Be wary of Invicta watches 'sale'

I'm not sure if this is something people are aware of or not. But the Invicta watches 'up to 75% off' sale is a bit of a scam and something everyone should be wary of. Last year on Odyssey I seen a watch I liked and asked how much it was, it was $280 down from an RRP of $650. Great deal right? But a quick check online on the Invicta Europe store I could get the same watch for £85! That included a 10% off code. And the RRP was in fact something like £220, nothing close to $650!

I understand there plenty of regulations you can get around at sea, but even this seems a bit cheeky of Royal Caribbean. There must be loads of people being scammed every day into thinking they are getting a good deal because of inflated RRP's. My advice is if you like any of the watches onboard, check the price online, and I can almost guarantee you are as well just buying it when you get home.

I really don't understand any kind of shopping beyond souvenirs and forgotten items on a cruise ship.

Good pricing generally requires supply in excess of demand and sellers competing for limited consumer dollars.  Neither exist on a cruise ship. 

I wouldn't call high prices a scam.  It's always up to buyers to find good deals.  It's not up to sellers to offer them.

Yes, unfortunately it's fairly common knowledge that Invicta watches are cheap and the prices on the ships aren't good.

I'm sorry you weren't familiar with the brand. In the future, I suggest checking prices online for anything like this.

I actually bought one on Amazon a long time ago for like $65 to be my cheap watch that I wore to run errands, didn't care if it got scratched, etc. I expected it to die after 5 years or so. Somehow it has lasted over 10 and still serves its purpose. Dumb luck probably.

Some people are willing to pay a premium for an item as a memento of their vacation experience.  

Sometimes an item is cheaper online than it is in a physical store.  That doesn't make the physical store a scam.  

Sometimes Costco is cheaper than Sam's Club.  Sometimes Sam's Club is cheaper than Costco.  When one is cheaper the other is not scamming you.

A shop on a ship is a physical store with a very high cost for the real estate it consumes.  

I’m always happy to see these type of posts because I think they are a good reminder - a good number of people have to be convinced to purchase or they wouldn’t continue to offer this type of business. Posts all the time too about being mislead about the type of jewelry they are purchasing 

Same goes for the art on board, I have to assume. Haven’t looked into it closely but I mean, come on.

Stay away from the jewelry on board, too.

32 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Stay away from the jewelry on board, too.

And probably the art auctions.

Come on, it's not a cruise without the infamous Invicta Watch sale

Now as for the art auctions, I enjoy attending them. It's interesting to me to learn about the artists and their works. I've never bid on anything, but some of their art sales are not to shabby. I bought a Thomas Kinkade lithograph on my Navigator of the Seas cruise at a decent price. But you want to talk about high prices, I wasn't thrilled with what Park West had to offer framewise (those prices were rather high anyway). I got a cusrom made frame from Michael's and that cost a pretty penny. And please don't get me started on the museum quality light I had to buy for it.

My wife is the shopper in my house...she laughs at the "sales" on every cruise.

Short of buying a refrigerator magnet onboard, we never bother with anything else...even the liquor bottle prices are extremely high compared to what's available back home.

Almost no deals exist on board, regardless of the advertising.  They are preying on you being in "vacation mode" and getting sucked into the vibe and what not.  People like shopping and buying things, and they know that.  Those watch sales are particularly ridiculous, but they continue to be on every cruise, so people are buying or they wouldn't be there.  

On the one hand, I suppose it's good that other people are buying all the crap.  The alternative would be none of that and just paying higher cruise fares.  I can easily walk past all of those while I'm on board. 

If someone else wants to subsidize my cruise by purchasing overprices watches, bracelets, and artwork, who am I to complain?

@Xaa I’m not saying selling items for a high price is a scam. You’re correct that it’s up to the buyer to decide for themselves.
 

But I think putting clearly inflated RRP’s on an item and making out the saving you are getting is significant is very misleading, and definitely verging on a scam. The $650 RRP on the watch I liked was clearly invented as the official RRP on their website was only $275. Where did RC even get that price from? 
 

@USFFrank you’re right, it’s definitely a staple of any cruise

4 minutes ago, GJ_123 said:

But I think putting clearly inflated RRP’s on an item and making out the saving you are getting is significant is very misleading, and definitely verging on a scam. The $650 RRP on the watch I liked was clearly invented as the official RRP on their website was only $275. Where did RC even get that price from? 

Invicta has extremely high MSRP listed on their website too.  I think Royal is just following their lead and that this is more an Invicta problem than a Royal problem.

@twangster the difference is, CostCo and Sam’s Club won’t inflate the RRP’s and deceive the customer, unlike what Royal Caribbean is doing with the watches. Listing a watch with a $650 RRP and giving you ‘up to 75% off’ and it’s only $275 RRP on the Invicta website is clearly deceitful and basically a scam. CostCo etc. wouldn’t be allowed to do this as it would be breaking the law. RC obviously can as it’s at sea and the same laws don’t apply. 

Dan recently bought me an Invicta off Amazon for $29.  I’m not suggesting that it’s a fine timepiece…but the brand, as a whole, is not high-faluttin’ -gonna-challenge-Rolex level brand.

Just now, GJ_123 said:

@twangster the difference is, CostCo and Sam’s Club won’t inflate the RRP’s and deceive the customer, unlike what Royal Caribbean is doing with the watches. Listing a watch with a $650 RRP and giving you ‘up to 75% off’ and it’s only $275 RRP on the Invicta website is clearly deceitful and basically a scam. CostCo etc. wouldn’t be allowed to do this as it would be breaking the law. RC obviously can as it’s at sea and the same laws don’t apply. 

There are no shortage of retailers that display versions of list price for products. 

Some even negotiate unique model numbers so they can't be called out for it.  

@DoomSlayer if RC sold those watches you’ve posted there, I guarantee the RRP would be higher. The example I mentioned is only one instance I’ve seen. I’ve seen loads of examples where RC inflate the RRP by at least double. And what they are asking for onboard is 2 x or 3 x the price online.

Although prices on everything aboard ship are quite inflated, in no way do I consider it scamming.  Compared to the mall, I'm sure sales volume is low, and overhead is quite high.  If they sell a few items, they've gotta make some profit.  If a feller thinks it's too much, just keep walking.  I find jewelry and watch prices in the ports to be high also.  I buy very little for that reason.  On the other hand, I've bought gifts on the ship or in a port, knowingly paying too much, but receiving the bragging rights that I bought it while on a cruise.  And nobody scammed me.  I don't cruise with the intention of saving money.

11 minutes ago, GJ_123 said:

@DoomSlayer if RC sold those watches you’ve posted there, I guarantee the RRP would be higher. The example I mentioned is only one instance I’ve seen. I’ve seen loads of examples where RC inflate the RRP by at least double. And what they are asking for onboard is 2 x or 3 x the price online.

You keep using the term RRP.  RRP can vary for each reseller and is based on the price each reseller recommends based on a formula that includes wholesale cost, expected margin, and expenses.  If Royal's expected margin on an item is higher than say CostCo, then the RRP for Royal will be listed higher too.  RRP is meaningless as it will vary by retailer and is only relevant to a specific retailer.  Also, any laws governing advertising and pricing are governed by the Bahamas, which is lax in any laws of these types.

Are you really trying to suggest MSRP, which is set by a manufacturer for vendors to compare against retailer prices?  I looked at DC comic watches while onboard for my adult son who has a birthday coming up.  I was shocked at the prices, just as you were, and I looked up the watches on Invicta's website too.  The original MSRP prices matched closely on the website to what Royal had on the price tags.  The watch I was looking at had a retail sticker price of $2169, and had a 75% off price of about $550 which was still about 50% cheaper than what Invicta is selling the watch for.  I did not buy the watch because it was more than I was willing to spend on it, but I do stand by my statement that this is an Invicta problem more than a Royal problem.  This is the exact watch I was looking at:

@DoomSlayer RRP is the manufacturers recommended retail price, it is not individual to retailers. There is only one RRP set by the manufacturer. Could you imagine if everywhere could set different RRP’s for an iPhone for example, it would be chaos! For example, an iPhone Pro Max 1TB has an RRP of £1749. No retailer can change this or set their own, that’s the RRP and that’s it. I live in the UK, I guess it’s possible regulations are different here? To be honest I’ve never heard of MSRP, but it looks to me from a quick Google search it’s the same as RRP.

I’ve attached a screenshot of the watch I bought online, you can see the €200 is scored out and it’s on sale for €115. On Odyssey, it was $280 supposedly down from $650… I just don’t understand where they could possibly have got $650 from, considering it will have never been sold on the Invicta site for more than €200? There is just no way it could ever have had a ‘value’ of $650. So to me it just seems deliberately misleading. A customer on the cruise is likely to look at the $650 and think woah I’ve got a great deal! It just doesn’t seem right to me.

But yeah, the more I read from yourself and the other replies the more I understand Invicta could be to blame for this too. I thought it was a pretty high quality and respected brand but obviously not

Gold chain by the inch is my favorite...it will turn green before the cruise ends 

1 minute ago, GJ_123 said:

@DoomSlayer RRP is the manufacturers recommended retail price, it is not individual to retailers. There is only one RRP set by the manufacturer. Could you imagine if everywhere could set different RRP’s for an iPhone for example, it would be chaos! For example, an iPhone Pro Max 1TB has an RRP of £1749. No retailer can change this or set their own, that’s the RRP and that’s it. I live in the UK, I guess it’s possible regulations are different here? To be honest I’ve never heard of MSRP, but it looks to me from a quick Google search it’s the same as RRP.

 

That makes a little more sense - RRP vs MSRP.  In the US, the MSRP (Manufacture Suggested Retail Price) is set by the manufactures and kind of serves as a baseline on what consumers should expect pricing to be.  There is no federal law saying that prices cannot be higher, and usually supply and demand kicks in for the final pricing.  Some States do have consumer protection laws governing advertising and pricing, but not all states do.  Where I live in Texas, for example, there are no laws that really protect the consumer from misleading advertising and pricing and it is the duty of the consumer to do their own research.  In California though, they have strict laws protecting the consumer from misleading advertising and pricing.  I would imagine that in the UK, the definition for RRP would be similar to MSRP here in the US (as you stated from googling) and that you have national level laws protecting the consumer.  I'm actually glad we had this little back and forth as I learned a little about the UK from it.

8 minutes ago, loki007 said:

Gold chain by the inch is my favorite...it will turn green before the cruise ends 

Too funny.  My wife bought a Royal Caribbean pendant necklace as a souvenir and had a longer chain made in their gold chain by the inch kiosk.  I'll be looking for her green neck soon.

I bought an Invicta Men's Pro Dive from Amazon during one of their annual sales.  I think I paid $30 or $35 (formally sells for $70). I saw them on the Voyager OTS and didn't even ask as they were only advertising XX% off and not the actual price.

It's a knock around watch that I wear when the weather is cooler (don't like a sweaty watch band in the heat).

20 minutes ago, GJ_123 said:

I’ve attached a screenshot of the watch I bought online, you can see the €200 is scored out and it’s on sale for €115. On Odyssey, it was $280 supposedly down from $650… I just don’t understand where they could possibly have got $650 from, considering it will have never been sold on the Invicta site for more than €200? There is just no way it could ever have had a ‘value’ of $650. So to me it just seems deliberately misleading. A customer on the cruise is likely to look at the $650 and think woah I’ve got a great deal! It just doesn’t seem right to me.

But yeah, the more I read from yourself and the other replies the more I understand Invicta could be to blame for this too. I thought it was a pretty high quality and respected brand but obviously not

I wonder if they have regional pricing.  This is what I am seeing on their US website for that same watch:

10 minutes ago, DoomSlayer said:

That makes a little more sense - RRP vs MSRP.  In the US, the MSRP (Manufacture Suggested Retail Price) is set by the manufactures and kind of serves as a baseline on what consumers should expect pricing to be.  There is no federal law saying that prices cannot be higher, and usually supply and demand kicks in for the final pricing.  Some States do have consumer protection laws governing advertising and pricing, but not all states do.  Where I live in Texas, for example, there are no laws that really protect the consumer from misleading advertising and pricing and it is the duty of the consumer to do their own research.  In California though, they have strict laws protecting the consumer from misleading advertising and pricing.  I would imagine that in the UK, the definition for RRP would be similar to MSRP here in the US (as you stated from googling) and that you have national level laws protecting the consumer.  I'm actually glad we had this little back and forth as I learned a little about the UK from it.

Yeah, that makes a lot more sense to me too. I understand often laws vary from state to state in the US. But yeah, the UK will have pretty strict trading standards.

it’s actually pretty clever in a (little bit sinister) way from RC. Because as you mention, similarly to Texas there will be no laws at sea protecting the consumer. So it’s basically down to the consumer doing their research and plenty people won’t.

Been interesting to learn for me too I didn’t know different states had different laws for that kind of thing.

10 minutes ago, DoomSlayer said:

I wonder if they have regional pricing.  This is what I am seeing on their US website for that same watch:

Yeah, not drastically different to the European site. It’s not like you get a great exchange for Euros to Dollars just now! It just shows you though, RC placing a base price for this watch of $650 is ridiculous. 

10 hours ago, Xaa said:

I really don't understand any kind of shopping beyond souvenirs and forgotten items on a cruise ship.

Good pricing generally requires supply in excess of demand and sellers competing for limited consumer dollars.  Neither exist on a cruise ship. 

I wouldn't call high prices a scam.  It's always up to buyers to find good deals.  It's not up to sellers to offer them.

You pay no taxes on a cruise ship. While the prices are not always the best sometimes they are not horrible and if you are saving 10% in taxes it might make sense.  clearly not the case with the Invicta watches. Last May the latest gopro was $499 on amazon and on the cruise ship. Buying it on the cruise ship would have saved me almost $50.

10 hours ago, NoobCruise said:

You pay no taxes on a cruise ship. While the prices are not always the best sometimes they are not horrible and if you are saving 10% in taxes it might make sense.  clearly not the case with the Invicta watches. Last May the latest gopro was $499 on amazon and on the cruise ship. Buying it on the cruise ship would have saved me almost $50.

It seems in some cases this is true, but my wife enquired about a Kate Spade bag on Symphony, and it seems we would have had to pay 21% tax onboard, and they give you a stamped letter to take to the customs desk at the airport and they can refund 'some' of the taxes, she said it would be between 10%-16% refunded. Really odd, surely it should just be tax free and that's it. Has anyone else experienced this? It seemed like too much of a faff so she didn't bother buying it.

I bought a Sturling pocket watch on board. Before purchase I looked it up and the Sale price was maybe 10 bucks more than the price I found on Sturlings website. I still bought it as I could wear it that night and didn't need to pay shipping and the like. I also picked up a GoPro as an upgrade to the one I currently had. Again it wasn't any savings really but it was convenient. Generally we go browse the "Sales" in the shops/promenade just as an activity. We don't go looking to buy. 

6 hours ago, GJ_123 said:

It seems in some cases this is true, but my wife enquired about a Kate Spade bag on Symphony, and it seems we would have had to pay 21% tax onboard, and they give you a stamped letter to take to the customs desk at the airport and they can refund 'some' of the taxes, she said it would be between 10%-16% refunded. Really odd, surely it should just be tax free and that's it. Has anyone else experienced this? It seemed like too much of a faff so she didn't bother buying it.

That does seem odd. 21% in tax seems insane. If it is a sea day who would be collecting that tax? very odd. 

If you are looking for an expensive watch from your cruise then go into the ports and go to Diamonds International and get one there not on the ship.

14 minutes ago, NoobCruise said:

That does seem odd. 21% in tax seems insane. If it is a sea day who would be collecting that tax? very odd. 

@GJ_123 was this a European cruise?  There are some funny rules when all the ports of call are in EU countries and they are still required to charge a 21% VAT for all purchases on board.

Opinion: Only item that MIGHT BE worth purchasing on ship is a T-shirt.  Inexpensive, great memory.

5 hours ago, DoomSlayer said:

@GJ_123 was this a European cruise?  There are some funny rules when all the ports of call are in EU countries and they are still required to charge a 21% VAT for all purchases on board.

 

Ahh I see, that makes sense then. Yes, European cruise on Symphony.