Re: [Leica] London prices, now Canadian prices

[Vick Ko <vick.ko@sympatico.ca>]

Wow - where are you buying, John?

John Collier wrote:

> I agree with you about Leica camera pricing but differ about the reason. As
> we have roughly one tenth of the population spread out over a larger area*,
> we just do not have a large enough market to create the kind of competitive
> pricing that the US sometimes has. However, Leica accessories and parts are
> much cheaper in Canada. I typically pay the same numerical price as the US
> but in Canadian dollars! On a number of items even less! Why this is I
> cannot say.
>
> John Collier
>
> *Concentrated in the south I will admit.
>
> > From: Stephen Patriquen <patriquen@yahoo.com>
> >
> > As a dual US/CDN citizen, living in London, I've now
> > experienced Leica purchasing in three countries. I
> > used to say that visiting New Hampshire (which has no
> > sales tax) while living in eastern Canada (which had
> > 18% federal/provincial tax at the time) was like dying
> > and going to heaven for a Canadian.
> >
> > Among the three, the US is the most aggressive and
> > probably honest in its pricing, due to that good old
> > capitalist spirit and intense competition.
> >
> > New Leica stuff in Canada (last year I lived there was
> > '95) seems to be priced reasonably close to US prices
> > (factoring in exchange and duty/taxes). But used Leica
> > equipment in Canada has always been (IMHO) quite a bit
> > higher priced. And the downtown Toronto dealers are
> > not very accurate in quality grading. Everything is
> > Mint minus unless bits have fallen off.