zOwie Omega Discussion Forum

: Hi Tyler,

: I'm a new owner and don't know much about
: watches (though I am learning a great deal
: on this forum). My wife and I saw several
: Omegas (along with some Tags and others) at
: Sam's club. The offerings were very limited
: and I haven't compared the prices to other
: ADs. Generally, these were the "lower
: ends" of the available models. I'm not
: sure if they could order specific models or
: not, but I'll ask next time I'm there. I'll
: also check on whether they're an AD or not,
: but I would assume they are.

: Ken

This did not greatly surprise me when first reading it, and I've since confirmed it on Costco's website.

Why did it not surprise me? I remember reading in a newspaper or magazine article not too long ago that Costco is trying to cater to the wealthier consumers that shop there, and will soon be selling $30k+ jewelry in select stores (or perhaps only by special order....but I remember that the figure was north of $30k).

What is VERY surprising is that the prices appear low. Too low, even for an unauthorized dealer. A Seamaster GMT is $1899 (model 2538.20) at Costco, and a gray market internet store I usually use as a reference for gray market prices offers it for $2031.00.

The Costco website makes it clear that Costco is NOT an authorized dealer, so you get no Omega warranty.

But for anyone considering a gray market Omega purchase (I do not recommend this, but gray market dealers appear to be staying in business, so someone is buying from them), a Costco warranty/guarantee is probably a safer bet than a warranty from some internet store that could go belly up in a few months. Of course it all depends on the terms of that warranty/guarantee.