Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/09/06
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Vick Ko wrote: > Is this also spelling the end of camera collecting as an investment? > I'm seeing drops in collectible camera prices in most areas. One of my > reasons for having a Leica collection was that Leica was generally in > front of the pack for optical quality and workmanship, as well as > holding power for their already high prices. > I think the Leica optical quality and workmanship are still there. The > prices are still high. But the "keeping power" of their after-market > price is diminishing. And the collector frenzy isn't enough to keep > prices up. > > Maybe when Leica stops production on an item for 30 or so years, their > prices will pick up. I don't think this has much to do with Leica specifically -- it is mostly due to the downturn in the economy and three years of a down stock market in particular. I do think there was a glut of used M6's thrown on the market -- first when the M7 was introduced and then again after the MP. I think that possibly introduced a temporary softness into the used market. My observations of eBay and other sources of used gear indicate that used prices are firming and actually moving up somewhat for M6's. Overlaying all this, of course, is the dollar/euro relationship which has been on somthing of a seesaw. Although it doesn't seem obvious that this currency relationship would affect used prices, in reality it does. That is because the price of used gear will always bear some relationship to the price of new gear. If the price of new gear moves down, as it does in the U.S. during periods when the dollar is strong, that has the effect of forcing down prices of clean used gear as well. Of course, the collectible market is a subset of the used market in general, but I think some of the factors I've named come into play with collectibles as well. Rolfe - -- Rolfe Tessem | Lucky Duck Productions, Inc. rolfe@ldp.com | 96 Morton Street (212) 463-0029 | New York, Ny 10014 - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html