Interesting Business Model - Rent a Genuine Luxury Watch

[Quiglda]

I have the utmost respect for ALL the members of RWG and thought I would ask this question to gain insight and experience and I am thinking of starting\investing in a luxury goods business.

Have you every used any of these Rent a Watch sites like D & C Watch company?  What was you experience?

Would you consider a subscription model for a web site that offered a large inventory of luxury genuine watches for a monthy fee?  If it was tiered by cost of watch what would you be willing to pay?

This is really hypothetical just to show the concept and not really reflect the cost of the watchers.  You could get a different once every 3 - 4 months.

 

Bronze  $150 - $200 per month  Watches in $5,000 - $8,000 range

Silver  $300 - $500 per month  Watches in $10,000 - $20,000 range

Gold  $700 - $900  per month Watches greater than $25,000

 

[Beachcomber]

No thanks

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[508-Fanatic]

 

Not interested.

[Mike on a bike]

This was gone over for a couple of pages in a thread years ago. When all said and done it was a thumbs down for a bunch of reasons

[508-Fanatic]

 

Basically one or two years of socking this $$ away and you can buy a genuine. If you can't afford a real A.Lange&Sohnne then you probably shouldn't be wearing around a "rental." 

As far as reps go... I think that the majority of "dress watch" reps are easy tells and should probably be avoided particularly if you're wearing them "in good company." In some of the circles I travel in, it would be far more respected for me to be wearing my simple genuine Zenith Chronomaster to a black-tie affair, rather than a rep. If someone were to notice it as a rep, I don't think anyone would even say anything but it would be an immediate black mark and word would travel. Believe me, those that know... know.

[Quiglda]

This was gone over for a couple of pages in a thread years ago. When all said and done it was a thumbs down for a bunch of reasons

I looked for some threads on the subject but couldn't find any.  Anyway, the service would address a couple of areas.  First, it allows a try before buy which is a small thing but kind of useful.  Secondly, the service would allow you try wear a different watch every 2, 3, or 4 months depending on the plan which I like but maybe others would not.  Third, it does allow the subscriber to be able to wear new watches every year as the inventory would be refreshed. 

 

Basically one or two years of socking this $$ away and you can buy a genuine. If you can't afford a real A.Lange&Sohnne then you probably shouldn't be wearing around a "rental." 

As far as reps go... I think that the majority of "dress watch" reps are easy tells and should probably be avoided particularly if you're wearing them "in good company." In some of the circles I travel in, it would be far more respected for me to be wearing my simple genuine Zenith Chronomaster to a black-tie affair, rather than a rep. If someone were to notice it as a rep, I don't think anyone would even say anything but it would be an immediate black mark and word would travel. Believe me, those that know... know.

Totally agree so that is why this service is attractive.  I would disregard the monthly numbers as they are just a guide.  But basically if you paid $150 per month that is $1,800 per year.  it would take many years to save up to buy a expensive genuine watch.  I think you could equate the same concept to leasing\buying a car.  You don't want to tie up your money on a sset that will depreciate over time.  If you lease you can get a new car every two years.  In this model you can get a new watch every 2, 3, or 4 months if you like.

Anyway, I appreciate you commenting.

[Ezio]

Not to be rude but dont see a Big market for it 

 

what about damages ?? 

How easy could a company be scammed ? 

 

And who could pay 700 900 a month for a watch They wouldnt just borrow money to buy etc in EU there wouldnt be a very Big market for it 

 

but if you really feel there is a market for it do it mate 

 

there is Always alot of money in new ideas 

[Mike on a bike]

The rub is you may not get the watches back . Believe me I know some real good conartists / scamers,  have been in a never ending battle for years.

[mule play]

I recommend looking into the insurance side of your business model.  Do I think there is a market...YES..100%.  The key to success will be risk management in not getting scammed on a runner or having one returned with damage.  Risk management is so critical with something so delicate and portable.

Many here drop $1000 or more a year on reps and associated upgrades and gen mods....so I think funds are there to form the basis of this business and total available market.

Personally, for say $1000-$1500 a year, billed monthly, I would definitely sign up for a quarterly watch swap.  I'd start with a gen Patek 5980 out the gate....and then move on to an IWC Grande Complication...yes!

This business will likely not make millions in profit, but with the right pricing could generate a decent profit for a small operation.  Cash flow will be the key since you can't currently lease the watches from the dealers.  But, perhaps, you could get a line of credit and finance the inventory at a reasonable interest rate?  And then, of course, you can wholesale the pieces (or set up a finance arm to sell them off to the members) and get 60-70% of the price back as you roll the inventory.

Have you researched exotic car clubs?  It's the same concept, but you get the cars for X days per year.  There is also variant of this called Xtreme Xperience: http://www.thextremexperience.com/?gclid=Cj0KEQjwnrexBRDNmZzNkf7c4c4BEiQALnlxhbawUho7B-2gEDoNNy7XSoeOxYnujuQ8I9VNFxkPMo4aAmOr8P8HAQ

I know the owner of this firm and he is doing quite well.  He's added more cars, more staff and expanded to new cities in the US and beyond.  For example, he rents a Lambo Huracan for $329 for THREE LAPS on the track (with a co-pilot from his firm).  I took out the Mercedes SLR for a 3 lap run.  It was $250 and lasted maybe 5 minutes...my company paid for it as a corporate outing of sorts.  Hell of a lot of fun blasting that engine out of a corner!  Incredible power.

My point is, if someone will drop $329 for 3 minutes....I definitely think you'll find a group of rep/gen watch geeks that would subscribe to a swap program.

Count me in....

 

 

Edited October 26, 2015 by mule play

[automatico]

Good advice:   "The key to success will be risk management in not getting scammed on a runner or having one returned with damage."

 

An unfortunate fact: high grade genuine $wiss watches are very expensive to buy, easy to steal/pawn, fragile, and very expensive to repair.

If you are the one renting this stuff out...it will not be long before you are chasing deadbeats full time and/or end up with a bunch of beat up non running junk...not counting the watches that go MIA without a trace.

Besides all the above, most of the popular 'flash replicas' that will fool 90% of the Gomers 90% of the time are available below $500.

 

Believe me...I know all about chasing deadbeats, have a guy we call 'Guido'. Looks like a fire hydrant with hair.

Reality is a harsh mistress.  

.

[508-Fanatic]

I looked for some threads on the subject but couldn't find any.  Anyway, the service would address a couple of areas.  First, it allows a try before buy which is a small thing but kind of useful.  Secondly, the service would allow you try wear a different watch every 2, 3, or 4 months depending on the plan which I like but maybe others would not.  Third, it does allow the subscriber to be able to wear new watches every year as the inventory would be refreshed. 

Totally agree so that is why this service is attractive.  I would disregard the monthly numbers as they are just a guide.  But basically if you paid $150 per month that is $1,800 per year.  it would take many years to save up to buy a expensive genuine watch.  I think you could equate the same concept to leasing\buying a car.  You don't want to tie up your money on a sset that will depreciate over time.  If you lease you can get a new car every two years.  In this model you can get a new watch every 2, 3, or 4 months if you like.

Anyway, I appreciate you commenting.

There's already 2 or 3 companies doing this with barely any success. A friend tried the same thing with exotic cars - it failed.

[Nightwatch]

This would be interesting if I could cash out $200 and test-drive a gen for 1 month. As all other companies doing it (certainly for a reason) the initial plan is always for 12 months and that means cashing out $1800 for the cheapest offer, probably plus postal fees, maybe insurance. It´s more affordable to just buy the $5000-$8000 gen second hand and resell it within a Year.

If paying for it, people will beat them up in no time and wear them daily disregarding what they do/where they go.

[Raxford]

For what it's worth - when I was getting married I looked into renting a gen. It was about $250 and instead I spent nearly twice that on a different watch, joined a rep forum, and dropped $700 in the first month.

So for me the money wasn't the problem as much as it was the not owning.

[Rickyriney]

just saw this site. IMHO id rather save that $1000 a month and buy a gen but check this out.

https://www.elevenjames.com/pricing

 

[andreww]

People that have three or four hundred dollars a month to throw at watches are in a bracket that they can also afford to buy a decent watch. I see a number of exotic car experiences in my area that seem to be doing well, however watches are a little different story. The whole replica game gives those that are interested in high end watches but too poor to afford one, a viable option. 

That said, I think the business model could work if you concentrated on daily rentals instead of long term leases. Hook up with wedding planner and run the business similar to a tuxedo rental business. There are enough high end weddings out there to make it work. Think about an average of 5 watch rentals per wedding (groom, best man & ushers) at say $100 per watch per day. Maybe you have three or four weddings a weekend, that could work out to about $5 or $6K per weekend assuming 2 day rentals.

[mule play]

I am going to look into this elevenjames.com idea.  I'd like to get 6 month pricing/2 watches for 'A' classification.  I will drop an email to them to see how it looks.