TAG Heuer - Outlet Purchases

[ilovecalibres]

I haven't been able to find any recent information in regards to the TAG outlets and their timepieces. I was in one of the outlets looking at the watches. They told me they were brand new pieces that included a two year warranty however out of the 3 that I looked at 1 was dinged up around the lugs, the other had it's bracelet adjusted and the other had scratches on it's crystal and all over the bracelet. Clearly not new and unmolested.

I decided to pass on purchasing from the outlet but wanted to pose the question here to determine where these watches come from? TAG customer service would not comment, the TAG boutique in Las Vegas said it's overstock from Boutique's that did not sell, the Las Vegas outlet stated they're "directly shipped to us from Switzerland" (yeah right) and the other outlet in California didn't even know how they received the watches.

I'm assuming these are returns from AD's that got sent back to TAG and were refurbished and a combination of overstock that may have been in local warehouses? Does anyone know first hand where these units are coming from?

Again, they did say that the watches carried the two-year warranty and they are a direct dealer but what I know about many outlets is there are items made specifically for outlet stores only that use cheaper grade materials to give the allusion that you are getting a great deal and there are others that just have overstock.

For instance TUMI sells both, they have old items that didn't sell at stores or online. All stores ship back their old items they can't clearance and then TUMI sends those pieces to the outlets. The TUMI outlets also sell outlet only bags that have cheaper zippers and material used to make the outlet bags which is why the similar bag you'd see at your Macy's, Bloomingdales or TUMI directly is over 3x more expensive.


Anyway I've gotten different stories from the boutique's I've called and the outlets differ their stories as well which lends me to steer clear of my purchase. It sucks because they have 2011 and 2013 pieces I'd like to pickup but don't want a refurbished watch sold to me as "new" I might mention the staff at these outlet stores are not very knowledgeable in their products either which surprised me given the fact they're an AD. Hoping someone has first hand knowledge.

 

[dtf]

Based on my experiences of the outlet store in York, UK, Im fairly sure they have a mixture of new stock direct from Switzerland, and stuff that didnt sell from boutiques.

I picked up my Aquaracer 500m Chrono Full Black in an outlet and it was clearly a new and had never been worn, there wasnt a hint of damage or dust on it, and the strap was untouched. However, the display model looked like it had been kicked around a war zone, it had a few chips out of the black coating and the chrono pushers were so easy to push they almost felt like electric buttons. I realise this is a 2011 watch, so maybe this was just a model that had been on display for 3 years, but it looked more like it had been worn, hard, for at least a year. Possibly by the staff in the store?

When I was back in the outlet recently, I spotted a whole bunch of limited editions (See a different thread), which clearly had been shipped in from other stores.

All in, I would definitely buy from an outlet again, as I got a brand new watch with full warranty for a price that was impulse-buy-able. Going on the quality of the item, Im certain there is no difference in workmanship between the products.

 

[Osmosis]

The outlets stock their stores through discontinued older lines. This will consist of watches that were on display in jewelers and also stock that never made it onto the shop floor so will be in pristine condition.

I understand that they do not have crossover so what you see in the Boutiques will not be in the outlet and vice -versa. From my travels there seems to be some discrepancies that what may be outlet pieces in some countries and still on sale full price in the AD's in others. I know when I've purchased you still get the 2 years warranty which is the main thing.

As for watches made specifically for outlet. I think they made a Carrera a few years ago but other than that they're all watches from their general range.

 

[al128]

i think the outlet is half way between AD and grey market...a bit hit and miss

 

[Bev Evans]

Hello first post
I bought the same AR 500m from the same York outlet as dtf and agree that it was a brand new unmolested watch. With regard to after care, I'd had the watch about 4 months and overnight it started to gain 3mins/hour. I went back to the outlet the assistant agreed with my assessment. He gave me the option of credit against a different watch or a brand new replacement, I chose the replacement and the warranty started from that day. Personally I can't see a downside of the outlet.

I did see some watches marked "sold as seen". I asked the assistant what this meant and was told that they may have been display or show items, but they did seem to be priced accordingly and came with the full 2 year warranty.

 

[dtf]

Bev Evans

I'd had the watch about 4 months and overnight it started to gain 3mins/hour.

Interesting, mine is currently back with tag because it was gaining 1min/day.

 

[Bev Evans]

I wonder why you didn't get the same option as myself. Perhaps they saw mine as terminal with that rate of gain and yours as repairable.

 

[dtf]

Probably, I've also had mine almost a year. Do wonder if they had a bad batch

 

[PhillipDB]

I'm off to LA and Vegas next month, anyone got thoughts on the outlets there?
Hoping to also find a carrera re-edition locally (C24 etc) as ill be saving up to 50% of trying to get it in APAC + import tax etc!

 

[Aquagraph]

I've rarely seen any scratched watches in the outlet. One I saw was a Monaco 24 that had a scratch on the top 'bezel' edge. This could easily have been someone being careless when trying it on though. I did once see an SLR that I thought looked a bit too rough to be sold in there, but generally speaking everything in Bicester looks like new.

As I understand it there is now a combination of stock. There are 'stock lines' made up of previous years models and there are the good stuff that comes back from ADs. The stock in these places usually improves when ADs are having a hard time selling and want to clear out for new stock. So looking forward it's probably worth keeping an eye on the Whatsapp list.

 

[Aquagraph]

The prices in the outlets are definitely less attractive than they used to be, now 20% is normal rather than 30% as it used to be. And even if you get a ten year old watch they will price it as if it's had every price rise since it went off sale. Often this means you end up paying the 2015 price now... depends how you feel about that. On the one hand if its a watch you want and you get to buy it at the old price then that's probably reasonable... but you're buying an old watch.

It's difficult for them though to get it right. They once had a blue 2000 in which I know for a fact cost £650 in 2004 - and they priced it at £850. On the one hand it's 20 year old watch they are selling as new. But why would you sell it for £650 or less? Even at £850 it sold in a day or so because it was the cheapest thing in the shop - and to be fair they have to give a two year warranty on it.

Recently they also got a couple of digital F1 Kiriums in, and they were priced at about £1500 IIRC. They sold them both, and while this seems a lot (they were about £1800 back in 2004) if they had applied twenty years of price increases they should have been £3000+

I also remember them having some innocuous looking rose gold Aquaracer that started at about £5000 and ended up at about £1500. But they brought the list price down each time because they didn't want to 'show' more than a 50% discount.

 

[Aquagraph]

I really miss the old Bicester. It was amazing going there before the pandemic. I saw tons of crazy things in there that you wouldn't dream of seeing now, Nismo Carrera, mother of pearl dial Carrera, all sorts of LEs, all the Monaco 24s, Hawaiian Aquaracers, the Aquaracer with the shark on the dial. Great times!

 

[dtf]

Aquagraph

And even if you get a ten year old watch they will price it as if it's had every price rise since it went off sale. Often this means you end up paying the 2015 price now... depends how you feel about that.

I noticed the quartz nightdiver is up for more than I paid when it was current.

Aquagraph

On the one hand if it’s a watch you want and you get to buy it at the old price then that's probably reasonable... but you're buying an old watch.

It depends if it was a watch I particularly wanted. Like if I didn’t have a night diver, I’d happily pay £1900 for a new one from Bicester, rather than a used one. Ditto the other watches on my wish list. But paying more than it cost when current does grate.

Aquagraph

Recently they also got a couple of digital F1 Kiriums in, and they were priced at about £1500 IIRC. They sold them both, and while this seems a lot (they were about £1800 back in 2004) if they had applied twenty years of price increases they should have been £3000+

Where on earth did they find those?!

 

[Aquagraph]

I agree, I would much rather buy new with warranty for more then preowned, and you are buying direct from TH so no worries about authenticity.

And sometimes like the Aquaracer my wife bought the other week, the black one, that was £1500ish in Bicester. It was £1850 in Watchfinder pre-owned (which given the new price is £4000) is pretty fair in itself!

God knows where those Kiriums came from...

 

[Jim Dollares]

Aquagraph

God knows where those Kiriums came from

Perhaps the outlets get their stock from random grey market dealers

 

[bpsmith]

The issue with being in their WhatsApp group is that you know what the prices were when you joined, they’re the same old watches, but they keep bumping the prices. Makes it difficult to buy anything they’ve had for a while. They seem to bump RRP and ‘Sale Price’ by similar amounts too, so % discount is dropping for sure. Their 50% off section is not exactly that now.

 

[Rizzla36]

Some people love a bargain and love outlets just because they're saving a lot of money. In my honest opnion I find outlets a graveyard for stuff nobody else wanted. Might find the watches in the least popular colours being sold. Or lines that dont sell very well. If there's one thing I have learnt about watch collecting is if a watch doesn't speak to you - dont buy it. If you want a blue dial watch, but you can't get it, dont settle for the dial you didnt want.

 

[bpsmith]

R Rizzla36

Some people love a bargain and love outlets just because they're saving a lot of money. In my honest opnion I find outlets a graveyard for stuff nobody else wanted. Might find the watches in the least popular colours being sold. Or lines that dont sell very well. If there's one thing I have learnt about watch collecting is if a watch doesn't speak to you - dont buy it. If you want a blue dial watch, but you can't get it, dont settle for the dial you didnt want.

Whilst I agree that any watch needs to speak to you in order to be worthy of a purchase, I don’t agree that every single watch in an outlet is a poor example which nobody wanted.

There are outlets everywhere which sell older models and ranges that have been replaced with newer versions. Nothing wrong with the outgoing models, often available in all colour options, it’s just that the consumer is trained to think that the older model is not as good as its replacement. This results in those older models being shunned.

There are some real gems to be found in the outlets quite often. There are also some really undesirable examples there too though, I agree there.

 

[Aquagraph]

I don't think it's true that the outlet is full of undesirable watches. There are some oddities that don't hit, but what do you expect? Generally speaking the outlets are not really aimed at watch enthusiasts, they are for tourists and casual buyers. In the past I have found some killer pieces at Bicester Village, but currently there's a lot of mediocre stuff. But this is a conscious decision on their part to have a more stable 'core' stock and to sell oddments alongside that. Part of the problem is that everytime they get a delivery of good stuff it all sells in a few days and they are back to the same old stuff. Unless you hit the store at the right time you will get the impression that it's not worth it...

 

[PhillipDB]

Can confirm the outlet halfway between Vegas and LA had a Viceroy re-edition (CBE2118) but all it did for me was confirm my wrist is too small for those Autavias.