Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/11/09
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]John >>You guys must be kidding. Last year when I was looking for my first Leica, I was lucky to find a used R7 for under $1000. Since then, I've sold and bought several in the $800 range. The dealers were blowing them out for brand new prices of $1495 or $1395.<< A friend of mine just purchased a new M6 from a dealer for just over $1,500. It was part of a promotion, probably to clear out reamining stock. It includes passport warranty. The dealer sold about 10 M6 bodies in 2 days and is ordering more from Leica. I think it will be interesting to see what happens to pricing for durable goods, including photographic equipment, over the next year. My sister manages international sales for a large company. She's been fighting a difficult battle since the onset of the Asian crisis. I spoke with her over the weekend and she indicated that her counterparts in domestic sales are starting to feel the pinch. It's becoming more difficult to prop up demand through innovation and marketing. Supply is there, because many companies are focusing sales on countries, like the US, that still have a robust economy. This all leads to deflationary pressure on durable goods, new and used. I think Ebay is quite interesting in terms of the market for used goods. Much better, IMO, than classifed listing. On Ebay you don't just see an asking price, but you see what people are actually willing to pay. However, I've seen items on Ebay go for more than new, so I'm not sure how much credence I put on the final bid of any individual item. But over time I think trends will appear. Dave