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Watch Gang - My (short) experience

Talk about your experience, good and bad, here.
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Nolmel
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Watch Gang - My (short) experience

Post by Nolmel »

So a few weeks back I posted in the deals thread that the watch subscription service Watch Gang was half off, and as a bit of a fun experiment I have signed up. Some people asked for a thread on the experience so here it is, I don't think anything will be groundbreaking for most of you given the media that is out there on Watch Gang, but worth a talk about it anyway.
I signed up for a single purchase of the "platinum" tier where for the sum of $300usd you get a watch worth "up to $1500", of course this is measured by RRP (despite whatever claims Watch Gang make otherwise), and we as experienced bargain hunters know the issues surrounding RRPs in the watch world. One only needs to look at what Invicta claims their watches are worth to see the issues here.
At $300 this obviously does not present great value, but how about at half price? Could a $150 purchase get me something worth ten times as much? Short answer: no :cry:
For transparencies sake, shipping to Melbourne Australia was $36usd but the coupon actually took half off that too, so in total I paid $240 dollarydoos. I am actually very impressed with the shipping as it was Fedex'ed to my door in 5 days - unheard of for international transport in current times.
The watch itself; pretty much what you expect. I received a Villandry automatic watch containing a Seiko NH38 movement, open heart dial, and very nice packaging. It came with a well made leather watch roll, cleaning cloth, warranty card, extra brown leather band, and in general the packaging felt nice and probably would make this watch seem extra special to one perhaps less educated that the forum dwellers here. The watch is 42mm across and 50mm L2L which is outside my normal preferences, but in general looks pretty good and feels well made. For what I paid I couldn't get a NH38 watch shipped to my door so it that respects it certainly seems good value however it simply doesn't "spark joy" for me. If I had paid full price, roughly $470 aud, I would have been significantly less happy. At that price I would be considering a name brand (seiko, citizen, bulova, orient) dress watch of the same caliber, not a brand that is "disrupting the industry" and "selling direct to consumer and cutting out the middle man" :roll:
So my issues with Watch Gang basically boil down to what a lot of other people have said in their reviews; it works alright if you have money to burn but not a lot of watches, knowledge or plans. If you know what you want and like in a watch, then put the $300 into your piggy bank and go buy it yourself. If you're a young guy who doesn't know much and just wants something nice then maybe its a good way to go to build a collection. The initial survey where you essentially play Tinder with watches and swipe left or right seems ok, but its very hard to know what you are actually saying yes or no to. If I "thumbs down" a dive watch on a leather strap with a green dial am I saying I don't want any dive watches, green dials, leather straps, or all three? Also a selector for size windows or at least a maximum size would be greatly appreciated, my wrists are mostly average (17cm) so if I had spent full price and received some 45mm monster it would have been of very little use.
Final Judgement? It was pretty exciting opening up the box to see what I had got, so I totally understand the concept behind the product, however for more educated watch people, I simply don't think it represents good value. At half price I can probably flip the watch to make a small profit, but if a mate asks me what they should do with $470 dollars, my answer would be to go and buy a Seiko that appeals to you, not something you may or may not like.
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TheJohnP
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Re: Watch Gang - My (short) experience

Post by TheJohnP »

Have been curious about Watch Gang.
But not curious enough to watch the YouTube unboxing videos.
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Re: Watch Gang - My (short) experience

Post by DogOnTime »

I discussed this shortly on the discord chat, but it's stated in watchgang.com's blog.
Majority of the brands are produced and distributed by a company called ResultCo. No matter how you sugarcoat it, you cannot deny the underlying message: make no name product at low cost with decent QC, then try to make as much money possible through inaccurate MSRP's to ensure their clients generate as much income.

https://resultco.com/

Those with lesser intuitive abilities won't question said MSRP, which is a little sad considering the information available on the internet; this is how they make money.

Your opinion is more than valid, just get something you like for the money spent... We're in a golden age of amazing microbrands with actual customer service. I will admit the excitement of a surprise showing up in the mail is pretty cool, but this is a classic predatory tactic for those who are gullible enough to remain subscribed for a lengthy period of time expecting some "value."
Nolmel
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Re: Watch Gang - My (short) experience

Post by Nolmel »

TheJohnP wrote: Sun Oct 18, 2020 9:17 pm Have been curious about Watch Gang.
But not curious enough to watch the YouTube unboxing videos.
I was thinking of a video but I'm no reviewer, have zero skills and wouldn't really know where to start. As I said the watch itself is fine and the unboxing of it was good, it had good packaging and a good feel, but not worth the purported $695usd.
At this point I have it up for sale on local forums and watch FB groups, will see how I go with it.
Nolmel
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Re: Watch Gang - My (short) experience

Post by Nolmel »

DogOnTime wrote: Tue Oct 20, 2020 3:51 am I discussed this shortly on the discord chat, but it's stated in watchgang.com's blog.
Majority of the brands are produced and distributed by a company called ResultCo. No matter how you sugarcoat it, you cannot deny the underlying message: make no name product at low cost with decent QC, then try to make as much money possible through inaccurate MSRP's to ensure their clients generate as much income.

https://resultco.com/

Those with lesser intuitive abilities won't question said MSRP, which is a little sad considering the information available on the internet; this is how they make money.

Your opinion is more than valid, just get something you like for the money spent... We're in a golden age of amazing microbrands with actual customer service. I will admit the excitement of a surprise showing up in the mail is pretty cool, but this is a classic predatory tactic for those who are gullible enough to remain subscribed for a lengthy period of time expecting some "value."
You're right about predatory, I went to cancel after I had received my watch as I only intended it as a single purchase for an experiment, man they hide the option to do it. After you finally find it and confirm that you want to cancel, they then say you need to email them anyway to really really cancel. I can totally see how people could forget to or be unable to figure this out and just get charged for another, especially on the monthly plans at lower tiers rather than platinum which is quarterly.
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Re: Watch Gang - My (short) experience

Post by cheddar »

Thanks for posting this review — very informative and I hope the word gets out further.
Nolmel
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Re: Watch Gang - My (short) experience

Post by Nolmel »

Update: flipped the watch for $350 cash in hand, spent it on ceiling fans and blinds for the upcoming summer. :)
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