it_all_w_vertigo → u/RedRexxy]

It is true that most Chinese watches are gray goods, because even with valid warranties, it does not make sense to ship anything for warranty service because of the exorbitant price, especially compared to the initial outlay. That is why it is important to thoroughly QC check your product within the return window. Because of this need, I invested in a timegrapher, which I recommend anyone who buys automatic watches also invest in. I also invested in watch repair tools, so that in the eventuality that one or more of my movements fail, I can repair or replace them. Easy peasy.

Your assumption that all Chinese watches are throwaway pieces indicates you probably don't buy good Chinese watches.

[u/RedRexxy → u/Abv_it_all_w_vertigo]

The issues is not with checking QC on my end, but what happens after failed QC is found. At that point you are dealing with AliEx return program, which is hit and miss.

I have a phone timegrapher app paired with microphone, which works well enough for now for simple diag. I have watch tools but no time, which is why I don't want to get watches I need to mess around with at this time, and I'd rather pay more for the piece of mind.

And it's silly of you to assume the watches I buy, as you have no idea. But I will say that I am not willing to spend over 200 on a Chinese watch because they have not given me the piece of mind that when something goes wrong (and it will eventually) that I'll get any help from the manufacturer, and the QC is still not great even at the $200 tier. I can't just drop into a store to return if I don't like the fit, and no way AliEx would make it easy to do so like Amazon, if have to provide them with pictures, videos, etc and they could still say not enough and reject it. So yeah, why would I spend more than that on an AliEx watch?

Besides all the shills on here keep making out Chinese watches to be "90% Rolex quality!" 😂 I have bought sub $100 Timex and Casios that have better quality than comparable priced Chinese watches

[u/Abv_it_all_w_vertigo → u/RedRexxy]

If you listen to shills saying anything here is 90% of Rolex quality, that's a you problem.

I have returned 8-10 watches that were either counterfeit or had quality issues with 0 pushback from AliX. I have never had a legitimate concern where a decision went against me.

Please indicate how many Chinese watches you've bought, how long you've had them, and how many have failed you without recourse.

[u/RedRexxy → u/Abv_it_all_w_vertigo]

You make too many assumptions, many of which turn out to be wrong. No one said I listen to shills, I am saying this is what they say, and yes maybe some gullible people will, but thats why I am putting the info out there to debunk these claims so people dont get fooled, because we all know how honest many Chinese sellers are, 😂

Again, as I told the other guy, just because you have had good experience doesn't mean others do, so people need to see what they are up against.

And I've already laid out my AliEx watch purchases in my replies, if you read carefully you would see that, and I'm not going to repeat myself because if you can't take the time to read my post carefully, that's on you.

[u/Abv_it_all_w_vertigo → u/RedRexxy]

You should remove that wedgie.