Are Leica used prices at an all-time low?

[NIKON KIU]

I disagree(not with Tardy but in general)!
Less than a couple of years ago, before the M8 was about to be available, the M6 was selling well under a $1000 and the M7's were all over the place around $2700...

Right now the M6 is selling over a $1000 and M7 selling under $2000!

I don't think the M7 prices will go up anytime soon, if ever.

Kiu

 

[J. Borger]

Pound -Euro exchange rate and Leica money back actions are important factors for this ----- in Europe at least
You buy new in the UK for the price you would normaly buy mint/lnib 2nd hand gear on the mainland ..... that had it's impact on the 2nd hand market over here in Europe.

 

[Pickett Wilson]

I think it will all be tied to the cost of film in the future. When a roll of Tri-X costs $40, $500 for an old Spotmatic will seem like a bargain. 😉

 

[SuitePhoto]

Looking at various Leicas on eBay leads me to believe that prices have not fallen at all. Of course that does not mean people are buying.

If you want to get a sense of what's actually selling, go to Advanced Search, put in your terms and then click the box that says "completed listings" a few lines down. That will show you finished auctions from the last couple of weeks and they clearly mark what actually sold.

There are many Buy It Now items at HUGE mark-up on Ebay, but you'll see that none actually sell. I'm not sure if it's a scheme to artificially inflate prices for the less Ebay savvy, or what the deal is...

 

[maddoc]

From what I have seen prices for used Leica gear have gone up a little or remain constant compared to just three or four month ago. If somebody has to sell to free some cash (for different reasons ...) it is still hard to sell quickly but if time is no problem there is a buyer in most of the cases.

 

[aizan]

of the items i have kept an eye on, the m7 is one that has gone down in price. i would only sell it if i didn't use it much.

 

[Calzone]

I am kinda new to Leica, but I built my kit over the last six months. I took advantage of the economic downturn that softened prices and flooded the market with a bit of oversupply. I got some great deals as a result.

I rode the first surge of a flooding market. At that time it seemed that some people were buying Leica as hard assets that maintained value.

Around the time of the credit crunch prices softened further and then bounced back. There was a serious drop in prices on Ebay.con, B&H, and at Adorama. Leica even had rebates on new lenses that ended in December 2008.

Now Leica prices have recovered somewhat and have stabilized.

Last week, I had to buy another Nikon F3 because it was in great shape and cost no money. The leica gear I aquired seems to be like treasure and maintained its value, while a lot of Nikon gear is becoming very cheap.

I feel for you. I was laid off twice at the end of The Cold War. Things might be difficult, right now; but, if you can, hold onto you treasure.

Calzone

 

[eleskin]

Are you kidding?

Prices are as high as I can remember.

I bought a 35mm Summicron V. 4 13 years ago for $800 bucks. Now I see them between $1,100 -$1,600. 13 years ago, I could have bought a Noctilux for 2 grand. I just bought one last week on ebay for $4,750.00!!! and I thought that was a really good deal in that it is a newer one in mint condition -- I see them for $2000 or more than I paid. I gusee I got a steal for $4,750.00!!!!

 

[kuzano]

No..not if "all time" includes the future

No..not if "all time" includes the future

The bottom is not in sight.

 

[Ronald_H]

How many have you bought?

Well, you DID ask...

Nikon FM
Nikon FE
Nikon EM
Nikon FE (because I dropped the first one, aargghh)
Nikon FM2

And non SLR stuff:

Canonet GIII QL 17
Yashica Mat 124
FED5
Zorki-4K

And the ironic part of the story is that this whole bunch together cost me less than my M2 + the CLA it needed... and it wasn't even an expensive M2.

And all this analogue gear together (M2 included) + two scanners was still less than what I paid for my Nikon D200 + 18-135 lens.

And all this stuff, including the D200, would barely get me an M8, sans lens.

Puts it all into perspective doesn't it?

 

[Roger Hicks]

Prices always look low when you're selling and high when you're buying.

Tashi delek,

R.

 

[Bill Blackwell]

I would agree - newer used equipment (M6, M7, MP) prices are generally at historical lows.

OTOH, M3/2 and M4-2/P prices are right about where they were during the heyday of the M6 (late 1980s – early 1990s) - that makes these a good buy today when taking the CPI into account.

But M4 prices in that same time period were at a premium at $1,500 to as much as around $2,500; M4s are now selling for quite a bit less - that makes this camera a best buy among Leica M models today.

 

[Bill Blackwell]

I forgot about the M8.

While they can be had for bargain prices compared to what they cost new, I would qualify this by saying one should not expect them to hold their value in the long term.

 

[Meleica]

I will be doing a full update on my Leica pages in the next few weeks. Some Leica items have been hit hard, with some fairly deep discounts, while others have held their value despite the global economy. If one is patient, bargains are to be had.

If you look back over the last 10 years, and to generalize - I think Leica hit a peak around 1998-1999 right before the stock market crash - then declined a few years and then treaded water until about 2005-2006 when Leica digital came to life and prices went WAY back up ( example - Noctilux went from +/- $ 2000 to +/- $ 4000). Global currency fluctuations also played a huge part in these swings as did Japan's downward economy.... prices continued to climb (mostly the 35-50-75 lenses ) until early 2008 and then the market started to accelerate downward last summer to where we are now....wild times.....

Dan

 

[SuitePhoto]

I will be doing a full update on my Leica pages in the next few weeks. Some Leica items have been hit hard, with some fairly deep discounts, while others have held their value despite the global economy. If one is patient, bargains are to be had.

If you look back over the last 10 years, and to generalize - I think Leica hit a peak around 1998-1999 right before the stock market crash - then declined a few years and then treaded water until about 2005-2006 when Leica digital came to life and prices went WAY back up ( example - Noctilux went from +/- $ 2000 to +/- $ 4000). Global currency fluctuations also played a huge part in these swings as did Japan's downward economy.... prices continued to climb (mostly the 35-50-75 lenses ) until early 2008 and then the market started to accelerate downward last summer to where we are now....wild times.....

Dan

Dan - just out of curiosity, where do you collect your data? Camera shows? Dealers? Completed Ebay auctions?

 

[Benjamin]

Prices always look low when you're selling and high when you're buying.

Very true.

As a note of interest, I found a copy of AP from April 2000 in the Doctors Surgery this morning and most of the prices, in respect to Leica rangefinders and lenses, were very much the same as they are today.

I wonder how often they have fluctuated since then.


I have seen a lot of 'quick sale' listed equipment lately, though my thoughts are that a lot of the kit was originally bought in the same way that one might buy a Rolex or a Range Rover. Basically as a status symbol, and not as an essential item.


Benjamin

 

[Ronald M]

Prices are down because of various reasons including ecnonomy.

People want digital now and the only RF entry is the M8 at a price few can afford specially in this economic climate. Even if times were good, few could buy.

With fewer people wanting film and the only Leica being $6000 + ( I don`t keep up },
They elect to buy Nikon or whatever. This may also mean more used Leica wanting to be sold.

I got tired of waiting for the R10 when the price of the M8 went up to high levels knowing the R10 will not be affordable.

So I use my M and R for film and Nikon for digi.

My prediction is Leica gear will go even lower.

 

[Al Kaplan]

At some point the wives of the world will start screaming "You mean to tell me that you spent over TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS for a camera that you never use! At least if I'd bought some Limoges porcelain with the money we could enjoy looking at it!"

 

[Meleica]

Mike

I have been recording pricing data from ebay since 1999. My price guides give about 80% preference (weighting) to ebay completed auctions, but I also use RFF ads, Photo.net ads as well as keh.com, tamarkin auctions and such as the overall basis for my pricing esimates. Since I havent done a major update in 6 months, many of my guides are a bit high for ebay - but are more in-line with retail dealers.... will be updating all Leica and Rollei guides in the next few weeks.

Thanks
Dan

 

[Rob-F]

While I don't see the asking price for used M7s going down, I do see that people are not buying at those prices. I don't know that this generalizes to other models though.