Rolex SA Is At War With Privet Sector
Rolex is not just the most famous watch brand, but it is also a very good money investment. Don’t get me wrong – any Rolex watch devalues with the time, but not as much as other watches. For instance a 30-year old Rolex 16014 will cost about 50% of its initial price. It is a very good “residual value”, certainly better than any other commodity on the market today (especially cars).
As a result the market is saturated with second-hand Rolex watches. You can purchase them with aftermarket additions (or 100% original if that is you goal), fully serviced and polished for much less than a brand new Rolex would cost in the store. Obviously, the watch collectors want their watches to be 100% original; it is a very honorable and understandable goal. But for the rest of us – just common people who want to have a luxury watch, but don’t want to pay thousands of dollars to get them the way that they want it? These people have to purchase “customized” watches. I have to admit that aftermarket additions are not all made equal, but the general rule “you get what you paid for” is usually true in most cases.
Remember good old days when eBay was a global “flea market” where you could find virtually anything. Well, these days are over. In the last decade eBay has grew into a massive corporation. And what corporations do? They try to maximize profits and minimize expenses; and while doing that they step on the throats of little fishes in the sea without even noticing them. This is the nature of any big business and there is absolutely nothing wrong with it. But in the last couple of months a new tendency has emerged: eBay started siding with other corporations in order for them to protect their market. EBay has launched a war against all the little used Rolex retailers. Let’s look at these events to prove my point:
- EBay has set a new rule stating that no new seller is allowed to list items with the word Rolex in the product subject line. Explanation was that this somehow will protect customers from counterfeits. I contacted eBay myself about this issue 2 years ago, and no eBay employee could explain to me how is it the reduction of the number of sellers will help their cause.
- EBay prohibited sellers from accepting any form of payment other than PayPal (and a few other minor “authorized” payment processors). Everyone on eBay lost their independence and got stacked with PayPal-eBay (which is the same company). The explanation was …. Exactly the same – “to protect the consumer”.
- PayPal start closing accounts of the sellers that sell Rolex watches or Rolex accessories. This is the most recent development and it is still in process. At the present moment PayPal has put three of my regular customers out of business. And in the near future this news will come to many more eBay sellers.
- Future action – closing left over eBay accounts that somehow survived the war.
Why is eBay doing it? EBay is losing millions in revenue from the sellers. It does not make any sense. Who are the winners in this war? EBay claims that the consumers will win, because they will be protected against dishonest sellers. Maybe, but the biggest winner in this game is Rolex SA. This company will be able to continue selling their diamond dials for $1500-2500 each with virtually no competition. Their diamond bezels will be sold for $3000 and more. But the most important is that Rolex will sell more new watches. EBay on other hand will have no consumer complaints – if there is no product – there is nothing to complain about. And, most likely, eBay has got paid by Rolex SA to conduct these actions. It is much better for eBay as a business to get a lump sum of money from one big company than generating many small amounts from various sellers.
How does the consumer benefits from all these? No explanation here. Consumers will lose.
Sincerely,
S. Scootsky
