Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1996/10/08
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At 10:45 AM 10/8/96 -0400, James J Dempsey wrote:
>> Wonder what the R8 "street price" will be?
>
>It seems to me that every authorized leica dealer advertises new Leica
>prices that are exactly the same -- leading me to believe that Leica
>in some way influences the prices that the dealers sell for. Now I
>believe if Leica were controlling the dealer's end user pricing, it
>would be considered an unfair trade practice, so I'm not sure what is
>going on here. It just seems strange that Nikon and Canon prices
>differ somewhat at each dealer you go to while Leica prices are
>virtually identical everywhere.
Though I don't know the specifics, Jim, here's the general picture:
There's a lot of ways to purchase a Leica. Anything goes on all methods
except brand new with the U.S. 3 year Passport Warranty. Actually anything
goes here too, but with some qualifications.
Leica sweetens the pot (financially) for dealers who maintain Leica's
suggested prices in their advertising. Dealers do not have to advertise
suggested prices with U.S. Passport Warranty, but they all do, so I can only
conclude that the financial incentives are sufficient to convince them to do
so. Leica can not and does control the selling price, however, so don't be
bashful about asking about a discount from the dealer. If he balks and says
that he can't/isn't allowed to, walk! Others do, indeed, discount.
Discounts vary widely from zero to as high as 20%+, depending on how hungry
the dealer is, their stock situation, Leica promotions to move stock, vis a
vis the special pricing now on the R7, etc.
So wade into the wonderful world of free enterprise (mostly free, that is)
and make your deal!
--
Roger Beamon, Naturalist & Photographer
Docent: Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum
Leica Historical Society Of America
INTERNET: beamon@primenet.com