Bill Blackwell Images Posted June 16, 2005 Share Posted June 16, 2005 ...Leica USA prices are going up! This may be old news, but prices on new USA Leica gear will increase by about 15% across the board effective July 1 (new MP & M7 cameras will increase to $3,295) and Leica dealers will no longer utilize minimum advertised price ("MAP"). You may find it very difficult, if not impossible, to find bargains on new gear because of Leica's new minimum sales price ("MSP") pricing policy. Prices on used gear will surely reflect this. This price increase will not affect the a-la-carte program. If you want to buy new, be sure to get your stuff BEFORE July 1st (try www.popflash.com). This could be your last chance to get a new Leica at a "reasonable" price. “When you come to a fork in the road, take it ...” – Yogi Berra Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom5 Posted June 16, 2005 Share Posted June 16, 2005 Just about $100 less than what I paid about 3 years ago for TWO new M6TTL bodies, one a black enamel LHSA, after rebate and Leica Day discount. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billsr Posted June 16, 2005 Share Posted June 16, 2005 Thanks for the heads up, Bill. That new pricing puts the MP exactly at $1000 more than I paid for mine 2 years ago! I have a new lens and accessories in shipment today, as I was forewarned of this event. Best regards, Bill H. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icuneko Posted June 16, 2005 Share Posted June 16, 2005 I'm not on the fence but am on the way to buy a lottery ticket. I'll need to win to get into L gear, at least new gear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al_kaplan1 Posted June 16, 2005 Share Posted June 16, 2005 Dang it, I bought a brand new pristine M4 body for $288 and a brand new pristine M2-R body with a brand new pristine 50/2 Dual Range Summicron for $375.00. Guess I should have bought more of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
george_b1 Posted June 16, 2005 Share Posted June 16, 2005 Al- My brand new M4 body cost me a little more (Washington DC prices - naturally), but I still have it, and I still use it every week. Now, I have a 90mm TE (thin) that's in perfect shape. I should put out $2700 for a gee-whiz state-of-the-art 75mm f2? Someone has to be kidding! George (The Old Fud), also, (The Old Skinflint) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james_.1 Posted June 16, 2005 Share Posted June 16, 2005 Good luck Leica! Would be new buyers will start optioning Zeiss and used gear. Then Leica won't have the moolah for the Digital M, and before you know it no more Leica camera, except maybe in name for other digital brands. Who knows... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry_ Posted June 16, 2005 Share Posted June 16, 2005 The 'little elves' in the Black Forest may have discovered something. If they took manufacturing to China and increase product prices, it will be *bonus* time for management this Christmas! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
max_fun Posted June 16, 2005 Share Posted June 16, 2005 I really don't see how they can do this price hike, since part of their recovery plan is supposed to reduce it's inventory. I'd thought that they would have a fire sale to do so... ok, maybe this is fantasy on my part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stephane camus Posted June 16, 2005 Share Posted June 16, 2005 Well, I am planing of buying a new RF body... this is how it will go. I will be playing at a dealer with a new MP, then I will gently put it back on the shelf, then I will buy another used M6 or a new Zeiss Ikon.<br> Eventhough I would be rich over the wazoo, I would find hard to spend more than 3000 dollars, or Euros, for a new body with no lens! <br> Leica wants to be even more exclusive with "Leica Only" shops from what I heard... I just do not understand their strategy. I hope I am missing something. <br> I was about to follow the logical path of first buying used gear, then buying new. Instead I will not buy new stuff from Leica, no MP nor lens.<br> Let's hope that many rich people will buy many new Leica gear (nothing wrong with that!) so Leica will survive and then we can aforf buying their used gear later. <br> Cheers,<br> Steph- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuart_richardson Posted June 16, 2005 Share Posted June 16, 2005 My sister writes from some fashion magazines, so I talked to her about Hermes and their strategy. Evidently they are far, far more controlling about the way they market their goods (other than some relatively inexpensive stuff like ties and watches) than other luxury goods makers. Everything is sold in Hermes stores and tightly reigned in. It works very well for them. They run one of the tighest ships in the fashion industry. I am sure that they are trying to do the same thing with Leica. The problem is, however, that a much larger percentage of people using Leicas are doing it from a utilitarian or semi-utilitarian perspective. It is conceivable to buy a leica because you want an excellent photographic tool with great lenses and a small discreet form factor. No one buys a Hermes purse because it holds lipstick better. There is a disunion there, and I think that disunion is going to be very bad news for Leica. They are banking on the fact that people who buy new leicas and leica lenses are doing it primarily on a brand consideration, and not on a practical concern. I think this is not the case -- every time they crank up the price they make someone who would have paid for a new lens at 1500 buy a used lens because the new one is now at 2200. I hope they pull it out, but I am worried. Of course, the fiscal policies of the current administration have destroyed the dollar, which is a major reason for this debacle. In any case, such is my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben z Posted June 16, 2005 Share Posted June 16, 2005 "This could be your last chance to get a new Leica at a "reasonable" price." Sadly that ship sailed on me a while ago. My MP demo at $1995 was more than I should've spent. Luckily I was able to get the same $1995 for it even brassed, due to the price upswings since then. Bought a second M6 for $880 to go with the earlier one I got for $850, the difference should get me into a 20D in the near future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremy_tok Posted June 16, 2005 Share Posted June 16, 2005 Given a choice, Patrick Thomas, CEO of Hermes, would have done away with Leica's compact camera business altogether and have Leica concentrate on "system cameras" and binoculars. He <a href="http://ftd.de/ub/in/3615.html" target="_blank">said so himself</a> in April. Compact cameras and digicams are the only profit-making products Leica makes besides binoculars. <p> It was Spichtig who wanted to reduce inventory, and announced that merely two weeks ago at the EGM. It was also Spichtig, not Thomas, who said Leica will not become a small boutique for nostalgists. This means he wants Leica to go mainstream. He was also quoted to have said "one has to determine the product palette with respect to the technical and pricing requirements". A clear signal he thinks Leica needs to up the specs and lower the price. You have to decipher his speech like one does Greenspan's (he's about as old too). <p> The impending price increase was planned for long ago and is a legacy of the former management, not Spichtig. <p> I don't think one can talk of a "Leica management" right now. There is Patrick Thomas, bent on turning Leica into another Hermes accessory for use on yatches, and the industrialist Joseph Spichtig, brought in by the banks to stave off a bankruptcy. <p> I think it pains us all fans of Leica to see the company being run into the ground by a fashion czar. The Leica is a great picture-taker that happens to be fondable, not a great fondle that happens to take pictures. Hermes' experiment with Leica has failed. When are they going to realize that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mskovacs Posted June 16, 2005 Share Posted June 16, 2005 Guys this is all currency fluctations related to the massively growing US debt. Blame your president, not Leica. Believe me, Leica would love to see the currency gain in its biggest market! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerry_lehrer Posted June 16, 2005 Share Posted June 16, 2005 Bill, OK, now what will that price increase do to affect the cost/value/price of used Leica gear? I hardly think that it will encourage people to go out and buy new Leica stuff. BTW, speaking of Hermes, my wife and older daughter bought two like new Hermes handbags for $50 at a recent La Jolla garage sale. They even got the seller to include a Hermes tie for me. Jerry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremy_tok Posted June 16, 2005 Share Posted June 16, 2005 A Leica dealer posted here last week that while retail prices are to increase by 15%, dealer's prices have gone up only 5%. 5%. No more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jan_brittenson Posted June 16, 2005 Share Posted June 16, 2005 I don't mind paying $1500 for a really good, solid, durable, high-fit-and-finish mechanical camera. I don't mind paying maybe an extra $200 if it's pretty to look at, too. Passport USA is excellent, I might add another $200 for that. So for me the bottom line is $1900. Others likely feel differently, no problem, just doesn't work for me. Doesn't terribly matter _why_ prices are going up, I suspect it's a combination of a weak dollar and Hermes targeting a Beverly Hills clientele. I afraid the ZI is really going to erode the Leica M customer base. I know _I_ would be much more likely to buy one than an M7 or MP, despite the latter are probably being both better engineered and sexier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john15 Posted June 16, 2005 Share Posted June 16, 2005 Brilliant move! Jack up the already over-priced Leica just in time for the debut of the ZI. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtk Posted June 17, 2005 Share Posted June 17, 2005 What makes everybody believe this will be a German camera...as opposed to Chinese? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Blackwell Images Posted June 17, 2005 Author Share Posted June 17, 2005 "OK, now what will that price increase do to affect the cost/value/price of used Leica gear? I hardly think that it will encourage people to go out and buy new Leica stuff." Well Jerry, based on basic economic theory, higher demand for a product in limited supply will almost always result in higher prices. So it follows, since there is a limited supply of used Leicas (and since a new alternative is unpalatable) folks will shop used. This will then have the effect of increasing the value of the pre-owned gear. If you have a different analysis I would be glad to hear it. “When you come to a fork in the road, take it ...” – Yogi Berra Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrew robertson Posted June 17, 2005 Share Posted June 17, 2005 Sign me up for a precision Zeiss Ikon! I hope Leica can survive with their 'head in the sand' attitude. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h._p. Posted June 17, 2005 Share Posted June 17, 2005 "You may find it very difficult, if not impossible, to find bargains on new gear because of Leica's new minimum sales price ("MSP") pricing policy." I'm surprised they can do that in the U.S. If they tried it in Europe they'd soon find the cold, dead hand of Brussels feeling their collar. Setting a minimum retail price falls foul of just about all of the EU's competetion policies and would, quite rightly, earn them a very substantial fine. Microsoft just earned themselves a 497 Million Euro fine for much less blatant price fixing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Williams Posted June 17, 2005 Share Posted June 17, 2005 'If they tried it in Europe they'd soon find the cold, dead hand of Brussels feeling their collar.' which unfortunately still doesn't mean that new Leica stuff is especially affordable here. I just checked the price of an MP at a random UK dealer, and it's currently 1998 GBP (= $3646.70 USD, though over $540 of that is sales tax). I don't know if they have a price hike planned for us as well... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason Posted June 17, 2005 Share Posted June 17, 2005 FWIW i know that except for "us" Leica is NO LoNGER A BRAND NAME for photographers! That was lost many years ago when the Nikon-F trashed the German photo-industry. The exclusiveness will add to its demise! Leica need more than a digital camera.. Better and more aggresive advertising and better prices for the other side of the counter people.. If I were a young pro adding a system, it would be A Nikon or canon. Total the prices of a 28mm, 35mm, 50mm, a 85/105mm, a zoom 70~200 and a strobe as a starter outfit with one or two bodies and you still will have change compared to a Leica M body, no lens!! I love my Leica M3 use it more than my M6... but on pro jobs or lousy weather or both in Canada, its mostly if Not always the Nikon-F. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h._p. Posted June 17, 2005 Share Posted June 17, 2005 But Jason, Leicas and Nikons have always co-existed.....<div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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