404 Club Reboot

[Waggy]

Due to inflation our 404 club price cap seems a little unworkable, so here are some options to re-boot ihe idea - first three are what common currency to choose (pic 1  out of 3) the rest 4-10 are the price cap  (pick 1 out of the 7 options)

[spectre6000]

£4.04 originally worked out to $5, or thereabouts accounting for currency fluctuations. Inflation calculator from 2020 (when the thread was started, though not when Andy coined the term) says we're looking at $6 currently. What currency is the 6.99 inflation adjusted figure cited in the poll?

$6 may still seem restrictive, but don't forget that's part of the point. It's a challenge. Thrill of the hunt and all. Diamonds in the rough. Also, and my personal angle on the game, a fun and inexpensive way to learn watchmaking skills.

Edited May 9, 2024 by spectre6000

[Razz]

I voted.for the 6.99 assuming £, which works out to $8.74US at the current exchange rate.

[Neverenoughwatches]

4 hours ago, spectre6000 said:

£4.04 originally worked out to $5, or thereabouts accounting for currency fluctuations. Inflation calculator from 2020 (when the thread was started, though not when Andy coined the term) says we're looking at $6 currently. What currency is the 6.99 inflation adjusted figure cited in the poll?

$6 may still seem restrictive, but don't forget that's part of the point. It's a challenge. Thrill of the hunt and all. Diamonds in the rough. Also, and my personal angle on the game, a fun and inexpensive way to learn watchmaking skills.

A challenge both in finding one and fixing one up.

[rjenkinsgb]

£5.98 ??

In keeping with the original http inspired 404, 598 is a Timeout error, which seems fitting! Almost a 50% increase.

 

 

[Neverenoughwatches]

Are you all jerking my chain, I'm a yorkshireman £4.04 is too much

[GuyMontag]

When you think about it (as a watch addict) and how much you spend on a typical watch, anything less than about $15 is dirt cheap these days. I mean, that might honestly just be the tax you pay on a watch. You can barely even get a used part off of ebay delivered for that much. In fact, $15 seems like about what a new crystal or a used setting lever would cost to have delivered. I think anything under that would essentially be a, "Holy cow, I got this watch for nothing!" scenario.

[Neverenoughwatches]

1 hour ago, GuyMontag said:

When you think about it (as a watch addict) and how much you spend on a typical watch, anything less than about $15 is dirt cheap these days. I mean, that might honestly just be the tax you pay on a watch. You can barely even get a used part off of ebay delivered for that much. In fact, $15 seems like about what a new crystal or a used setting lever would cost to have delivered. I think anything under that would essentially be a, "Holy cow, I got this watch for nothing!" scenario.

Cool , I'll be expecting a 6 month old Rolex for that then .

1 hour ago, GuyMontag said:

When you think about it (as a watch addict) and how much you spend on a typical watch, anything less than about $15 is dirt cheap these days. I mean, that might honestly just be the tax you pay on a watch. You can barely even get a used part off of ebay delivered for that much. In fact, $15 seems like about what a new crystal or a used setting lever would cost to have delivered. I think anything under that would essentially be a, "Holy cow, I got this watch for nothing!" scenario.

Why do you think i make my own setting levers guy ? fresh off the blow torch

[Waggy]

Only 6 people have voted.... need more votes before we can update the 404 club price limits

 

[Neverenoughwatches]

4 minutes ago, Waggy said:

Only 6 people have voted.... need more votes before we can update the 404 club price limits

 

Can we consider how tight as a duck's arse Yorkshiremen and Scotsmen are please . 

[Waggy]

Ha ha, once knew a Scotsman who dropped a penny, it hit him on the back of the head as he bent over to catch it..

Remember the value is only the upper limit - for you 'cost-conscious'  cultures, you can still go as low as you want

[Neverenoughwatches]

5 minutes ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

Can we consider how tight as a duck's arse Yorkshiremen and Scotsmen are please . 

 

Just now, Waggy said:

Ha ha, once knew a Scotsman who dropped a penny, it hit him on the back of the head as he bent over to catch it..

Remember the value is only the upper limit - for you 'cost-conscious'  cultures, you can still go as low as you want

Lol i know Scott, I'm just bantering.  It was Spectre6000 and AndyHull's brain child, so some of the originality should to be kept in place from their first posts. What you say Andy ? 

[spectre6000]

Totally Andy's brilliant idea. I just started the thread. 

For what my opinion is worth, the number should be quite low. That's the point of it. It's as much about the hunt as the act of servicing/repairing the watches.

I don't have too much of an opinion on currency, but £ has a slight edge since that's what it started with. This is a global forum, so the majority of people will be converting values no matter what. I don't know if there are any currency traders here, but if there's any currency that's especially stable or some other attribute that would benefit the game, that could be amusing. Maybe one that's super volatile? Qualification is heavily influenced by what wacky things some currency is doing on a given day (though usually that means shrinkage). We could go for something super obscure like the Chilean Peso or something just for giggles (though it might make conversion difficult). A lot of currencies are indexed to the US$, which would ease some of the conversion friction for some people. Just spitballing.

My vote in the poll would be for £ inflation adjusted to £4.04 ca. 2020. I'm ticking those boxes, but I'm not sure about the 6.99. Is that £, or another currency? Source?

[eccentric59]

I went with 8.90£ because 12th century Italian mathematicians are always excellent topics to bring up when trying to get your guests to go home. 

[Waggy]

Lets give it to the end of this month to get all the votes in, then we can call it?

[Michael1962]

I went with GBP as you guys started it off and $4.04 adjusted for inflation.

[rossjackson01]

I really like the idea of the 404. However I've yet to be able to manage to obtain any watch for that little. I do have some free quartz ones. I'm not that skilled. Mechanical for me. 

I have managed to obtain a number of watches for under £40.

 

What about an extra 40 club. $, £ etc. I could at least participate.

Edited May 15, 2024 by rossjackson01
Grammar

[Waggy]

@rossjackson01 it's only getting harder and harder to get 'cheap' watches to work on, I have done some reading and depending on the source the prices of vintage watches is increasing somewhere between 10% and 50% a year. The only way I have found to get watches to lay the 404 game with is to buy a bulk lot say 10 with an average price of < £4.04 but even that is getting harder and harder, hence the re-boot.

I see that £6.99 is looking like a popular choice - but I ask the members, is £6.99 realistic, can you actually find watches to work on for £6.99 - maybe its better to cut to the chase and jump to £10.10 for example and allow more people to play? Jut a thought.

[Neverenoughwatches]

On 5/13/2024 at 1:59 AM, eccentric59 said:

I went with 8.90£ because 12th century Italian mathematicians are always excellent topics to bring up when trying to get your guests to go home. 

I have the perfect solution for this, i just dont invite anyone round.

[tomh207]

£10.00 is not a huge amount for a watch these days with the increased asking prices. Let’s count ourselves lucky we don’t have this for tools, it would be £404.00

 

Tom

[rossjackson01]

9 minutes ago, tomh207 said:

£10.00 is not a huge amount for a watch these days with the increased asking prices. Let’s count ourselves lucky we don’t have this for tools, it would be £404.00

 

Tom

Ah but, will you count DIY versions.

Edited May 15, 2024 by rossjackson01
spelling

[Neverenoughwatches]

21 minutes ago, rossjackson01 said:

I really like the idea of the 404. However I've yet to be able to manage to obtain any watch for that little. I do have some free quartz ones. I'm not that skilled. Mechanical for me. 

I have managed to obtain a number of watches for under £40.

 

What about an extra 40 club. $, £ etc. I could at least participate.

The best and almost only way to achieve the magical £ 4.04 individual watch cost is via the loophole ploy of job lot buys Ross. Dividing down the outlay by the number of watches purchased. I've managed it many times in the past, this then gives you the extra edge of choosing any watch from that lot. Maybe we should have an all time winner, whos prepared to troll  through the last four years of posts and pick some worthy contenders. Unfortunately i have a poorly shoulder so i cant raise my right hand and my left shoulder is out in sympathy for my right shoulder. Put your right hand up if you think i talk a load of bull      🖐

33 minutes ago, rossjackson01 said:

Ah but, will you count DIY versions.

Tom's comment is purely restricted to  the Bergeon culture of " lets rip off everyone on the planet "

35 minutes ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

The best and almost only way to achieve the magical £ 4.04 individual watch cost is via the loophole ploy of job lot buys Ross. Dividing down the outlay by the number of watches purchased. I've managed it many times in the past, this then gives you the extra edge of choosing any watch from that lot. Maybe we should have an all time winner, whos prepared to troll  through the last four years of posts and pick some worthy contenders. Unfortunately i have a poorly shoulder so i cant raise my right hand and my left shoulder is out in sympathy for my right shoulder. Put your right hand up if you think i talk a load of bull      🖐

Tom's comment is purely restricted to  the Bergeon culture of " lets rip off everyone on the planet "

Voted , i thought to keep it in pounds as originally designed and out of respect for Andy . Personally i would have kept the £4.04 as I'm very traditionalist and dont like change but i know how hard you overseas guys are finding it and i believe in fair play. I expect to be posting the occasional Omega or Longines but then you brought this on yourself so dont get jealous Scott

[eccentric59]

59 minutes ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

The best and almost only way to achieve the magical £ 4.04 individual watch cost is via the loophole ploy of job lot buys

Case in point, I just scored a lot of 4 Timex mechanical watches for $15.50 which puts the individual watches at $3.88 each, or £3.09 (or €3.59, ¥28.08 (CH), ¥607 (JP), ₹324 ... or 0.00006 Bitcoin )  

[spectre6000]

Lots to choose from... Just sayin'.

[Neverenoughwatches]

21 minutes ago, spectre6000 said:

Lots to choose from... Just sayin'.

The UK lots can be a 404 hit or miss, 6 - 10 watches can come in anywhere from 20 - 50 quid. I once had a 404 division of 8 watches for a fraction over 30 quid, one of them was a Smiths Astral model National 17 an absolute certainty for winner contender. The crystal was scrached up to the point of being very difficult to see the brand, something triggered a gut feeling in me and it paid off.