I am reading a lot of disgust and anger about Timex’s release of its one dollar 170-year anniversary Waterbury edition. Everyone is disappointed and feels used by Timex because they didn’t get one. Is this reaction justified?
No. Don’t be an idiot.
Timex announced that there would be 1000 watches available at its retailers and online on November 16, 2024, for the nominal price of one dollar, essentially a free watch. What rational person would really think that there would be one for them when they waited in line, in person or online? Only the innumerate, the ones who genuinely believe that this lottery ticket is their retirement.
The watch industry is a sixty-two-billion-dollar industry worldwide. Timex Group sold about 1.4 billion dollars’ worth of watches last year. Timex USA and Timex India both saw huge sales jumps between 2022 and 2023, nearing forty percent. Timex is not in the top fifteen or so producers of units, but they sell a lot of watches. And there is someone out there who really thought that they were going to get one?
There were not 1000 allocated for just online sales. It was 1000 for all authorized dealers and online for the entire planet. If you were the second in line at a dealer you probably were wasting your time. The sixty or more people queued up behind you, they were lunatics.
The next time Jody at Just One More Watch gives away a watch are you going to be angry and flood online forums because Jim S. of Auckland, NZ wins and not you? Are we that entitled?
(Jody owes me one. I deserve it.)
And why exactly are you angry? Do you feel like there was a bait and switch? There wasn’t. Timex told you the odds and you didn’t believe them. For your effort you received a chance to buy something in stock for a 30% discount, just before Christmas. That kind of was the point, don’t you think? After all, you liked Timex enough to care and queue up. You received a benefit. 30% isn’t nothing. And who cares if scalpers got some? You wouldn’t have. The second in line in Pasay City would have gotten it instead.
Timex didn’t do anything wrong. On a smaller scale they created a version of the “Moonswatch Buzz”. Many people are getting Timex watches for Christmas this year. For once Timex is the good guy in the story.
The Escapement Room 
Interesting article. I completely missed the 1 dollar Timex promotion both in terms of people being mad they didn’t get one (personally I don’t want one) and in terms of it happening at all.
If this was a ‘special edition’ I’m curious if flippers bought many of them. Imagine, you could sell at 10x the retail and make a killing.
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I saw it and ignored it. 1000 pieces, worldwide for a brand like Timex is different than a drop of 200 Smith’s. Timex has a much larger reach. It was clearly just a way to give a pre-Black Friday discount to Timex curious shoppers. It worked.
Think of how successful flippers were with the Moonswatch, who would want that aggravation? There is always someone trying to find a little juice in a transaction. In a few weeks it will be a $50 Timex.
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