Selling a Leica M10

can anyone suggest a good place to sell a Leica? online stores and my local camera store are only offering about a third of the value. Thanks.

One-third to something less than half of used value is about right if you are looking to sell to a retailer. At that point you are a wholesaler to them. Used M10's can be had for $5,000 at the moment and M10's are only going to go down in value from here, so $2,000 to $2,500 right now is about all I'd expect a dealer to be willing to offer on a purchase basis.

 

If you are looking to trade up to something else and not looking for outright cash, Leica Stores will give a higher allowance. I've seen up to 75-80% of used value given on a trade-in for something newer basis.

 

To be honest the only way you really "make out" financially with a stock digital Leica M, especially if you buy new, is just keep the thing and shoot the heck out of it. The M262 I purchased new in February, 2016 is the only M body, digital or film, I've ever purchased new, and I'll still be using it two years from now and beyond.

 

There is no magic/painless pill. If you want the best possible price you just need to bite that bullet and list the darn thing on eBay or some other site like rangefinderforum.com where you're likely to have some sort of commission-based sales tool.

Edited August 23, 2019 by Greg M

Rangefinderforum charges a flat rate for sales ads, it used to be $5 for an ad for an item selling for >$100.

 

Popflash photo will sell your camera for a 20% commission. The item must be inspected by them before being put up for sale. I have sold Leica equipment through them before.

Ebay’s pretty much a flat 10% fee if your item sells. One used to pay a listing fee and a commission if your item sold but that’s changed. A $5k body would mean a meaningful charge, but not 20%.

 

Then paypal gets their cut.

Ebay gets their cut, Paypal gets their cut, then you may have to deal with non-paying bidders and scams. Buyers that claim the camera was damaged in transit, etc. I've sold some items for as much as $800 on Ebay, but normally keep it to smaller stuff. Found a BIN kept non-paying bidders to a minimum. A $5000 camera- I would list in classified ads of a forum, like this one- where you can judge a buyer by their posts, or sell through an established shop like Popflash. Selling on forums worked for me to pay for my M9 and M Monochrom when I bought them.

I don't know if this is common elsewhere, but several major dealers in the UK will sell your gear for a commission (say 20%). The downside is you don't get anything until they actually sell it on to a customer.

Great feedback. Thank you guys so much.

Another option is to list it on the Leica User Forum classifieds. I’ve sold a couple Leica items that way.

can anyone suggest a good place to sell a Leica? online stores and my local camera store are only offering about a third of the value. Thanks.

 

That's standard operating procedure: Pay the seller 1/3 of retail for a used camera or lens, then sell it at 65-70% of the price that a new one just like it would cost at retail.

 

If you want to get the most you can get out of your M10, you will have to find a local buyer or put it on eBay.