Quote:
Originally Posted by Hack&Lube
It's annoying that you have to buy watches through these overpriced stores that put more emphasis on women's jewelry. Retail margins on watches is just as high and it's ridiculous. I can buy a watch selling for $600 in Calgary for $250 on Ebay from overseas.
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I would be a little careful with making expensive jewelry purchases online, especially for much lower prices as you can run into a situation where warranty claims can either be a nightmare or not honored as you may be purchasing "grey market" items that aren't backed by the manufacturer of the watch and other items.
In Canada, for example, there would be an exclusive importer and distributor for a specific brand who than sells the exclusive rights to that brand to local retail stores who than sell them to consumers such as us. Obviously cutting out more and more middlemen can result in savings but when issues arise, getting service under warranty can be an issue since you may not have bought the watch under normal terms.
Similar issues can happen with things like electronics and mobile devices. In a lot of area's of the world where mobile phones can be expensive, lot's of people will buy them in North America since they are a lot cheaper. They may find they have warranty issues if anything happens because it's the retailers' responsibility for warranty claims and it could be a hassle coordinating that from a foreign country if you bought it at Chinook Center in Calgary.
Just like when the US dollar was par and a lot of people were buying cars down in the US and bringing them over the border, there was lots of talk and issues with warranty claims. It's not ALWAYS an issue but it can be.
Costco specializes in a lot of "grey market" style jewelry and a lot of times the prices are great but the after sales service & warranty is not the manufacturer, it's a 3rd party. They have also had issues with claiming specific jewelry to be one brand when in reality it's not and there have been other issues as well.
Just a few thoughts
