Guangzhou watch market Do's and Dont's - post your experience

[pollux.cc]

Hey guys,

after skimming through earlier posts, I thought I'd open another thread on buying watches in China in general and especially on the wholesale market in GZ. Hope everyone can benefit a little from our experience.

I thought of some Do's and Dont's and I'll end my post with a write-up of my experience that i posted on another forum already

Do's:

do your research beforehand about make and build, also prices online (it's not so much about the savings but the fun of finding your watch)

set yourself a price/piece limit or a goal

use photos to show and compare. Smartphone or Laptop does come in handy

haggling is more prominent in typical tourist stalls. At the wholesale-market, haggling is not so common, but still possible

if buying cheapos:

haggle hard! starting prices are often astronomous. you can pretend to walk away if you're not interested

if buying quality reps:

ask them if they can get you the good stuff. quality reps are never on display, they'll have to fetch it for you or take you to another place

express sincere interest! Only then will they show you the good stuff or fetch it for you, but do tell that you're buying only if the price is right

bring a loupe or buy one, there are enough around at the GZ market

be prepared to pay in cash (obviously)

be careful and watch your stuff! Sometimes they will take you to different locations, from my experience its safe. I like to pick my watches and then go to the ATM after i know how much i need.

have them hand their business card. you might not find their stall again, so you can ask for directions or call

bring a chinese friend

dont...

show disrespect to the seller or his products

cause a scene

expect you can get a quality rep for the price of an apple just because youre nearer at the source.

if they fetch the stuff for you and it isn't right, tell them politely but assertively (dont let them mistake it for haggling)

buy out of guilt for their time

waste your own and their time

Chinese pronounciation for brands can be quite tricky. e. g. TAG HEUER is written 豪雅 (hao2 ya3) and only distinctly resemble "Heuer" in sound. If you want good reps, you will have to ask specifically. If you're really into it, look up the brand names you're interested in. Use google or nciku.com (major brands are listed there)

vocabulary & names:

will edit this another time if enough people show interest you might help me with a list of what you wanna say

location in Guangzhou:

广州站西钟表城 Guangzhou West-Station Watch City (actually just next to the central station. Take the sub to central station to avoid traffic)

Here's a short report I wrote, sorry for any redundance:

Thankfully I travel to Guangzhou on a yearly basis and so it didn't take long until I was combing through the wholesale Watch centers next to the Guangzhou central station, armed only with my laptop and my iphone with detailed photos to show and to compare. I did have extra trouble to find suppliers for the real gems at first (you know, no one keeps the good stuff there in case there's a "raid" and they wouldn't even admit they had that stuff). Their customers are mostly chinese with a few asian and african buyers (Im ethnic chinese). I do not recall encountering a single "white devil" and I did frequent those places quite a bit.

The sellers in the centers buy from their distributor nearby. They do occasionally have some what we would call "beginner watches" behind the corner, but normally thats as good as it gets. If you want to have the gems, you will have to explicitly ask for the best they can get. They must be "borrowed" from the distributor since they can not afford to stock ceramic HBBs and theres usually little demand for good fakes and they for sure wouldn't risk storing them behind their counter, so unless you call them up beforehand chances are you will have to make the same tour again another day. If you don't speak chinese... well all sellers have catalogues with pictures, but it'd be better to bring a chinese friend.

For example, I had them show me a lot of TAG carreras (all had imperfections, they were quite good overall, but the best i had seen i had to order first and wait for them to call me when they had the stock) while only few could get a ceramic HBB Tempus to show.

The TAG had a slightly misaligned bezel and a misaligned index around the 5 o clock dial. They sent it to a watchmaker (i.e. watch repairman) and had it fixed. Same with the HBB Tempus ceramic. The movement had blue screws, i had them exchanged for metal ones and I also had them replace the saw-toothed rotor with a smooth one. Unfortunately it wasn't until i got home that i realized the watchmaker had only replaced the easily accessible visible ones, leaving 3 blue ones which are hardly visible at first because theyre obstructed by the mvmt. I could have gone back but it didnt bother me so much as to wait another hour or so to have them change it. My point is, you have to be very patient and invest a lot of time. Although I wouldnt have wanted to wait anyways, I still failed to spot that there was 1 visible screw left because I grew impatient.

Prices generally vary greatly from the distributor, many sellers have the same watches but they are often not made by the same factory. Usually I couldn't haggle considerably, but it might be different if you come there as a "foreign devil" tongue.gif Prices are considerably lower than the usual HK around the corner "shhh, want rolex?"-run 5 blocks through a maze- shop whose prices may easily be higher than those of the best online traders here. Still, if it's just about the money, and you're buying only one watch, the money you'd save buying there alone doesnt justify the time invested at all. But a RWG enthusiast would have his fun there i guess

[Jkay]

That sums up a lot of thread I have read nicely ... good synopsis.

[cornerstone]

Great post, thank you.

[Watchmeister]

Very interesting thread. If you are not into the thrill of the hunt is there really any reason to buy over there versus in the comfort of your own home? I have always wondered about it convinced that I would screw it up and get home with a busted watch and no way to exchange it. I had also heard that the higher end factories are very restrictive of what is allowed to stay in country - but that may be a myth.

[pollux.cc]

Very interesting thread. If you are not into the thrill of the hunt is there really any reason to buy over there versus in the comfort of your own home? I have always wondered about it convinced that I would screw it up and get home with a busted watch and no way to exchange it. I had also heard that the higher end factories are very restrictive of what is allowed to stay in country - but that may be a myth.

I'm assuming that - if you're not long-term or regularly in China - the opportunity cost of time will be relatively high to you. Lack of abilty to communicate and being generally unacustomed to this environment raises your costs even higher.

It's fine if you're casually shopping. But it will not likely get your specific high quality rep you want. But then again if you're a serious headcase like many here you might as well fly to GZ just to do that.

Personally, I would take retailing on the GZ market over online shopping any day. Besides being able to physically inspect the goods, most importantly I'm afraid of customs risk. And since I'm there at least once a year I can avoid that.

edit: ok obviously most orders to europe are sent via CN-UK-your destination

Ive actually never ordered online. I fear for a complete loss + possible fine if my parcel is inspected. According to a documentary I've seen, every single air parcel to Germany is to be opened and inspected - no exceptions. Well in reality, some seem to slip through. From my personal experience, MOST packages I receive will have been inspected. I just find it too risky.

[Dave123]

Interesting post,though i would save my trip to China for viewing chicks,not watches. But hey,both can be done online...

Some online dealers have a delivery guarantee so no worries there,but i'm sure being in GZ,it would be interesting to check out the watch market at the source.

[-=MarK=-]

Now I think this same like pollux.cc, why ?

My first order from Miss King was stolen on way from UK to Poland, she send new watches again but put it directly to shiping box w/o any hidding, parcel was inspected by polish customs and they ask me that I explain difference between my custom declaration and this 'two mechanical watches inside box' - I answer this is not my shipment sender must make mistake and please send it back. Still frozen 560USD.

Because one of this waches was gift for my father I make quick second order to Miss King and order on 24 August payed CC' this time directly shipment to my friend in UK.

She promiss me QC pictures we have today 30 August and any email from her with QC pictures - next 300USD frozen ;(. 8 September my friend is going for month holidays ....

I can buy tickets [two way] from Germany to Hong Kong with price around 440EUR and spend 3-4 days in Asia with my wife or make stop over in HK on my trips to Taipei, for me any problem with Visa on HK/Shenzhen border. Even as prices will be the same like forum 'wow, ahhh trusted dealers' I think this will be better for me. End of September I make stop over in BKK and I will buy from PWC if he want to sell me ... next time I will book stopover on HK.

[pollux.cc]

Interesting post,though i would save my trip to China for viewing chicks,not watches. But hey,both can be done online...

Some online dealers have a delivery guarantee so no worries there,but i'm sure being in GZ,it would be interesting to check out the watch market at the source.

a local chick was the reason why I suddenly had no time nor interest in the reps and the GZ market altogether. Just right after I had established my contacts and was aiming for a lot more watches sigh

so beware of conflicting goals.

as for ordering online, even if there are guarantees, theres still risk involved and if problems occur they too can be quite unnerving at the least