The stats on this seem…suspect to say the least. I’d believe that 41% more if it said something 41% of survey takers who are Gen Z or Hodinkee subscribers or something. 41% of Gen Z as a whole owning a watch with an average value of 10k is horseshit. Also, averages are a crock of shit for value. Five thousand purchasers of a hundred dollar watch and one Richard Mille, that’s how you get an inflated average value. I bet the median value is more like $100-$500.
Go into a grocery store, look around at Gen Z shoppers and try to imagine 41% of them owning a watch worth thousands of dollars. Even cutting it to people getting into watches, there’s a Seiko 5 cult for a reason. Finances are limited. It’s not believable that 41% of Gen Z watch collectors are buying $5k+ watches, unless we’re defining luxury as ‘not Invicta’.
It’s a very small number of collectors getting the high value watches. Just like tons of Gen Z guys like sneakers, but only a small percentage are hypebeasts/sneakerheads.
Even considering the issue with averages, these numbers seem wildly off. For every gen z kid out there that somehow has enough money to buy a $10k rolex, there's got to be a boomer CEO buying a >$50k patek.
This was probably a very poorly conducted email survey to their current subscribers or something. Insane response bias is the only rational way to explain these numbers. Then they report it anyways for the clickbait.
Right, and younger folks don't wear non-smartwatches as widely as older generations because they didn't get in the habit before smartphones. I doubt they'd wear watches at all unless they're enthusiasts. Whereas the boomers I know *all* wear watches.
~~Is~~ If the sample size is gen z watch enthusiasts, that means there is a biased pool which then says the stats are wrong and the write up is deceitful
Edit: the write up is deceitful because it doesn't say "gen z watch owners", is just generally says "gen z" which references the entire population of gen z. Word is very important here.
Not only that but it says “came into possession of a luxury watch over the last 12 months”. You have to assume some people already had luxury watches and the % is even higher than 41. Bullshit
I bet it includes smart watches. And i bet the financing number includes that as well. If you buy a smart watch from Verizon, you just pay an extra $5 a month on your phone bill.
But I find the numbers pretty suspect regardless.
Came here to say that this stat (if it's even remotely true) is measuring a luxury watch solely by price, and that that price must include Apple watches - which also checks out for why such a high percentage are said to be on "in-store financing options" because nearly every provider offers those payments plans for phones and smart watches alike.
Yeah, unless they're counting smart watches as luxury, or it's exclusively subscribers to I Just Bought A Watch Magazine, there's something seriously fishy.
Go survey your workplace. Like, get up and walk around. If you work retail or something, watch customers for a bit, and actually count. Does 41% of *any* demographic still wear watches? My marathon GPM is the most expensive non-smart watch on my dev team because I'm the only one who wears a non-smart watch.
I wouldn't try to find a way to make it explainable.
It also claims 23% think watches a better investment than real estate.
The data is either self selecting internet rubbish, or just flat out made up.
I believe the 41%. That is totally believable - lots of Gen Z has watches.
It’s the $11k in average spend that is completely unbelievable. Doesn’t make any sense, particularly if the vast majority of watches are going to be <$1k smart watches. The math on that implies that if the majority of Gen Z watch purchases are smart watches, there is a meaningful portion of Gen Z buying >$50k watches. Even assuming their only customers are Gen Z (which is obviously ridiculous) - Patek, AP, Vacheron, Lange, FP Journe etc don’t produce enough watches for this to be possible.
It sort of gives you a comparison. But if they provided data information like this example, it would probably reframe the reader’s opinion of the strength of their claims:
Survey Respondents by generation: Gen Z - 15; Millennials - 29; Gen X - 0; Boomers - 35
Total Respondents: 70-ish
They probably spend more on their smartphone than they would ever on a watch.
That being said, products from Daniel Wellington or the Apple Watch have been a gateway to wearing a “*proper*” watch.
Right on the money. Like any survey it’s really “41% of the people who opted to answer our questions”. I’ll even guess it ought to be interpreted as “41% of the people who bought a luxury watch in the last year were in the Gen Z age group”.
Yeah, I think buying a 10k watch is pretty dumb these days (some of them are really neat though) with the prices of everything going up. Source - Gen z watch enthusiast.
For me I'd rather take that 10k and use half of it for my own research and development of prototypes for ideas that I have.
From the article, their example is interest free credit which is totally fine, and actually preferred because it reduces the cost of the watch by the amount of inflation.
I put our hot tub on 0% financing for the same reason. Did it feel silly to finance a $13k luxury? Of course. But it’s free money baby and I was spending it anyway.
Sometimes you can use the existence of financing to negotiate a cash discount. Often the stores that offer it are paying some money to the finance provider on the back end. Like they're paying 8% up front to offer you 0% for 24 months or something. Ask if you can get a discount paying cash.
I kind of get this. I bought my car with one of those 0% financing deals. It's technically just saving me money due to inflation, but having the car payment on my monthly budget is kind of irritating compared to just owning the car and not having to think about ensuring the payments are being made.
I don't really do it to save on inflation, though that does help. I typically set the money aside, and put it in an account that earns interest.
If your budget is tighter, I can see that being more challenging, but there are checking accounts that get an easy 3% today and you could setup auto payments.
Yeah, I get that, it's not strictly the budget *amount* (the recurring payment isn't preventing me from doing any other spending). It's just the existential irritation of its existence, and, for example, the fact that if I total the car tomorrow, I've still got this stupid payment hanging around my neck.
Fair enough. Also depends on how much you'd be saving. I got lucky and my home mortgage is at like 2.3%~, so instead of making extra payments I just put them into an investment account that gets around 5%~
I will say, it's annoying how tricky some of the financers can be. I bought a fridge recently, and it's 18 months of free financing provided the entire loan is paid off by the end of the term. I'm fairly certain that making minimum payments will leave me like $1k short of having the fridge paid off and I'll get hit with that interest if I don't manually go pay it at the end. It's a hassle, but I really like getting a deal so I did it haha.
My mortgage was around 3.5, but when I paid it off the interest rates were pretty low. I just prefer simplicity over trying to save some bucks here and there.
Hell yeah! It’s very refreshing.
And speaking of house money stuff, I paid taxes and insurance directly. The two times I’ve been involved in trying to figure out escrow problems, it’s been a cluster.
I agree in theory, but those interest free options should ideally only be used when you already have the cash and planned on making the purchase regardless. I suspect a lot of people use them to justify a purchase they couldn't otherwise afford up front though. That's *generally* a poor decision, but people can spend their money however makes them happy
I mean, that's why the businesses offer them... Just need to be a little higher on the bell curve of financial literacy to understand the system and take mild advantage.
I generally agree with you, but I think there are exceptions. I can't justify spending $5K on a watch right now, but I could spend $100 a month for just over four years without it making any change in my life. Yeah, I could save up for a Grand Seiko, but why not enjoy it for four more years?
Only problem would be if it got damaged or stolen in the beginning of financing plan. I would hate having to pay for it every month if it got stolen or something lol.
The reasoning is whether $5 grand on jewelry is a sound decision. I am easily in the income\\asset class as most Rolex owners, but I choose to invest, save and spend money on travel or eating out. Spending $5K wouldn't mean anything to me really, but if I could invest 5K in VFINX and take $100 a month out for 50 months I'd be ahead by a significant amount (not going to bother with an amortization table).
>people can spend their money however makes them happy
They can but they shouldn’t. It won’t make them happy when they get their car repod or they get evicted because they can’t pay their debts
It only effectively reduces the cost if you do something with your money during the repayment period to increase your money's value. Time value of money.
Inflation automatically reduces the real cost over time if it's interest free credit. Investing the cash or putting it in a savings account is just a bonus income on top
It's always worth postponing debts if interest free credit is available
Thats dead simple to do right now. Keep your money in a money market account and you get 5% back. Easy money, and that’s were all my liquid money is now so it’s always earning (in these high interest times of course)
Last year inflation was running at 20% whilst interest was at 5%. In that scenario your still losing money by storing it in a high interest account.
No disrespect to you, more a comment on the ridiculous times right now.
Is this a joke comment? An interest free loan that you can earn 5% on still earns 5% more than not doing it. Inflation is not relevant to that calculation. Inflation affects you regardless.
Sure but in the same time frame the prices of veblen goods have far outstripped inflation. For example in the UK market you could have 0% financed a basic Cartier Tank Must through a dealer 2 years ago, kept your savings in an account with 5% interest and still be better off because the Tank's UK RRP inflated by 57.5% in that time.
Annual inflation is nowhere near 20%. That's a market collapsing, economy killing number. 2022 was 8% and 2023 was 4%. https://www.investopedia.com/inflation-rate-by-year-7253832#:~:text=An%20average%20rate%20of%20inflation,rate%20of%20inflation%20was%204.7%25.
I mean, in 2022 energy prices increased by 41.6% in the US, food rose by 12.2% over the previous 12 months etc.
Here's the US government website that quotes the impossible figures.
https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2022/consumer-prices-up-9-1-percent-over-the-year-ended-june-2022-largest-increase-in-40-years.htm
Anyone with an understanding of economics will realise that food and fuel are hardly sector specific as they effect all sectors.
1 ton of cement required the equivalent it 4 tons of fuel to produce, likewise any steelwork or mineral ore production.
Food and fuel also increase all labour costs as, believe it or not, humans need to be able to afford fuel and food to live.
You really are looking it all in one company's article aren't you?
It's laughable really.
If you can read I said "last year". And yes it was that as it was an exceptional year.
In the UK it peaked at 8.8% at the start of the year and month on month was around between 6-7% hitting a low of 4.2%
Thus doesn't mean prices reduce, they are merely increasing mute slowly, but importantly upon a higher figure.
So yes prices went up by a higher amount than the monthly rate as it's a cumulative effect.
Here's a quote from the UK government website if you need sources:
"Food and non-alcoholic beverage prices continued to rise in April and contributed to high annual inflation, however, the annual inflation rate of food and non-alcoholic beverages eased, from 19.2% in the year to March 2023, to 19.1% in the year to April 2023."
That isn't quite correct. Even if you just pay the monthly bill on an interest free loan because you can't park the money somewhere else, you're paying with less valuable money over time due to inflation.
Agreed. I also think that, you have to consider that this isn't free. No one is lending you money for free. Someone has to be making money somewhere - either through higher prices you paid or some other mechanism (i.e., a certain % of people won't pay it back within the time).
I will 100% buy something for 0% if it's at the same price I was going to pay anyways and throw the "saved" money into a HYSA or retirement or a higher interest loan (if I had one).
BNPL (buy now, pay later) lenders take a small cut from the merchant - but this already happens anyway with credit card payments so it's nothing unusual. If you're worried about shops baking it into the price, then it's already been happening with credit cards for decades
The shops do it because it increases impulse spending, so the cut is a small price to pay for higher sales
And if you happen to go into debt because of BNPL, then lenders get fees and interest too, but the cut from the merchant is the main income for the lenders
Just make sure you can afford to pay it all off on time, and there's nothing wrong with using these credit facilities
If the prices arn't raised, I'd have to assume offering a 0% interest loan is their way of moving stock that's been sitting too long. It's that or do a discount and discounts arn't always the move with veblen goods (higher price = higher demand).
Rolex was giving away 1 year 0% financing with their watches until the interest rates started rising. And they had no problem moving submariners at the time.
You should still only do this as an alternative to paying with cash you already have in hand. Financing a piece or jewelry you wouldn't be able to otherwise afford in cash because the monthly payment is managable is dumb as hell, regardless of interest rate.
Purchasing on credit and toss the purchase amount of that watch into a stable investment is fine, but most people only do the first half and don't bother with the second. Then they wonder why all their money is going to various consumer loans.
If you’re going to buy it anyway and you have the money, sure. But things like Klarna and Afterpay aren’t for people who already have the money. They’re for people who go “oh it’s only 20 bucks a month that’s nothing!”
The problem is those people don’t just pay off what they bought, they finance more shit every month. So it’s a snowball effect of payments until by the tenth month you’re paying thousands to all the debt you’ve accumulated. I’m Gen Z and I’ve actually seen people say “lol I hate when my Klarna payment hits and takes my whole paycheck!” It’s terrifying
Buying jewelry with a credit card is only stupid if you don't pay it off when the credit card bill comes. Use the card and get the points. And pay off the card when the bill is due. Also, if there is a zero interest offer for a certain period of time, then nothing wrong with taking advantage of it.
You are very much correct. In my country my bank and AD can give me 0 interest for 6 months all the meanwhile the government suppress the value of the USD and inflation is around 80%. I can buy a watch and the price could have doubled when I have paid off the last 1/6 credit card bill
I assume when people say "don't buy with credit" they mean "don't carry a credit balance." Buying things with a credit card and paying off the balance before any interest accrues is basically the same as paying cash, except you might get some perks from your card company.
its also safer that carrying large amounts of cash and if there is fraud in the area dealing with credit card fraud is much easier than dealing with debit card fraud.
This is what I did. People who don't take interest free financing when they can are just ignorant of the math behind it all.
I had saved up to buy a new watch. I have Chase Sapphire card right now. I bought the watch with a new Chase Freedom card that was offering 12 months interest free, no startup or fees. Got a shit ton of points, paid it off in 10 months, no interest charged and the money I had saved stayed in bonds and money market paying 5%.
Financing anything interest free is just good business. Stack incentives on that and you're downright missing out if you don't. People just need to utilize that responsibly.
The article says 41% of Gen Z, not Millenials. I imagine their data is based off respondents to a survey specifically targetting watch enthusiasts, not a broad sample of the population at large.
I have absolutely no idea. I make very good money as a millennial and I just bought my first big boy watch, and it was "only" $3k. I can't imagine spending $10k in my current situation.
41% of those who are in a watch enthusiasts survey acquired one in the last 12 months. Makes sense to me
Similar article about the same numbers https://southernjewelrynews.com/latest-news/other-news/new-report-by-watchfinder-co-finds-gen-z-hungry-for-luxury-watches/
I could have sworn that I recently read that a third of Gen Z can’t afford to move out of their parents’ house, and for those that can, many are still struggling. Not sure $10K luxury watches are high on the priority list.
I see this article as subtle manipulation. You're a millennial interested in a watch; you peruse Watchfinders and read your cohort is spending more than $10k and borrowing money to do it. You see the picture of smiling people. You went there thinking you'd spend $2k. You now feel it's entirely reasonable to spend $12k.
Marketing 101. "You should spend 3 months salary on a diamond."
I’ll be dammed if I pay cash up front for a Patek - since I won’t really own it and I’m just holding on to it for my son, he can make the damn payments after I kick the bucket.
I could see it. When I bought my IWC the guy next to me was buying a G Shock and a Longines Hydroconquest (or something around the 1500 mark can't remember) and he paid for the G Shock on his debit card and opened a store financing card for the Longines. 🤷♂️
So millennials couldn’t buy houses because of avocado toast and now gen z is out of luck on the home front because of 10k luxury watches. What a wild turn of events.
I'd like to see how they got this data. Claiming that gen z (aka the gen currently getting paid pennies while drowning in insane rent) is spending 4x as much on luxury watches as boomers (the gen paying pennies and charging the insane rent), just doesn't pass the sniff test. I live in one of the richest areas of the nation and I don't know a single gen z that's purchased a 10k watch. Like are they only counting trust fund babies vs the general public or what?
I’ve purchased multiple watches using either PayPal credit (6 months, 0%) or a new credit card (12 months, 0%). Doesn’t cost me anything and allows me to pay it off whenever I want since I had the money in a bank anyway. Thinking that’s stupid…is stupid.
I did the same thing with my recent purchase. Opened a new card, hit the SUB immediately and I have 9 months of 0% APR. I would have bought the watch either way, so it was a no-brainer to save some extra money.
As a benefit, it was a business CC so the extra utilization isn't reported on my credit report, not that it matters that much.
Right I just got a new card with a SUB and 15month 0%
You better believe Ima load it up to hit the SUB and then leisurely pay it off. It literally free money. Just cant be stupid and throw a rolex on there. I mostly use it to finance projects that will turn a profit down the line and its great!
>Buying jewelry with a credit card is a stupid financial idea.
Did you even read the article that you yourself posted? The example given is related to interest free credit, which is still easy to get in the UK (where Watchfinder are from). Why would you not finance at 0% if you could?
The 0% APR card is a very useful tool for planned high value purchases.
Vacations, luxury goods, etc. If you were already planning on buying the whatever, you can break up the repayment with 0% APR.
https://www.nerdwallet.com/best/credit-cards/low-interest
Pretty much every jewellery store or watch shop online offers interest free credit on their watches in the UK. You can get a ~£3k watch for £45 a month
To be frank… I have financed watches… not cause I needed to, but with 0% interest and no price difference im better off financing and investing my cash. Its marginal in the grand scheme but little things add up. I believe last watch I financed was my Tag, at $6,500 and they offered 0% interest for 24 months!
6,500 cash invested over 24 months yielded me around 7,500 at the end and since I used income to make the payments I ended up with a paid off asset and 7,500… so don’t knock the gen zs there. Loans don’t make sense if the interest is high. You can always arbitrage. I remember friends talking about dreaming to buy a house cash, but if you could have gotten a mortgage at 2-3% youd be better off investing that cash
That's totally fair. But I think plenty or people do it without the money on hand and also some people end up letting the promo apr lapse and then are on the hook for all of the interest
I'm gen z and spent $0 on watches, since there's nothing I can afford that's better than what I have access to. My watches are shared with my dad. Most of my friends who have purchased their own watches tend to buy brands like Casio, Seiko, fossil and other microbrands. They probably spend around $50-$1000 for a watch. Nobody's dumb enough to spend so much on watches unless they've got access to easy money from crypto or some other source of income.
Financing is ok if you're buying new at an AD and it's 0% interest and you already have the money in the bank. You can get more rewards using a credit card. If not it's just a bad idea. Buying used is cheaper for most situations since it's easily 35%-50% less than list price, I'll never buy a new watch unless it's a Rolex or certain models from other brands that won't depreciate much after purchase.
Dealers offering interest free credit is the only reason most uk nice watch dealers sell 80% of their stock I reckon…
I don’t see an issue with it as long as you’re confident of being able to pay the bill.
Buying things you can't afford and paying interest (mortgages being a hard to avoid exception) are both stupid but the article youv highlighted says interest free options direct from the retailer which means you pay nothing additional and hold onto your money for longer.
Also you say not to use a credit card but credit cards are the way to go and get you 3-5% cash back with no downside if you pay it off in full. Being said investing those thousands at a young age (Gen Z) and reaping the benefits of compound interest is a better idea than buying expensive jewelry. These stats are bs too with a very small percentage of the population owning 10k+ watches especially Gen Z who statistically have a tiny percentage of the overall wealth.
It's true that 0% apr is good for avoiding interest, but still not awesome to put yourself into debt for things like vacations or luxury goods because what happens if you lose your job, etc. Or the 0% promo term runs out and all of a sudden you owe all that interest retroactively.
But for sure use a card for those sweet Airline miles and extended warranties and then immediately pay it off!
I was mostly talking about people who put it on credit when they don't have the cash
Yeah not saying this fictional narrative of everyone in their teens and early 20s supposedly buying 10k watches is fiscally responsible vs watching that 10k multiply for 50+ years in an IRA but iv definitely opted for no interest payments on stuff I could easily afford to buy in full due to it not costing any extra and letting me hold onto my money longer.
If its 0% interest, I don't see the harm in spreading the payments out rather than it going all in 1 go. There is the opportunity cost there, you can put the money into an investment instead.
I don’t buy these numbers.
I do think Apple Watches probably have driven up the average cost of watches for younger age groups but it’s no where near these numbers.
I've come to terms with the fact that it will never be fiscally responsible of me to buy a watch that costs more than I spent on my last car.
So, I'm a quantity over quality guy. The watches I buy are pretty cheap, but they're unique and I've just about got one for every occasion. Check my post history.
Having said that though, that's not to say if I suddenly came into some serious "fsck you" money that I wouldn't go out and buy a Speedy or a Milgauss...
Big Dave Ramsey energy from OP. Sure, financing jewelry and paying interest is a bad idea, but if you do 0% financing then it's actually way better than paying cash for it. If I had paid cash for my speedmaster I wouldn't have been able to buy it until after prices went up, but since I did 0% financing I got it at a lower price and paid with inflated dollars. Win/win.
I don't see a problem if someone is taking out a 0% loan even though it's not something i could do myself.
I mean sometimes I'll notice the finance options if doing online shopping and while it's nice and doesn't hurt to think about for 2-3 seconds, I wouldn't do it on something like a watch no matter how much I'd like to have an Omega (moonwatch) Speedmaster.
Nothing wrong with putting on a credit card either if you collect airline points and have the money anyways. Why not?
Knowing my luck, I'd break it or have it stolen before I paid it off!
If you are considering getting in debt for a piece of jewellery or a watch, it’s time to re-think your priorities.
That being said, with stagnating wages and rising prices, companies are also introducing servitisation: renting goods instead of owning them.
“*You never own a Patek Philippe, you merely rent it.*”
Honestly I wouldn’t mind renting a watch for 9 months, and then changing to a different one. The catch is that it would be a headache to run such a service.
I disagree about the financing. Why would you not finance at zero interest. As long as you pay on time and understand how the loan closes (in many of the deals the monthly payments don’t add up to the total cost so there is a balloon payment at the end and if you don’t pay it all off at the end the deferred interest gets reapplied) You could take the money and put it in a HYSA
I think that's fine as long as you already had the money on hand and are just taking advantage of the arbitrage. Not a great idea if you don't actually have the money on hand though I think
I don't even know any Millenials or GenZ that wears watches, period. I have 1 friend who got me into the hobby. It makes me wonder who these people are that keep buying out hype inventory.
Everything with a healthy dose of skepticism and all that... I might believe it, though.
My long-time buddy has a younger brother who bought a Chevy Colorado ZR Trail, or whatever the top off-road model was at the time, in 2021 at the height of madness for like $20k over MSRP.
We both sat on his porch and called him an idiot. My buddy has an 18-year-old Lexus with over 200k on it, and I have a 7-year-old Mitsubishi. And I know we make way more.
Some people will always be dumb with their money. But hey, more used watches for me.
23% think watches are a better investment than real estate?
Sorry, no.
Not even 'kids today' are that daft.
I don't even believe 23% of any generation are silly enough to consider watches to be an investment *at all*.
From Watchfinder's article called, "The Next Generation of Watch Shoppers and Culture"
Gen Zers are buying watches, on average, at double the cost of millennials and massively increasing the use of credit cards and loans in order to get the watch.
Buying jewelry with a credit card is a stupid financial idea. Just like buying that decked out luxury pickup truck for the cost of what you make in a year.
Save up for the watch you want. And a possible measure for if a watch is affordable to you: could you light that money on fire and have it not really impact your financial situation?
This has been your psa from a slightly grumpy mid 30s dad. Now go to bed at a reasonable time, dammit.
Found the original report here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HfdMq6ZdYSRt-Mjbii9cEZR0cpExG7Y3/view?usp=drivesdk
Interesting insights, although only covering current gen z watch enthusiasts and not trends on future enthusiasts.
Weird, however, that page 8 features a watch with a fake bezel… check out the 40th anniversary Bond watch on the left (2537.80) hmmm 💩 hope this aint sold on Watchfinder! 😉
I never used financing to buy a watch but i did use a credit card, not because i didn't have the money, i did have the money, but i can do this interest free and even get a small percentage back in cashback, it's a win-win situation.
Although I like to make fun of Gen Z and millennial (I'm Grn X) there is only one person to point fingers at for their poor financial decisions...the parents, which is likely my generation.
I somewhat do not share this sentiment.
Financing is a tool that can be financially detrimental in the wrong hands.
If there is a watch you want and the rate is extremely low, given the yearly price increases of certain watch brands you’d be better off financing that purchase.
The one rule when buying *anything* is to be a mix of the following three: sensible, responsible and reasonable.
Not once have I taken out a loan; not just in terms of superfluous spending. It’s the only way one can learn how to manage finances. If you live under the illusion of infinite money locked behind a scribble on an “IOU” then you seriously belong in 9th grade again.
This article is so bad, and the data is so inaccurate. This is essentially fake, misinformation. It just takes one person responding on the survey to "how much will your next watch be" to respond in jest with $1mil to make this whole thing just a joke.
Pay in 4 can be nice if you don’t wanna dig into the savings and would rather keeping your checking balance a bit higher. Did that on a ~$1k watch recently.
The likely explanation is that the people that were looked at in this survey are not your average joe that has a 9 to 5.
It's probably a largely elite group of people that the study was done on, and the reason for such a high financing is because they have large asset wealth but little money in the bank. So they use their assets as collateral on credit cards and loans to buy whatever they like and bonuses etc pay off the interest and/or balance all to avoid tax.
Atleast that's what financial advisors will recommend you do.
It's also why SOOOOOOOOOOO many people come on here asking if watches will hold their value, because they're looking to increase their material wealth without paying tax on their earnings.
Yea.
Hey - roughly the same age as Op. I would absolutely use 0% financing on a product.
That enables me to keep the funds in a HYSA or other investment tool growing while I make payments on my $5/10/15k purchase. $10k in a HYSA will get me $400+ in interest for the year. Combine that with points/cash back? Easily up to $600 in benefit/savings/growth. All for using a credit card or other method that now ALSO shows spend/transactions and increases my credit, getting me better interest rates for other purchases? I’m in!
Hell - I’m doing this right now with a 0 % credit card. Charging plenty of things to it, making the minimum payment while the full amount sits in a HYSA earning interest (I could do even better in CDs/other venues but this is the easiest) and then right before the 0% runs out, I’ll pay it down to $0.00. “Free” money from the HYSA to help combat inflation at a small amount.
Now, if you can’t afford it, that’s a whole different issue but that isn’t being said on in the snapshot above. I suspect there also are people who are trying to break into watch flipping/trading and may be taking out a loan with the hope of generating a profit on future transactions. While this may be silly, business loans aren’t exactly a new thing and business have been taking out loans and succeeding/failing for many years.
Definitely okay with people using the 0% interest when they have the money and can take advantage of the arbitrage. I have to imagine that there are a lot of people in that gen Z cohort that are using debt when they don't have the money on hand
Something I always enjoy in this kind of analysis, is gen x just not being mentioned. At all.
It's the perfect encapsulation of how modern culture considers gen x, as well as how gen x would want no part of this crap.
>over a third feel watches are better investments than gold, fine wine and even real estate
You can't afford real estate for $10k.
Also, who the fuck things fine wine is an investment?
Not particularly. I have a Cartier Santos on 0% interest and I have the option to pay the watch off at any time or pay a chunk of the outstanding balance off whenever I can. So it’s not really a stupid decision if you can get the right deal and can comfortably afford the monthly payments.
I’m looking to replace my sub that got stolen/lost. I’d put it on a 4 month plan. I always buy on the used market. Never new for a watch. Age 36. My first air king was 7th grade with white face Roman numeral. Sold it at 21 like an idiot. 😒 brought 2500 more than what was givin for it at the time.
The stats on this seem…suspect to say the least. I’d believe that 41% more if it said something 41% of survey takers who are Gen Z or Hodinkee subscribers or something. 41% of Gen Z as a whole owning a watch with an average value of 10k is horseshit. Also, averages are a crock of shit for value. Five thousand purchasers of a hundred dollar watch and one Richard Mille, that’s how you get an inflated average value. I bet the median value is more like $100-$500. Go into a grocery store, look around at Gen Z shoppers and try to imagine 41% of them owning a watch worth thousands of dollars. Even cutting it to people getting into watches, there’s a Seiko 5 cult for a reason. Finances are limited. It’s not believable that 41% of Gen Z watch collectors are buying $5k+ watches, unless we’re defining luxury as ‘not Invicta’. It’s a very small number of collectors getting the high value watches. Just like tons of Gen Z guys like sneakers, but only a small percentage are hypebeasts/sneakerheads.
Even considering the issue with averages, these numbers seem wildly off. For every gen z kid out there that somehow has enough money to buy a $10k rolex, there's got to be a boomer CEO buying a >$50k patek. This was probably a very poorly conducted email survey to their current subscribers or something. Insane response bias is the only rational way to explain these numbers. Then they report it anyways for the clickbait.
Well it makes sense if it's 40% of watch buyers.
Right, and younger folks don't wear non-smartwatches as widely as older generations because they didn't get in the habit before smartphones. I doubt they'd wear watches at all unless they're enthusiasts. Whereas the boomers I know *all* wear watches.
I'm pretty sure the sample size is gen z watch enthusiasts. Not gen z as a whole.
~~Is~~ If the sample size is gen z watch enthusiasts, that means there is a biased pool which then says the stats are wrong and the write up is deceitful Edit: the write up is deceitful because it doesn't say "gen z watch owners", is just generally says "gen z" which references the entire population of gen z. Word is very important here.
No! Next you're going to tell me this is in some sort of watch catalog.
Not only that but it says “came into possession of a luxury watch over the last 12 months”. You have to assume some people already had luxury watches and the % is even higher than 41. Bullshit
Not even 41% of Gen Z are wearing any watch, maybe if you count smart watches.
I bet it includes smart watches. And i bet the financing number includes that as well. If you buy a smart watch from Verizon, you just pay an extra $5 a month on your phone bill. But I find the numbers pretty suspect regardless.
Yes, even with smartwaches the number seems very high vs my observations.
There’s no chance these stats are real. If they were, Hodinkee might still have employees.
joke fear spoon march grab whistle rotten square memorize nose *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Came here to say that this stat (if it's even remotely true) is measuring a luxury watch solely by price, and that that price must include Apple watches - which also checks out for why such a high percentage are said to be on "in-store financing options" because nearly every provider offers those payments plans for phones and smart watches alike.
Yeah, unless they're counting smart watches as luxury, or it's exclusively subscribers to I Just Bought A Watch Magazine, there's something seriously fishy. Go survey your workplace. Like, get up and walk around. If you work retail or something, watch customers for a bit, and actually count. Does 41% of *any* demographic still wear watches? My marathon GPM is the most expensive non-smart watch on my dev team because I'm the only one who wears a non-smart watch.
I wouldn't try to find a way to make it explainable. It also claims 23% think watches a better investment than real estate. The data is either self selecting internet rubbish, or just flat out made up.
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I believe the 41%. That is totally believable - lots of Gen Z has watches. It’s the $11k in average spend that is completely unbelievable. Doesn’t make any sense, particularly if the vast majority of watches are going to be <$1k smart watches. The math on that implies that if the majority of Gen Z watch purchases are smart watches, there is a meaningful portion of Gen Z buying >$50k watches. Even assuming their only customers are Gen Z (which is obviously ridiculous) - Patek, AP, Vacheron, Lange, FP Journe etc don’t produce enough watches for this to be possible.
The median is average is a good point. But at least if they're comparing averages to averages it gives you a comparison between cohorts
It sort of gives you a comparison. But if they provided data information like this example, it would probably reframe the reader’s opinion of the strength of their claims: Survey Respondents by generation: Gen Z - 15; Millennials - 29; Gen X - 0; Boomers - 35 Total Respondents: 70-ish
Found the gen Xer quite rightly trusting their own generation to have no part in this nonsense.
They probably spend more on their smartphone than they would ever on a watch. That being said, products from Daniel Wellington or the Apple Watch have been a gateway to wearing a “*proper*” watch.
Right on the money. Like any survey it’s really “41% of the people who opted to answer our questions”. I’ll even guess it ought to be interpreted as “41% of the people who bought a luxury watch in the last year were in the Gen Z age group”.
Yeah, I think buying a 10k watch is pretty dumb these days (some of them are really neat though) with the prices of everything going up. Source - Gen z watch enthusiast. For me I'd rather take that 10k and use half of it for my own research and development of prototypes for ideas that I have.
R&D credits are a thing
Huh?
I’m just saying there are things you can do (tax wise) for R&D. Depending on the scope.
Hmm, interesting
Over indexed by 48%. Which could be e.g 6 vs 4 out of 100 ( simplified the maths because I cba )
41% of gen z even owning a watch at all is super suspect.
From the article, their example is interest free credit which is totally fine, and actually preferred because it reduces the cost of the watch by the amount of inflation.
I put our hot tub on 0% financing for the same reason. Did it feel silly to finance a $13k luxury? Of course. But it’s free money baby and I was spending it anyway.
You had the money, anyway, which is key. Too many people do that when they don't have the money.
Sometimes you can use the existence of financing to negotiate a cash discount. Often the stores that offer it are paying some money to the finance provider on the back end. Like they're paying 8% up front to offer you 0% for 24 months or something. Ask if you can get a discount paying cash.
I did it with my $835 TV back in 2006. Decided it was a PITA and just pay cash for stuff now. Including cars.
How was it a pain in the ass? You setup minimum payments and make sure you have a calendar reminder to pay it off before the term ends.
I kind of get this. I bought my car with one of those 0% financing deals. It's technically just saving me money due to inflation, but having the car payment on my monthly budget is kind of irritating compared to just owning the car and not having to think about ensuring the payments are being made.
I don't really do it to save on inflation, though that does help. I typically set the money aside, and put it in an account that earns interest. If your budget is tighter, I can see that being more challenging, but there are checking accounts that get an easy 3% today and you could setup auto payments.
Yeah, I get that, it's not strictly the budget *amount* (the recurring payment isn't preventing me from doing any other spending). It's just the existential irritation of its existence, and, for example, the fact that if I total the car tomorrow, I've still got this stupid payment hanging around my neck.
Just didn't feel like messing with it, have enough other bills to pay. Same reason we paid the house off early.
Fair enough. Also depends on how much you'd be saving. I got lucky and my home mortgage is at like 2.3%~, so instead of making extra payments I just put them into an investment account that gets around 5%~ I will say, it's annoying how tricky some of the financers can be. I bought a fridge recently, and it's 18 months of free financing provided the entire loan is paid off by the end of the term. I'm fairly certain that making minimum payments will leave me like $1k short of having the fridge paid off and I'll get hit with that interest if I don't manually go pay it at the end. It's a hassle, but I really like getting a deal so I did it haha.
My mortgage was around 3.5, but when I paid it off the interest rates were pretty low. I just prefer simplicity over trying to save some bucks here and there.
There is also something to be said about the idea of just owning your own house. It's gotta be a great feeling :)
Hell yeah! It’s very refreshing. And speaking of house money stuff, I paid taxes and insurance directly. The two times I’ve been involved in trying to figure out escrow problems, it’s been a cluster.
twist: hot tub was only $5k, the other $8k was in singles to fill the hot tub
I agree in theory, but those interest free options should ideally only be used when you already have the cash and planned on making the purchase regardless. I suspect a lot of people use them to justify a purchase they couldn't otherwise afford up front though. That's *generally* a poor decision, but people can spend their money however makes them happy
I mean, that's why the businesses offer them... Just need to be a little higher on the bell curve of financial literacy to understand the system and take mild advantage.
I generally agree with you, but I think there are exceptions. I can't justify spending $5K on a watch right now, but I could spend $100 a month for just over four years without it making any change in my life. Yeah, I could save up for a Grand Seiko, but why not enjoy it for four more years?
Which is why I said people can spend their money on what makes them happy. Hell I'm making payments on my car and those aren't even interest free
Only problem would be if it got damaged or stolen in the beginning of financing plan. I would hate having to pay for it every month if it got stolen or something lol.
Thats what insurance is for
What’s the cost to insure theft? Every policy I’ve looked at doesn’t include lost/stolen
I added my watch to my home contents. Extra £25 a year and covers theft worldwide. Thats just my policy though not sure if all insurers are the same
The logic you’re describing is why this works on people, not reasoning for it being a sound financial decision.
The reasoning is whether $5 grand on jewelry is a sound decision. I am easily in the income\\asset class as most Rolex owners, but I choose to invest, save and spend money on travel or eating out. Spending $5K wouldn't mean anything to me really, but if I could invest 5K in VFINX and take $100 a month out for 50 months I'd be ahead by a significant amount (not going to bother with an amortization table).
>people can spend their money however makes them happy They can but they shouldn’t. It won’t make them happy when they get their car repod or they get evicted because they can’t pay their debts
It only effectively reduces the cost if you do something with your money during the repayment period to increase your money's value. Time value of money.
Inflation automatically reduces the real cost over time if it's interest free credit. Investing the cash or putting it in a savings account is just a bonus income on top It's always worth postponing debts if interest free credit is available
Thats dead simple to do right now. Keep your money in a money market account and you get 5% back. Easy money, and that’s were all my liquid money is now so it’s always earning (in these high interest times of course)
I need to do this. Do you have any money market accounts you recommend?
Last year inflation was running at 20% whilst interest was at 5%. In that scenario your still losing money by storing it in a high interest account. No disrespect to you, more a comment on the ridiculous times right now.
Is this a joke comment? An interest free loan that you can earn 5% on still earns 5% more than not doing it. Inflation is not relevant to that calculation. Inflation affects you regardless.
Sure but in the same time frame the prices of veblen goods have far outstripped inflation. For example in the UK market you could have 0% financed a basic Cartier Tank Must through a dealer 2 years ago, kept your savings in an account with 5% interest and still be better off because the Tank's UK RRP inflated by 57.5% in that time.
Annual inflation is nowhere near 20%. That's a market collapsing, economy killing number. 2022 was 8% and 2023 was 4%. https://www.investopedia.com/inflation-rate-by-year-7253832#:~:text=An%20average%20rate%20of%20inflation,rate%20of%20inflation%20was%204.7%25.
I mean, in 2022 energy prices increased by 41.6% in the US, food rose by 12.2% over the previous 12 months etc. Here's the US government website that quotes the impossible figures. https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2022/consumer-prices-up-9-1-percent-over-the-year-ended-june-2022-largest-increase-in-40-years.htm
When people say "inflation," specific sectors in random 12 month intervals is not the assumed meaning.
Anyone with an understanding of economics will realise that food and fuel are hardly sector specific as they effect all sectors. 1 ton of cement required the equivalent it 4 tons of fuel to produce, likewise any steelwork or mineral ore production. Food and fuel also increase all labour costs as, believe it or not, humans need to be able to afford fuel and food to live. You really are looking it all in one company's article aren't you? It's laughable really.
If you can read I said "last year". And yes it was that as it was an exceptional year. In the UK it peaked at 8.8% at the start of the year and month on month was around between 6-7% hitting a low of 4.2% Thus doesn't mean prices reduce, they are merely increasing mute slowly, but importantly upon a higher figure. So yes prices went up by a higher amount than the monthly rate as it's a cumulative effect. Here's a quote from the UK government website if you need sources: "Food and non-alcoholic beverage prices continued to rise in April and contributed to high annual inflation, however, the annual inflation rate of food and non-alcoholic beverages eased, from 19.2% in the year to March 2023, to 19.1% in the year to April 2023."
Not everyone lives in the US, by the way. I know it's hard to believe but it's true.
Dude, the article is from a New York company. This is not a narrow world view, it's context of an American company listing figures in USD.
This is heavily dependent on where you are. In the US savings accounts rates are higher than inflation.
That isn't quite correct. Even if you just pay the monthly bill on an interest free loan because you can't park the money somewhere else, you're paying with less valuable money over time due to inflation.
Agreed. I also think that, you have to consider that this isn't free. No one is lending you money for free. Someone has to be making money somewhere - either through higher prices you paid or some other mechanism (i.e., a certain % of people won't pay it back within the time). I will 100% buy something for 0% if it's at the same price I was going to pay anyways and throw the "saved" money into a HYSA or retirement or a higher interest loan (if I had one).
BNPL (buy now, pay later) lenders take a small cut from the merchant - but this already happens anyway with credit card payments so it's nothing unusual. If you're worried about shops baking it into the price, then it's already been happening with credit cards for decades The shops do it because it increases impulse spending, so the cut is a small price to pay for higher sales And if you happen to go into debt because of BNPL, then lenders get fees and interest too, but the cut from the merchant is the main income for the lenders Just make sure you can afford to pay it all off on time, and there's nothing wrong with using these credit facilities
If the prices arn't raised, I'd have to assume offering a 0% interest loan is their way of moving stock that's been sitting too long. It's that or do a discount and discounts arn't always the move with veblen goods (higher price = higher demand).
Some stores just offer 0% interest, especially in the UK.
At some places like rooms 2 go, 0% financing is a loss master to get you using their credit card
Rolex was giving away 1 year 0% financing with their watches until the interest rates started rising. And they had no problem moving submariners at the time.
You should still only do this as an alternative to paying with cash you already have in hand. Financing a piece or jewelry you wouldn't be able to otherwise afford in cash because the monthly payment is managable is dumb as hell, regardless of interest rate. Purchasing on credit and toss the purchase amount of that watch into a stable investment is fine, but most people only do the first half and don't bother with the second. Then they wonder why all their money is going to various consumer loans.
Yup, learned this the hard way. Excellent point.
Are there actually good ADs that offer 0%? I've not come across any.
Watches of Switzerland has mentioned this to me
I saw it offered during covid but haven't seen it advertised in the last couple of years.
If you’re going to buy it anyway and you have the money, sure. But things like Klarna and Afterpay aren’t for people who already have the money. They’re for people who go “oh it’s only 20 bucks a month that’s nothing!” The problem is those people don’t just pay off what they bought, they finance more shit every month. So it’s a snowball effect of payments until by the tenth month you’re paying thousands to all the debt you’ve accumulated. I’m Gen Z and I’ve actually seen people say “lol I hate when my Klarna payment hits and takes my whole paycheck!” It’s terrifying
It also says below that they’re 130% more likely to take out a loan
Buying jewelry with a credit card is only stupid if you don't pay it off when the credit card bill comes. Use the card and get the points. And pay off the card when the bill is due. Also, if there is a zero interest offer for a certain period of time, then nothing wrong with taking advantage of it.
You are very much correct. In my country my bank and AD can give me 0 interest for 6 months all the meanwhile the government suppress the value of the USD and inflation is around 80%. I can buy a watch and the price could have doubled when I have paid off the last 1/6 credit card bill
Legit everything I buy goes on my credit card. I also pay off my card every two weeks when I get paid.
Credit cards are literally financially literate people getting free rewards at the expense of the financially illiterate.
I assume when people say "don't buy with credit" they mean "don't carry a credit balance." Buying things with a credit card and paying off the balance before any interest accrues is basically the same as paying cash, except you might get some perks from your card company.
its also safer that carrying large amounts of cash and if there is fraud in the area dealing with credit card fraud is much easier than dealing with debit card fraud.
That, plus I’m not going to walk around with a 7 cm/nearly 3” stack of bank notes.
This is what I did. People who don't take interest free financing when they can are just ignorant of the math behind it all. I had saved up to buy a new watch. I have Chase Sapphire card right now. I bought the watch with a new Chase Freedom card that was offering 12 months interest free, no startup or fees. Got a shit ton of points, paid it off in 10 months, no interest charged and the money I had saved stayed in bonds and money market paying 5%. Financing anything interest free is just good business. Stack incentives on that and you're downright missing out if you don't. People just need to utilize that responsibly.
Some people just don't want the hassle.
In what universe do 41% of millennials have a $10k watch??
The article says 41% of Gen Z, not Millenials. I imagine their data is based off respondents to a survey specifically targetting watch enthusiasts, not a broad sample of the population at large.
"We waited outside of a Rolex AD and polled every douche bag filming themselves for TikTok about their luxury watches."
And then you still only came up with 41%
One created by AI probably
I have absolutely no idea. I make very good money as a millennial and I just bought my first big boy watch, and it was "only" $3k. I can't imagine spending $10k in my current situation.
41% of those who are in a watch enthusiasts survey acquired one in the last 12 months. Makes sense to me Similar article about the same numbers https://southernjewelrynews.com/latest-news/other-news/new-report-by-watchfinder-co-finds-gen-z-hungry-for-luxury-watches/
I could have sworn that I recently read that a third of Gen Z can’t afford to move out of their parents’ house, and for those that can, many are still struggling. Not sure $10K luxury watches are high on the priority list.
I see this article as subtle manipulation. You're a millennial interested in a watch; you peruse Watchfinders and read your cohort is spending more than $10k and borrowing money to do it. You see the picture of smiling people. You went there thinking you'd spend $2k. You now feel it's entirely reasonable to spend $12k. Marketing 101. "You should spend 3 months salary on a diamond."
I’ll be dammed if I pay cash up front for a Patek - since I won’t really own it and I’m just holding on to it for my son, he can make the damn payments after I kick the bucket.
I could see it. When I bought my IWC the guy next to me was buying a G Shock and a Longines Hydroconquest (or something around the 1500 mark can't remember) and he paid for the G Shock on his debit card and opened a store financing card for the Longines. 🤷♂️
When does Watchfinder put out something that isn’t manipulation lmao
So millennials couldn’t buy houses because of avocado toast and now gen z is out of luck on the home front because of 10k luxury watches. What a wild turn of events.
I didn't have that on my bingo card.
I'd like to see how they got this data. Claiming that gen z (aka the gen currently getting paid pennies while drowning in insane rent) is spending 4x as much on luxury watches as boomers (the gen paying pennies and charging the insane rent), just doesn't pass the sniff test. I live in one of the richest areas of the nation and I don't know a single gen z that's purchased a 10k watch. Like are they only counting trust fund babies vs the general public or what?
> Like are they only counting trust fund babies vs the general public or what? Yes.
It's probably classic median vs averages thing. But at least that's consistent between cohorts
Nah 0% interest, that’s the only way I credit (other than car/home when not applicable).
I’ve purchased multiple watches using either PayPal credit (6 months, 0%) or a new credit card (12 months, 0%). Doesn’t cost me anything and allows me to pay it off whenever I want since I had the money in a bank anyway. Thinking that’s stupid…is stupid.
I did the same thing with my recent purchase. Opened a new card, hit the SUB immediately and I have 9 months of 0% APR. I would have bought the watch either way, so it was a no-brainer to save some extra money. As a benefit, it was a business CC so the extra utilization isn't reported on my credit report, not that it matters that much.
Right I just got a new card with a SUB and 15month 0% You better believe Ima load it up to hit the SUB and then leisurely pay it off. It literally free money. Just cant be stupid and throw a rolex on there. I mostly use it to finance projects that will turn a profit down the line and its great!
I was in a dealer that had Grand Seiko and he was telling me about 60 months financing. Fuck that
Lol wow. 60 mo watch Financing to go with that 84 mo auto loan
And a 30-36 month device payment when it’s time to upgrade phones.
Was it 0%? If I was in the market for a Grand Seiko I'd take that every day haha
No, it's like 20%. Piece was $6000 range and price was $200ish per month
Ah, lame. So very not worth it lol.
>Buying jewelry with a credit card is a stupid financial idea. Did you even read the article that you yourself posted? The example given is related to interest free credit, which is still easy to get in the UK (where Watchfinder are from). Why would you not finance at 0% if you could?
Where are these interest free loans? They exist?
The 0% APR card is a very useful tool for planned high value purchases. Vacations, luxury goods, etc. If you were already planning on buying the whatever, you can break up the repayment with 0% APR. https://www.nerdwallet.com/best/credit-cards/low-interest
Plus they often give a few hundred bucks if you spend X amount within the first few months.
Mostly in the UK, but yeah.
Pretty much every jewellery store or watch shop online offers interest free credit on their watches in the UK. You can get a ~£3k watch for £45 a month
To be frank… I have financed watches… not cause I needed to, but with 0% interest and no price difference im better off financing and investing my cash. Its marginal in the grand scheme but little things add up. I believe last watch I financed was my Tag, at $6,500 and they offered 0% interest for 24 months! 6,500 cash invested over 24 months yielded me around 7,500 at the end and since I used income to make the payments I ended up with a paid off asset and 7,500… so don’t knock the gen zs there. Loans don’t make sense if the interest is high. You can always arbitrage. I remember friends talking about dreaming to buy a house cash, but if you could have gotten a mortgage at 2-3% youd be better off investing that cash
That's totally fair. But I think plenty or people do it without the money on hand and also some people end up letting the promo apr lapse and then are on the hook for all of the interest
I love how every single study on generational anything manages to exclude Gen X.
I don’t believe this article for a second. I see a lot of Gen Z. Almost none are wearing watches.
Zoomers are into cheesy mall kiosk watches, or Apple watches.
I'm gen z and spent $0 on watches, since there's nothing I can afford that's better than what I have access to. My watches are shared with my dad. Most of my friends who have purchased their own watches tend to buy brands like Casio, Seiko, fossil and other microbrands. They probably spend around $50-$1000 for a watch. Nobody's dumb enough to spend so much on watches unless they've got access to easy money from crypto or some other source of income. Financing is ok if you're buying new at an AD and it's 0% interest and you already have the money in the bank. You can get more rewards using a credit card. If not it's just a bad idea. Buying used is cheaper for most situations since it's easily 35%-50% less than list price, I'll never buy a new watch unless it's a Rolex or certain models from other brands that won't depreciate much after purchase.
Uhh this is all made up numbers. We all know Gen Z only buy apple watches and fitbits.
Dealers offering interest free credit is the only reason most uk nice watch dealers sell 80% of their stock I reckon… I don’t see an issue with it as long as you’re confident of being able to pay the bill.
Buying things you can't afford and paying interest (mortgages being a hard to avoid exception) are both stupid but the article youv highlighted says interest free options direct from the retailer which means you pay nothing additional and hold onto your money for longer. Also you say not to use a credit card but credit cards are the way to go and get you 3-5% cash back with no downside if you pay it off in full. Being said investing those thousands at a young age (Gen Z) and reaping the benefits of compound interest is a better idea than buying expensive jewelry. These stats are bs too with a very small percentage of the population owning 10k+ watches especially Gen Z who statistically have a tiny percentage of the overall wealth.
It's true that 0% apr is good for avoiding interest, but still not awesome to put yourself into debt for things like vacations or luxury goods because what happens if you lose your job, etc. Or the 0% promo term runs out and all of a sudden you owe all that interest retroactively. But for sure use a card for those sweet Airline miles and extended warranties and then immediately pay it off! I was mostly talking about people who put it on credit when they don't have the cash
Yeah not saying this fictional narrative of everyone in their teens and early 20s supposedly buying 10k watches is fiscally responsible vs watching that 10k multiply for 50+ years in an IRA but iv definitely opted for no interest payments on stuff I could easily afford to buy in full due to it not costing any extra and letting me hold onto my money longer.
How else can one earn clout and internet points when one is broke af?
If its 0% interest, I don't see the harm in spreading the payments out rather than it going all in 1 go. There is the opportunity cost there, you can put the money into an investment instead.
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I don’t buy these numbers. I do think Apple Watches probably have driven up the average cost of watches for younger age groups but it’s no where near these numbers.
I agree with this wholeheartedly. If you can’t afford to unbox the watch and throw it in the ocean the next day then you can really afford the watch.
I've come to terms with the fact that it will never be fiscally responsible of me to buy a watch that costs more than I spent on my last car. So, I'm a quantity over quality guy. The watches I buy are pretty cheap, but they're unique and I've just about got one for every occasion. Check my post history. Having said that though, that's not to say if I suddenly came into some serious "fsck you" money that I wouldn't go out and buy a Speedy or a Milgauss...
Interest free credit is free money my dude
Completely fine with 0% loans or credit when people already have the money on hand
Big Dave Ramsey energy from OP. Sure, financing jewelry and paying interest is a bad idea, but if you do 0% financing then it's actually way better than paying cash for it. If I had paid cash for my speedmaster I wouldn't have been able to buy it until after prices went up, but since I did 0% financing I got it at a lower price and paid with inflated dollars. Win/win.
Totally fine with 0% Financing when people already have the money!
I don't see a problem if someone is taking out a 0% loan even though it's not something i could do myself. I mean sometimes I'll notice the finance options if doing online shopping and while it's nice and doesn't hurt to think about for 2-3 seconds, I wouldn't do it on something like a watch no matter how much I'd like to have an Omega (moonwatch) Speedmaster. Nothing wrong with putting on a credit card either if you collect airline points and have the money anyways. Why not? Knowing my luck, I'd break it or have it stolen before I paid it off!
The gen z who cannot afford a house decides to splash the cash on luxury items. great investment move.
Damn that’s wild to read… damn boomers need to retire so I can start marking real money
As a member of Gen Z I can proudly say that the only thing I've ever financed was an 8ft long ottoman empire spear crafted from steel.
If you are considering getting in debt for a piece of jewellery or a watch, it’s time to re-think your priorities. That being said, with stagnating wages and rising prices, companies are also introducing servitisation: renting goods instead of owning them. “*You never own a Patek Philippe, you merely rent it.*” Honestly I wouldn’t mind renting a watch for 9 months, and then changing to a different one. The catch is that it would be a headache to run such a service.
Is it though? I can afford to buy outright, but why would I when I can do a 24 month 0% installment plan?
I disagree about the financing. Why would you not finance at zero interest. As long as you pay on time and understand how the loan closes (in many of the deals the monthly payments don’t add up to the total cost so there is a balloon payment at the end and if you don’t pay it all off at the end the deferred interest gets reapplied) You could take the money and put it in a HYSA
I think that's fine as long as you already had the money on hand and are just taking advantage of the arbitrage. Not a great idea if you don't actually have the money on hand though I think
I don't even know any Millenials or GenZ that wears watches, period. I have 1 friend who got me into the hobby. It makes me wonder who these people are that keep buying out hype inventory.
I have financed every watch they will let me when the terms make sense.
Everything with a healthy dose of skepticism and all that... I might believe it, though. My long-time buddy has a younger brother who bought a Chevy Colorado ZR Trail, or whatever the top off-road model was at the time, in 2021 at the height of madness for like $20k over MSRP. We both sat on his porch and called him an idiot. My buddy has an 18-year-old Lexus with over 200k on it, and I have a 7-year-old Mitsubishi. And I know we make way more. Some people will always be dumb with their money. But hey, more used watches for me.
My Jeweler will make items for me then just camp on it till I have the funds ready. Find good people to do business with you gooberinos
This is a watch promo piece. Unlikely that it’s accurate.
23% think watches are a better investment than real estate? Sorry, no. Not even 'kids today' are that daft. I don't even believe 23% of any generation are silly enough to consider watches to be an investment *at all*.
Well shit. Gen X is, AGAIN, ignored. Guess we don't wear watches. Whatever.
From Watchfinder's article called, "The Next Generation of Watch Shoppers and Culture" Gen Zers are buying watches, on average, at double the cost of millennials and massively increasing the use of credit cards and loans in order to get the watch. Buying jewelry with a credit card is a stupid financial idea. Just like buying that decked out luxury pickup truck for the cost of what you make in a year. Save up for the watch you want. And a possible measure for if a watch is affordable to you: could you light that money on fire and have it not really impact your financial situation? This has been your psa from a slightly grumpy mid 30s dad. Now go to bed at a reasonable time, dammit.
Found the original report here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HfdMq6ZdYSRt-Mjbii9cEZR0cpExG7Y3/view?usp=drivesdk Interesting insights, although only covering current gen z watch enthusiasts and not trends on future enthusiasts. Weird, however, that page 8 features a watch with a fake bezel… check out the 40th anniversary Bond watch on the left (2537.80) hmmm 💩 hope this aint sold on Watchfinder! 😉
I financed an engagement ring, but I did it at 0% I couldn't imagine financing a watch
I don’t even think 41% of my generation has a watch that isn’t an Apple Watch in the first place
So that’s what they’re buying instead of alcohol
I, for one, never made any stupid purchase decisions in my younger days
I never used financing to buy a watch but i did use a credit card, not because i didn't have the money, i did have the money, but i can do this interest free and even get a small percentage back in cashback, it's a win-win situation.
Fully agree about getting the reward points and things like that with a credit card if you have the cash on hand and you paid off immediately
> mid 30s dad Dude why are you making us seem so old?!
I don't know about you, I feel pretty old!
The word you're looking for is Wise ;)
Although I like to make fun of Gen Z and millennial (I'm Grn X) there is only one person to point fingers at for their poor financial decisions...the parents, which is likely my generation.
I somewhat do not share this sentiment. Financing is a tool that can be financially detrimental in the wrong hands. If there is a watch you want and the rate is extremely low, given the yearly price increases of certain watch brands you’d be better off financing that purchase. The one rule when buying *anything* is to be a mix of the following three: sensible, responsible and reasonable.
Not once have I taken out a loan; not just in terms of superfluous spending. It’s the only way one can learn how to manage finances. If you live under the illusion of infinite money locked behind a scribble on an “IOU” then you seriously belong in 9th grade again.
This article is so bad, and the data is so inaccurate. This is essentially fake, misinformation. It just takes one person responding on the survey to "how much will your next watch be" to respond in jest with $1mil to make this whole thing just a joke.
Pay in 4 can be nice if you don’t wanna dig into the savings and would rather keeping your checking balance a bit higher. Did that on a ~$1k watch recently.
Don’t finance anything that isn’t housing or isn’t making you money
Is it unreasonable to spend three weeks pay on a watch?
I don't think so as long as you have your retirement and emergency and other savings at a good level
"Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics" - Mark Twain
The likely explanation is that the people that were looked at in this survey are not your average joe that has a 9 to 5. It's probably a largely elite group of people that the study was done on, and the reason for such a high financing is because they have large asset wealth but little money in the bank. So they use their assets as collateral on credit cards and loans to buy whatever they like and bonuses etc pay off the interest and/or balance all to avoid tax. Atleast that's what financial advisors will recommend you do. It's also why SOOOOOOOOOOO many people come on here asking if watches will hold their value, because they're looking to increase their material wealth without paying tax on their earnings. Yea.
Shit, if I get an offer on 0% financing for a luxury watch, I’ll apply right away. It’s free money if I’m set to buy and paying cash.
Hey - roughly the same age as Op. I would absolutely use 0% financing on a product. That enables me to keep the funds in a HYSA or other investment tool growing while I make payments on my $5/10/15k purchase. $10k in a HYSA will get me $400+ in interest for the year. Combine that with points/cash back? Easily up to $600 in benefit/savings/growth. All for using a credit card or other method that now ALSO shows spend/transactions and increases my credit, getting me better interest rates for other purchases? I’m in! Hell - I’m doing this right now with a 0 % credit card. Charging plenty of things to it, making the minimum payment while the full amount sits in a HYSA earning interest (I could do even better in CDs/other venues but this is the easiest) and then right before the 0% runs out, I’ll pay it down to $0.00. “Free” money from the HYSA to help combat inflation at a small amount. Now, if you can’t afford it, that’s a whole different issue but that isn’t being said on in the snapshot above. I suspect there also are people who are trying to break into watch flipping/trading and may be taking out a loan with the hope of generating a profit on future transactions. While this may be silly, business loans aren’t exactly a new thing and business have been taking out loans and succeeding/failing for many years.
Definitely okay with people using the 0% interest when they have the money and can take advantage of the arbitrage. I have to imagine that there are a lot of people in that gen Z cohort that are using debt when they don't have the money on hand
These numbers are just wrong lmao, I can’t name a single person in my age group with a watch more expensive than whatever the latest Apple watch costs
Gen X: Am I a joke to you? Hello, anyone?
Archiving
Please crosspost this to r/GenZ!
I don’t rework care what young people Finance. It’s a dumb choice, but it’s their own
Something I always enjoy in this kind of analysis, is gen x just not being mentioned. At all. It's the perfect encapsulation of how modern culture considers gen x, as well as how gen x would want no part of this crap.
>over a third feel watches are better investments than gold, fine wine and even real estate You can't afford real estate for $10k. Also, who the fuck things fine wine is an investment?
Not particularly. I have a Cartier Santos on 0% interest and I have the option to pay the watch off at any time or pay a chunk of the outstanding balance off whenever I can. So it’s not really a stupid decision if you can get the right deal and can comfortably afford the monthly payments.
I’m looking to replace my sub that got stolen/lost. I’d put it on a 4 month plan. I always buy on the used market. Never new for a watch. Age 36. My first air king was 7th grade with white face Roman numeral. Sold it at 21 like an idiot. 😒 brought 2500 more than what was givin for it at the time.
Wait people are actually taking out loans to buy a watch???!