Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2007/01/13

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Subject: [Leica] Re: M8's high price
From: telyt at earthlink.net (Douglas Herr)
Date: Sat Jan 13 19:33:40 2007
References: <200701130610.l0D69cSs040789@server1.waverley.reid.org> <92E932C5-2E1A-4E48-A0D9-03D2207DBC45@optonline.net> <000701c73775$360929e0$6501a8c0@asus930> <2D75358A-CB56-4F02-839D-321930A005E7@home.netspeed.com.au>

Likewise for my website.


Doug Herr
Birdman of Sacramento
http://www.wildlightphoto.com

On Jan 13, 2007, at 5:18 PM, Rick Dykstra wrote:

> That's it.  I'm heading straight down to the gallery, to double the 
> prices on my framed prints.  Maybe then they'll sell!  :-D
>
> True story.  I was selling a one year old Landcruiser short wheel base 
> 'Bundera' in 1997.  The Kangabuck had recently crashed against the yen 
> and so I was asking for quite a bit more ($16,000) than I paid, though 
> still respectfully less than the new price.  A family dude with his 
> wife and kids turned up, took it for a drive and asked if he could 
> leave a deposit, for $14,000.  I said, "I've changed my mind. I'm 
> putting the price up to $17,000."  He quickly bought it for $16,000.  
> hehe  :-)
>
> There are only two rules. Never crop. Never discount.
>
> Rick.
>
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/rickdykstra/Nature
>
> On 14/01/2007, at 11:44 AM, G Hopkinson wrote:
>
>> Larry, that's insightful regarding art works. A good friend of mine 
>> who was very talented but had sold little was told at a US
>> artists' enclave that he needed to double his prices as well as 
>> address marketing and promotion. He became much more successful.
>> Following the idea further, after his very untimely death, the values 
>> shot up sharply.
>> No doubt there is an element of scarcity, perceived luxury goods etc 
>> influencing the Leica prices. However it would be unfair to
>> disregard the designs, materials, small volumes and labour intensive 
>> processes that really separate Leica lenses, for example from
>> mass produced designs. Whether the photographer considers that the 
>> difference is worth the money, of course, is another issue.
>> Plenty of us think so or we wouldn't be here!
>> Cheers
>> Hoppy
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: lug-bounces+hoppyman=bigpond.net.au@leica-users.org 
>> [mailto:lug-bounces+hoppyman=bigpond.net.au@leica-users.org] On 
>> Behalf Of
>> Lawrence Zeitlin
>> Sent: Sunday, 14 January 2007 01:28
>> To: lug@leica-users.org
>> Subject: [Leica] Re: M8's high price
>>
>> A Leica fable re the price of the M8. (and Rolex watches, Mont Blanc
>> pens, and all cosmetic products.)
>>
>> We have a friend, a dealer in modern paintings in New York's trendy
>> uptown art market, who is a firm believer in negative price
>> elasticity. Since it is almost impossible to tell the absolute
>> artistic merit of a contemporary painting, most of her customers use
>> price as a surrogate cue to quality. "You get what you pay for" seems
>> to be the mantra of the affluent customers who patronize her studio.
>> When a painting doesn't sell after a reasonable amount of time, she
>> raises its price by several thousand dollars. A customer, returning
>> to the studio, notices that the painting is now more expensive than
>> it was on the last visit, concludes that the painting must be worth
>> having since the price is going up. Out comes the checkbook and the
>> painting changes hands before the price increases again. The dealer
>> makes a nice profit. The customer hangs the painting on the living
>> room wall, confident that everyone will admire his/her good taste.
>> "It costs more but I'm worth it."
>>
>> The painting may be a piece of crap but it doesn't matter. Everyone
>> is happy.
>>
>> Larry Z
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Leica Users Group.
>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Leica Users Group.
>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Leica Users Group.
> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>
>


In reply to: Message from lrzeitlin at optonline.net (Lawrence Zeitlin) ([Leica] Re: M8's high price)
Message from hoppyman at bigpond.net.au (G Hopkinson) ([Leica] Re: M8's high price)
Message from rdandcb at home.netspeed.com.au (Rick Dykstra) ([Leica] Re: M8's high price)