Come on guys this a serious issue.
The complete absence of any QC and the dropshipping practice are causing all these.
No matter what the defenders of the rep market say , as a std average a 40% to 50% (and that's a five years average) of what you get it is either bad or it will die soon after (and not many watchsmiths around to get them fixed).
The more reps you buy the more the chances to get a bad rep.
What happens to sanders happened also to me (...By-Tor was saying that I was complaining too much ).
Almost $2,000 lost here and there. Very frustrating.
My solution and answer to it:
- Be very selective on the reps you buy.
- Observe the model and comments from other members regarding the specific watch and if bad, hold on.
- Choose dealers that do QC (Narikaa, Precious, EuroT, etc...)
- Avoid complicated or heavily modified movements
- Start buying reps from trade with other members.
- Hold on on 3 reps and buy instead a gen (Oris , hamilton, etc...). Many nice gen watches around at the $800 to $1000 price range
Five to three years a go , I was buying 4 to 5 reps a year. Now I buying one or max two and one gen.
The rep watches hobby is a very very expensive hobby. Also needs time, patience and some basic watch skills.