Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/06/07
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I think that rebates, especially as used in the camera business, have more to do with currency fluctuations than with prices actually going down because of reduced costs of materials, etc. I have no doubt that the current rebates are being driven by the strength of the dollar versus the Euro. But if Leica lowered the price to reflect today's exchange ratio, what would they do if, in six months, the situation reversed itself? Nobody would sit still for the company raising prices when the cost of most other manufactured goods is seeing consistent declines. As a result, sales would probably stall. With a rebate, they just remove the rebate and the price goes back to "normal". I believe this also accounts for some rebates being extended, seemingly indefinitely. This is because the currency fluctuation is only moving in one direction, and lately that has been toward a stronger dollar. - -- Rolfe Tessem | Lucky Duck Productions, Inc. rolfe@ldp.com | 96 Morton Street (212) 463-0029 | New York, NY 10014