Click to view our Accessibility Statement or contact us with accessibility-related questions
Cloaca
1906
Oct 19, 2017
Massdrop has to take what's available, and that depends on market forces beyond their control. In addition, they have more data than we have about what hits and what bombs on the site.
As for what's available, Major brands don't need Massdrop and don't want to damage the brand by discounting. Retailers who are authorized dealers don't want to risk that status -- remember, these things have serial numbers on them at the high end and can be traced by the maker.
Crowdfunded watches just tend to be made in the quantities already paid for.
Mushroom brands and outfits like Dartmouth are happy to use Massdrop. As brands they are kind of bogus to begin with and they want the exposure. At the small end of these Massdrop can help them meet minimum order levels from their suppliers. So you see some of them here.
As for what sells, you can see that stuff over $2,000 doesn't really move that many units. Most people don't have that kind of money and start to grumble about warranties. And realistically, how much of a discount can Massdrop negotiate for a quantity of 5?
I think the most interesting deals are when something is in oversupply for some reason. These are behind-the-scenes factors that we don't know about.
And if something is showing up over and over again on Massdrop, that's a sign that it might be coming from the manufacturer or with the manufacturer's approval.
Here are some patterns:
-- Seiko and Orient stuff (hardly ever any Citizen or Casio); Seiko and Orient are both Seiko-Epson companies.
-- Dartmouth: 4 of their brands have appeared here
-- Glycine, Victorinox, Mondaine, briefly Nomos: Many drops at good prices relative to Jomashop. These are the more reliable Swiss brands on Massdrop, but the watches are on the affordable side. Glycine is less well-known in the U.S., perhaps resulting in occasional attempts at entering the market followed by unloading unsold inventory.
-- ArmourLite, Panzera and a few smallish but established brands.
-- Oddball Chinese and Russian stuff: Where does that come from?
The most exciting thing recently (but I didn't buy it) was the Makara watch. I'd like to see more of these tiny brands making quality oddball stuff here. Maybe if Massdrop could front these kind of guys some money on special projects, or to allow them to up production numbers and lower prices, giving the resulting price gains to Massdrop customers only. The Aevig thing was also nice.
Another risky idea is for Massdrop to keep inventory. Just buy a load of stuff themselves, drop it, and keep what doesn't sell, to be dropped again in 6 months.
CloacaThe Nomos must have been before I was aware of the sight, sorry to have missed that...
PRODUCTS YOU MAY LIKE
Trending Posts in More Community Picks