Why did one store price Patek Philippe Aquanaut 5167A so differently
Patek Philippe Aquanaut 5167A has very variable pricing but one store stands above all else.
I want to preface this article by saying that I'm a watch novice so I don’t know exact intricacies of luxury watches but I know beautiful watches when I see one.
And the Patek Philippe Aquanaut 5167A is a beautiful watch. You can read about how beautiful it is across multiple articles such as this one and multiple videos like this one.
But the real reason why I am writing about this timepiece is because here at WisePricing Media and WisePricing we're more interested in following pricing trends and understanding the landscape of luxury product pricing.
Which brings us back to the Patek Philippe Aquanaut 5167A.
According to our platform (see below) one retailer in particular has listed the Patek Philippe Aquanaut 5167A at a much higher price than I was expecting.
Data from WisePricing
This retailer has it listed at $116,550. For context if you go to Patek Philippe’s website the recommended pricing for the black strap Patek Philippe Aquanaut 5167A is $29,875.
Is there a reason for such a difference?
This price discrepancy really caught my eye, and it made me go down a bit of a rabbit hole and here are a few things that I have learned.
This is an online retailer of certified preowned watches. The retailer is not an authorized dealer (AD) which means they don't necessarily have to sell at the recommended pricing. But from what I can tell it's also not in the gray market.
Normally luxury watches like this that are not sold through authorized dealers typically sell it at a price different than the MSRP. MSRP for those who don't know is the manufacturer’s suggested retail price which in this case according to Patek Philippe is $29,875.
What's interesting is when you compare it to authorized dealers (who we’re also tracking) they are selling the watch at MSRP (see below).
Data from WisePricing
So I talked to a retailer
I still didn’t really understand why the pricing was so different, so I reached out to one of the retailers who is also an authorized dealer and I asked the sales associate about the difference in pricing.
According to the sales associate watches sold on the grey market are typically priced two times higher than the MSRP because they typically buy the watch from other sources rather than the brand itself.
That made more sense to me because the non AD retailers prices are definitely higher according to WisePricing (see below).
Data from WisePricing
But I also learned from the sales associate that if you're looking to buy a popular watch like the Patek Philippe Aquanaut 5167A then the non-AD retailers is probably not the way to go based both on pricing and integrity of products.
But our data does provide some interesting observations:
Patek Philippe’s watches are in high demand across all types of retailers which does not erode their pricing.
Authorized dealers and brands maintain close relationships and need to sell the brand’s watch at the recommended price which allows them to remain as an authorized retailer.
Maintaining price integrity is an important aspect of luxury brands.
Before you leave.
If you are a luxury brand or retailer who sells luxury products and are interested in trying out WisePricing to make more data driven decisions on pricing email me back for a demo.