Re: best leica prices

[jredfern@ottawa.net (Jae Redfern)]

>davidb@bcn.servicom.es wrote:
>>
>> For those who use to travel:
>>
>> What is the best place where to find the best prices for used an collectible
>> Leica equipment all over the world?
>
>You can check out Williams of Hove in Brighton, UK who keep a list of
>their second hand
>Another place in other possible places in London are Jessops Collectors
>Shop in Pied Bull
>Yard and RG Lewis on High Holborn - I'm sure somebody in the UK will have
>numbers for
>these and others?  Don't know how they compare with US prices but they
>seem to be better
>than prices in the far east (and reliably genuine!)
>
>Nick Jackson

During my last stopover in Europe, this Xmas, I looked into a couple of the
stores mentioned as well as a few in Amsterdam and Brussels.
        I nearly fell flat on my face! Prices were on average fifty percent
higher than what is current, here in Canada. With the currency conversion,
UK prices on used equipment were sometimes almost double!
        US prices used to be pretty much the lowest around due to sheer
market size and lower taxes but the lousy exchange rate of the Canadian
"peso" has made prices here very attractive to a lot of foreign purchasers.
The result has been an upward trend in local prices and a major cleaning
out of dealers shelves.
        Europe would now seem to have a better stock but for horrendous
amounts of money.
        I'm still trying to find a replacement for my 21mm-M that suffered
a fatal accident a while ago but so far I've found that there simply aren't
any "users" available and the rest is being sold for silly money by the
"collector-dealer" crowd who are still frothing at the mouth from the now
declining invasion of japanese buyers.
        If anyone has a lead on a reasonable 21mm user with perfect glass,
I'd appreciate the e-mail.  :)
        Basically, the european market is very expensive to those paying in
dollars but I have no experience with the far-east. Anyone?
Jae