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Waitlist

Also called wait list, allocation

A waitlist is the queue an authorised dealer keeps for buyers wanting hard-to-get models, and allocation is the process by which the dealer decides who gets a watch when it arrives.

Waitlists are a big reason some models trade over retail on the secondary market: buyers who don't want to wait, or can't get an allocation, pay a premium for immediate availability.

For a pre-owned dealer, the length of AD waitlists is a useful signal of demand for current references, and a shortening waitlist is often an early sign that secondary premiums are softening.

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